Holy Week - Jesus Last Days on Earth and The Cross, Death and Resurrection

 I have created slide decks that were converted to MP4. (the PDFs will be distributed separately)
The first two - about Nisan 8-12 - are linked to  below.

Slide Deck 1 -- Nisan 8-10

Slide Deck 2 -- Nisan 10-12

The next slide deck has two links in it that are not accessible through the movie: 

(20+) Watch | Facebook and a link to the first Passover: Exodus 12 NASB - The Passover Lamb - Now the LORD said - Bible Gateway

These slides go from the close of Nisan 12 to the Last Supper and the. Two separate slide decks will follow; one dedicated to John 14-17, which will be posted, and a second, "The Stations of the Cross", which will be made available as a PDF.

Shaped by God

(This was a message given to Bible students recently. It was shared in part to impart encouragement to the students, and to honor the memory of Dr. R. C. Sproul and his faithful ministry. Hope you find this as meaningful as I have.)

Dear students,

A while back, we were treated to a study published by R.C. Sproul on the spiritual disciplines every Christian should adopt – the little green 5 Things book. It packs a wallop of theology for Christians to help us submit to the shaping and molding that the Holy Spirit must do in our lives. A key focus of Pastor Sproul’s, and all grounded-in-Christ ministers is theology. Simply put, theology is a study of God and His ways, thinking, actions, Word. It is the grounding that all followers of Christ must have. You cannot be a Christian without knowing the Triune God and believing in the authority of His Word – His transformative Gospel – in which He reveals Himself to us.

One of the chapters in the Bible which we are told that Pastor Sproul found exceptionally valuable because of the total of theology it expresses is Romans 8. Here is what he and others of us who are Bible students know - as excerpted from Derek Thomas’ new teaching series on Romans 8:

      "Romans 8 has almost everything. It begins with our justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (vv. 1–4), continues with sanctification and the work of the Holy Spirit (vv. 5–13), and then speaks about our adopted sonship with the Father (vv. 14–17), the significance of suffering (vv. 17–18), the prospect of glory (vv. 17–18), the final redemption of our bodies (vv. 17–25), and the restoration of all creation (vv. 19–21). It reassures us that as we wait for our resurrection and final transformation (vv. 23–24), the Spirit helps us in our weakness (v. 26) and intercedes for us (vv. 26–27).

      It teaches us about the good and sovereign providence of God in our lives (v. 28), and that His goal is to transform us into the likeness of Christ (v. 29). Indeed, Paul says, nothing can stop God from bringing that to pass (v. 30). No one can successfully oppose us, bring any charge against us, condemn us, or finally separate us from God’s love for us in Christ (vv. 31–39).

      This is breathtaking theology!

      That is the point, isn’t it? Romans 8 is not merely breathtaking eloquence. It is the theology of these verses that puts backbone into Paul’s life—and it can put backbone into our lives too."

Doesn't the above reaffirmation make you want to grab your Bible and read Romans 8? And grab your Bible journals and write your reactions as you read!

In our next Bible Study, we will have an opportunity to learn and be reminded of all God the Holy Spirit is and what He does in our lives to accomplish all God’s purpose in us. We will use the publication by Dr. Charles Stanley, Relying on the Holy Spirit. . . .

... Be blessed with the joy of the Lord today!

Sewing for joy

On Easter weekends, the youth at my church participate in a project called "30-Hour Famine," where the opportunity for raising funds for food insecurities, crises and disasters leads them to go without solid food for 30 hours. They have raised thousands of dollars for WorldVision, which has been able to often be doubled or tripled by other donors. On Holy Saturday, the 'famining' youth engage in a service project; a couple of years ago, they fashioned blocks to express something they are grateful for about Resurrection Sunday. I took them home and assembled into a cross for a hanging (I won't say how long I stayed up piecing and completing the hanging), and it now adorns the sanctuary during Easter season. On another occasion they made decorated t-shirts for a charity our church supports (it was so cool to have teen guys sewing and designing!)

I was asked to do an Advent stole vestment, and made this (still needed final ironing in this pic).

Another large banner for the church sanctuary for Pentecost (ignore my basement floor 'storage system' - it was about 2 in the morning when I took this pic). Using my phone camera doesn't do the piece justice. It is about 5.5 by 4 feet. The flames and Spirit depiction of a flying dove are in the background. I want to make another companion banner that has the I AM tetragram letters and the name of the Holy Spirit in Hebrew.

This is why I want to retire - there are days when I swell with the ideas of praising the Lord through my sewing gift. 

Hard, torrential rain, leaky roofs, and vulnerable faith

With all of the massive amounts of rain we have had in the last few days, and how it has impacted our church building, I have to admit I’ve been a little preoccupied by it. Today when I was picking up my co-worker to commute to work, the building across from her house was having the roof repaired. She mentioned that it was old and was probably leaky – with all the rain we’ve been having, she said, the water found its way to all of the weak spots. And immediately – at the speed of the Holy Spirit, the below analogy came to mind. 

“Analogy of hard rain falling onto roof - it reveals where there are vulnerabilities in the structure, and water will leak through. It is kind of like the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification: He reveals to us where there are weak spots, vulnerabilities in our faith and character. He shows us where they are saggy and blistered by the world and its influence, and our own natures, and where we may have tried to plug up the holes with the equivalent of spitballs or tarps. With the rain damage, the homeowner most often must contract with an outside source to repair the vulnerable spots on the roof. The expert contractor uses his knowledge and skill to repair the vulnerabilities in the roof – for a fee – and may offer a warranty period of up to 20 years. Yet, the indwelling Holy Spirit, Himself, not only repairs our vulnerable places, those weakness and immaturities in our faith, or where our character is out of alignment with Christ – He can eventually perfect them for eternity …the price of the repairs to the ‘homeowner’ is submission to the Holy Spirit’s plan.

“The Holy Spirit uses tried and true tools to firm up and strengthen us and help us become leak-resistant: -- (1) God’s Word, which He helps to be operational in us to strengthen and shore-up our faith structure to withstand the torrents, and amend our character; (2) He promotes within us the desire for unceasing prayer as an avenue that keeps us continually in communication with the Father, receiving confirmation and affirmation during the building project; (3) He enables us to engage in true worship, worship that acts like rolls of tar paper that help shield the foundations that have been built; (4) and (5) the Holy Spirit also empowers us carry out the stewardship of what has been built into us and for us, and in using the service and ministerial gifts God endows within His redeemed people so that we can enjoy living into the new life being built in Christ.”

I cannot look at a leaky roof the way I used to!  

Hebrews 3:4 -- For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

2 Corinthians 5:1 -- For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Ephesians 2:10 -- For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:19b-20 – [You] are of God’s household,  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,  in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,  in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

If You Really Knew About the Cross...

you probably wouldn't wear it around your neck and/or spend so much money to be sure to have 24K gold with diamonds cross to show off as 'Christian' jewelry.

If you really knew about the cross...

you'd probably be wearing a pair of feet or the image of a slave around your neck. I haven't seen too many necklaces that look like that.

Jesus makes it clear that if we are truly Christian, a true follower, we will want to empty ourselves. See John 13:3-20. His lesson runs counter to the culture today - even in churches. We want to be served by the church - we don't want to serve! We don't want to stoop down like a slave and serve people! Washing their feet is so not on the list of things that we want to do! Peter said that Jesus was too good to wash his feet - that his Master should not stoop down and wash feet like a slave! Jesus was washing more than feet, He was washing hearts to remove the pride that self-elevated them, made them feel that they were too good to serve, to be a slave. Yet, Jesus came to earth to do just that.

If you really knew about the cross...

you're probably a servant leader.

Living Trophies

When I was in my early 30s, my friend and I signed up for a tae kwon do class. Little did we know how much we would enjoy it, and also be extremely challenged by it, and grow in confidence and in skills we did not realize we had. As the only two females in the class, we made every effort to keep up with the guys and were successful. Plus, we were two of the oldest members, which presented its own challenges. Yet, despite these and other ‘handicaps’, we worked very hard to accomplish our goals of reaching the black belt level. Part of the opportunities along the way included entering tournaments where we competed in forms and sparring contests. I am pleased to say that most times we took home trophies and medals – testaments to our hard, focused training and discipline.

In an excerpt from our dear brother Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest, regarding the cross in prayer, he notes that the true meaning of the ‘cross’ – what it truly represents – is  ‘complete, entire, absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ— and there is nothing in which this identification is more real to us than in prayer.’ He goes on to relate that ‘our spiritual irritation [with what we sense as unanswered prayer] shows our refusal to identify ourselves truly with our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove that God answers prayer, but to be living trophies of God’s grace.’ [emphasis added]

We who are saved through the blood of Jesus on the cross, and in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, are beholden to God to yield ourselves fully, to allow Jesus’ life to be lived through us, to be walking Gospels (Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 9:23). To be truly united to and in union with Christ – being in Christ – is living yielded (a life-long disciplined journey), focusing on the cross and He who placed Christ on it (Hebrews 12:1-2), joining in prayer with Christ to the Father (John 16:26-27), growing in an intimate relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (Galatians2:20), learning how to identify His voice and promptings. 

When we strive to do so, when our wills submit to God’s will for us (Luke 22:42; Philippians 2:5-8), we become living trophies of grace that God can use to show the world His love, His offer of forgiveness through the acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ for us, His holiness, all of which reflect His Grace and mercy. As living trophies, we are God's handiwork, His evidence of His salvific work in us, and His visible prize to a world that is in desperate need of God. (compare 1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:14; 2 Corinthians 3:1-3) 

The trophies and rewards I won during my years in martial arts are packed away somewhere or hanging out of the way - I'd need to give locating most of them a lot of thought. I don't wear them or display them as part of my day-in day-out attire - unless I tell someone I am a black belt it is a secret. As living trophies of an Almighty God, our presence and interaction with others speaks in volumes,  As Paul wrote the Corinthians (recorded in the second letter, chapter 3), let this be true of our trophy ministry: "You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

We are compelled, then, to ask ourselves, do others see us as God’s trophies of grace? Take it to the Lord in prayer!

How the Holy Spirit Works in the Lives of Believers - Women, Listen Up!

For many women, service is a part of their character. Many of us learn as little girls to serve others as part of a daily routine. Even some of us have been taught to perform various types of service in the church from a young age -- e.g., altar guild ministry, acolyting, hospitality initiatives, and others (we all have our own lists). Because of the ingrained programming of service, some of us then may miss, may not be aware, of God's call to service. It is a huge difference that too many churchgoers fail to recognize, and thus, there are those instances in some churches where 20% of the people do 80% of the work of ministries. Consider the following message I gave to members a while back on knowing who you are in the Lord:

We are many of us involved in various ministries at church. Many of us have come to know what God has called us to do in the building up of the church. 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4:11-13 share the types of ministry gifts that God has bestowed on individuals and on the local church. The ministry gifts on and in individuals do not happen when you sign up for church membership. They do not happen when a priest or clergy task you with an assignment. You don't get them as a result of going to meetings or classes. THE ONLY WAY WE RECEIVE INDIVIDUALLY THE MINISTRY GIFTS SPOKEN OF IN THE ABOVE SCRIPTURES IS THROUGH THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHEN WE ARE BORN AGAIN AND ADOPTED AS SONS OF GOD. I can't say it any more plainly. The 'deposit' of the Holy Spirit in us - our guarantee from God of salvation - is the first gift of rebirth. From that point, the Holy Spirit operates within a believer and follower of Christ in a unique way that was preordained for Him to work, part of which is the bestowing of your personal ministry gift. Because many churches do not talk about the Holy Spirit, who He is and what He does in the lives of Christ's followers, so many churchgoers are ignorant of this part of their life in Christ if they have been saved. It is that call by the power of the Gospel and Holy Spirit working in us that God initiates our new life in Him - we have no power to do it ourselves.

The blessing of that calling is that God will enable us to do what He has called us to do. What He has called us to do has spiritual implications, and is outside of the natural -- therefore we cannot successfully respond to God's calling in our own strength. That is, we must do all things in Christ who strengthens us for the work we have been called to do.

How do you accomplish God's will in Christ? As believers, we have Christ living inside us in the form of the Holy Spirit. (please read 1 Peter 4:11; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:13,19; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 3:16-18) How do you know how to respond to the indwelling of God? Well, how does He speak to us? Through study and meditation of his Word, the Bible - the believers' handbook and authority, through prayer, and through circumstance. If you leave out the first two, it will be hard to discern the third one. When you leave out the first two, you will find your calling may begin to feel like a burden, or that it has become a routine duty - something on your checklist, something to satisfy your church membership or sense of doing good. When you don't do the first two regularly, the intimacy to which God is calling you to be in with him may escape you. When you don't do the first two consistently, it will be challenging to do God's will with joy. The sad truth is that there are those throughout Christendom who have been going to church for years and giving to the church in time and money and, yet, they have never known God because they will not do the first two things. (2 Peter 1:3-11, 20-21; Isaiah 5:13; Hosea 4:6; Ezra 8:22-23; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 4:1-4; Hebrews 5:11-14; 6:1;Psalm 119:114; 1 Timothy 4:10; Hebrews 10:23;1 Peter 3:15; Romans 15:4,13; Nehemiah 1:3-6; Matthew 26:41; Luke 6:46)

Ladies, I pray that the only true burden we have in our work for the Lord within the Body of Christ is the burden of desperately wanting to please God in fulling His purpose for us. He will help you do whatever He has called you to do, sometimes using your God-given natural talents to accomplish the work. Do not forget though: do your utmost to continue first to seek relationship with Him who has called us, rely on His strength, and allow God's Word to dwell in us richly as we do his will.

Blessings.

Stewardship...What Kind of Steward Am I?

For many churches at this time of year - or within the next few weeks, the call will go out for financial pledges, flyers on ‘stewardship’ are put up on bulletin boards, posted to the church website, and/or mailed out with pledge forms. Scriptures are quoted to underline the importance of financial giving, such as the widow with two mites, ones that show that investing in God will bring you manifold returns on your investment (e.g. Luke 6:38). Google "Bible verses to use to encourage financial giving" and, oh my, all sorts of programs, lessons, and schemes are listed. Some sites sell their 'proven methods'. Sometimes churches will hire a consultant to work with the church to encourage greater giving, including partnering with retail stores so that a percentage of money spent by churchgoers returns to the church coffers. Given the recent financial times, not to mention increased interest in self and comforts, it is little wonder that for many churches, the Bible principle of ‘stewardship’ is diminished and mocked, referring chiefly to how much a person is willing to give to the church over the course of another period of time. This understanding of stewardship falls excessively short of what the Bible teaches, and can sometimes brink on being unscriptural or just Bible-flavored fundraising. Such misrepresentation may cause churchgoers and Christians to miss out on a wonderful and fundamental experience in their walk with God.

I remember when this truth was driven home to me several years ago, when I began to catch a glimmer of what God’s Word truly teaches on stewardship. One of the members of my congregation testified one Sunday – praise God for the courage and encouragement that the Holy Spirit had on this comparatively new believer! – that he had lost his job, yet he had not lost his faith in God’s promises! He believed God to be the true provider for himself and his family. While the job loss and reduced income required adjustments in spending, he said he could not see himself still not giving God one-tenth of his income. He testified that God had not changed – just his own personal circumstances, and he believed that God would honor his faith in Him to continue to bless his family’s obedience in this regard. Not only did he get new employment, but it is employment that brings enough to sustain the family and allows him to engage in evangelism work through the faith communities to which he belongs.

See, he was teaching us this: Stewardship is founded on love of God, a trusting relationship with Him, leading the believer to express gratitude, faith; he does not see stewardship as merely a ‘financial’ thing. God gave us stewardship of the earth, of our lives and faith, of the relationships within the body of Christ so that as faithful stewards grounded in the sacrificial love of Christ, we see ourselves as what we are – purchased for Christ by His blood and no longer our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We see our very lives and existence as coming from God, and that without Him and His grace we are dead spiritually and separated from Him. We owe Him ourselves. As such, all of our life and lifestyle pivots on stewardship of the faith God has given us (Hebrews 12:2), stewardship of the temple of the Spirit  - our physical bodies and how we use them to God’s glory, stewardship of the relationships God brings us to, stewardship of the secular and spiritual work that He brings us to – everything in our lives that we encounter call for us to exercise the stewardship role that God has bestowed on us. The joy and wonderment of this is that we are partners with Christ in our stewardship responsibility, we share with Him, we serve with and abide in Christ throughout the remainder of our earthly lives and beyond (John 15; Romans 16:3,9; Romans 8). The rewards of our stewardship can be experienced in this life and in the life to come (Matthew 25:14-30). We are commanded to give ourselves to His kingdom work, which includes proclaiming the good news to our friends, family, coworkers, and others, and making disciples of ourselves and others, and to serve one another in Christ.

Yes, our financial giving is but one aspect of our stewardship, and yet all of our stewardship responsibility is predicated on the same love, thanksgiving, and gratitude, and faith. Our financial giving, though, is an indicator of how we see ourselves before God. Do we believe God is who He says He is? It’s funny – we will give/dedicate our babies and children to God and ask Him to do with them as He wills, yet we are stingy or reticent with our money and will not give to God the one-tenth He asks. Some excuse themselves from the tithing by saying that this was a part of the old Mosaic law and doesn’t apply to Christians. Why not? Tithing is not introduced in the Bible through the Mosaic Law; it was already a standard of giving relative to worship; read Genesis 14 to confirm this. The Mosaic Law given to Moses by God used that existing standard (which was God-authored hundreds of years before); it also included special standards of giving for the Levites, which were twice as high as the general tithe offering. Thus, Jesus’ first coming did not obliterate the general giving standard, nor the principles of the law, in which the giving of one-tenth of ones' incurred wealth and/or possessions (whether money or goods) was a standard in worship and obedience to Yahweh. Such giving back to God serves to remind us of what God has done for us, what His grace has provided, and that He is sovereign over all things.  Jesus' coming - His first advent - fulfilled the redemptive plan of the law. Jesus upheld the principles of the law and expounded on them in the Sermon on the Mount – particularly in Matthew 5. The law pointed to Christ, yet it also underscored the Jews' accountability to God, as it does so for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Compare Paul’s inspired account in 2 Corinthians 8 as he identifies the source of the giving by the Macedonians. (In the next chapter in verse 7, Paul uses the word 'cheerful' with respect to the believers' attitude towards giving. The Greek word used here is a derivative of the word for 'hilarious' or 'hilarity' - when was the last time you wrote a check to church which had you falling out of your seat laughing hilariously?) Malachi 3 is not a part of the Mosaic law, and believers are commanded there to bring one tenth of their income into the ‘house of the LORD,’ i.e., we have the supreme privilege of honoring God through our material goods, service and our active faith. 

As we look at ourselves through the perspective of God’s Word, we each need to ask ourselves: What kind of steward am I? Do I believe in God’s Word and promises? Have I pledged allegiance to God through the blood sacrifice of Christ and accepted Him as my Savior, Lord and Master – not in word only but through a real transfer of my rights to Him? Have I accepted the honor of partnering with Christ in stewardship? Do my works and actions agree with my answer? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

How does your church approach stewardship?

Sabbath Rest

It's less than two hours before midnight and I'm writing a post about sabbath rest. What does that tell you? God graced us with a period of rest on purpose - we need the un-wind, decompression, refocus and most of all physical rest. He did not make us to be a 24/7 machine. This principle applies universally - a need for adequate rest and refreshment of spirit. We are desperate for sabbath rest whether we admit it or not. Stress takes a chunk out of our lives, leaving us sometimes in emotional distress, and rushes us sooner than we would like to the grave. Our cognitive skills are strained and our bodies' organs must work overtime to compensate for how the stress is affecting us. We retain body fat when living in stress because the body reacts to stress relative to fat the way that squirrels react to the changing fall weather, storing up vittles for themselves. The body clings to the fat. Google "fat and stress" to see the results of research in that area. Scary.

I am one of those persons who needs to be busy. At least, that is what I have been for x# of years. Since I couldn't say no, and did not include sabbath rest in my schedule as a fixed event, it was only a matter of time before I hit the wall so to speak. It's not that I wasn't warned - I was warned countless times. You know -- 'you can't burn a candle at both ends,' 'even Jesus slept' (to which I have cynically replied inaudibly at least once, 'but He arose early'; tsk tsk), and - well, you've heard them all, too. See, sometimes us women of faith think that as long as we are doing ministry and keeping the home fires burning, God is going to keep us going even when we start to violate the parameters (we don't see it as violation - we see it as a failure or some kind of  - dare I say it - lack of faith to reject or say no to new challenges that never ever end). I kept thinking, well, that probability of crashing is way off in the future, and besides, I'll be able to tell when I need to stop and wind down. Deception! Even after hitting the burnout phase, thinking that maybe one more year will be ok before I take a vacation or take time off to do nothing, and step down from the responsibility of those things outside of true life necessities (arrrgh - we even blur 'necessities'). An individual with this personality doesn't have guardrails that are reliable. We keep moving them so they have no permanency. Eventually, we will move and move and keep moving and never see the brick wall until it is 2 feet away.

I am a recovering workaholic trying to practice a sabbath rest that works in real time for me - time when I can relax, lay back, read, and not have to be anywhere or required to be doing something. And I don't mean vegetating before the TV necessarily. It's hard, though, to go from 200 mph to 0. Especially the time for exercise - well, I'm supposed to be a steward of my time so why don't I act like it? The reality is that very few of us women who are householders, moms, or business owners, working a night shift, engaged in ministries, and/or any combination of these and other life needs can take a full day 'off' each week. But can we schedule 2 hours two or three times a week that we fix into the calendar to take a sabbath for restoration of our spirits and bodies? If you are graced to do so, could you take a full day once a month or bi-monthly to do something outside of your routine to give yourself a fresh perspective? I won't disrespect anyone reading this and needing sabbath rest in their life to draw a picture of how to do this in 7 easy steps. Each of our circumstances are unique - unfortunately/fortunately, we have to work it out for ourselves in ways that fit our realities. Women of faith need sabbath times especially as an opportunity to commune with our Heavenly Father to strengthen that relationship.

Take the idea of sabbath rest to God in prayer asking Him to give you wisdom in this area of your life. Ask Him to bring into your life women from similar lifestyles and routines as yours who have learned to do sabbath rest so that they can show you how it may work in your life. Ask others to pray for you, too, that you will find a blessing in your effort to establish this in your routine as a way of life, and a way of thanksgiving to God. As the psalmist says boldly in his own stress in Psalm 30: "To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication. 'What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?' Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper ... you turn mourning into dancing; you take off my sackcloth and clothe me in joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent."

I will listen to my own exhortation and shut down the computer and dim the light. Time for rest.