aSacredRebel

Did he really just say that?

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God. (Luke 9:28-43, NRSV)

I always love the transfiguration stories of Jesus. I mean Moses and Elijah show up and, of course, Jesus knows who they are, He was there when they were created, before they were formed in their mother’s wombs. But how do Peter James and John know them? There weren’t any photos floating around. Moses and Elijah never had a selfie!

But Peter says that James and John and he will make for the 3 of them tents, so we could stay here for a long time. But since he was drowsy and probably dreaming. Did you catch that in Luke’s rendition of the story, “Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep.” Did they dream the whole thing? I don’t believe it was a dream. Because when Peter started his funny talk about tents, God the father broke in and said, “Jesus is my chosen one, my son, listen to Him.”

Jesus is made whiter than any white there ever was, cleaner than any of us would ever be. And He is God’s chosen, His Son, and so we should listen to Him.

Put away our funny words, and thoughts, and listen to what He is telling us and follow Him where He leads!

In God We Trust

Psalm 56.13 Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many fight against me.
O Most High,
when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me?
All day long they seek to injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk,
they watch my steps.
As they hoped to have my life,
so repay them for their crime;
in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your record?
Then my enemies will retreat
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
My vows to you I must perform, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
(Psalm 56, NRSV)

One of my favorite songs growing up was In God We Trust by Stryper. I loved the heavy metal guitars and the loud high vocals. But more than that it had a message of relying on God and not on money or anything else.

You see this psalm reminds us of that as well, that we need to put our trust in God. For nothing else is going to hold us up or always be there like God will.

For God has delivered my soul from death, and kept my feet from falling, so I will walk before God in the light of life and in His love and always trust in God.

Here is a video of In God We Trust:

Lent Photo a Day Journey 2016

One of the things that has helped my faith grow is a photo a day challenge for Advent and Lent. And for the past couple years I have produced a photo a day challenge to use myself and share with anyone else who would like to do it.

Usually, we think about giving something up for Lent, but taken something on can also draw us into our faith and closer to Christ.

I pray that this adventure will draw you closer to God as we travel these 40 days of Lent with our Savior!

And here is another Photo a Day Challenge from the Catholic Sistas!

you are

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:1-10, NRSV)

Do not be worried if you are rejected by mortals, for you are chosen by God!

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. You have been set apart.

Not you will be once you get everything worked out and your life together.

You are. God has chosen you as is and claims you as His own.

So don’t think that your status with God will change, He has chosen you and you are His!

Never think less of yourself, because God thinks you are worth dying for!

blessed woe

bd911db2003ea8a8cd8bfff0c41d6e46 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. (Luke 6:20-26, NRSV)

You are blessed when you are:

poor
hungry
weeping
hated
reviled

And woe to you when you are:

rich
full
laughing
well spoken of

Seems like Jesus got His lists backwards.

How am I blessed if I’m poor, hungry, weeping, hated, and reviled?

Well, you see if you are all the things that you are under woe, you can count on yourself. If you are rich, full, laughing, and well spoken of you can rely on yourself and do not need anyone else. Thus, you will miss the abundant life you will have when you give up what you have a rely on God.

So give up and rely on God and be blessed!

unbelief

When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place. He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:53-58, NRSV)

The people of Nazareth could not receive His miracles because they did not believe He could do those things. They knew who He was and they were unable to think of Him in a different way.

They didn’t doubt that He had the power, they did not believe it.

Doubt is not having hope in something, it is not the opposite of belief.

I believe, help my unbelief we see in the gospels. Doubt leads us to wonder and question and deeper inspection of something. Unbelief closes our minds and keeps us locked in our box.

Do not be unbelieving but question and dig deeper and allow Him to do wonderful things in your life.

rains came down…

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:24-29, NRSV)

The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came a-tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the house on the rock stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the house on the sand went SPLAT!

This passage comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells us to love our enemies, avoid judging others, to live generously and to avoid being a hypocrite.

So everyone who does these things is like the wise man who builds his house on the rock.

You see it is not about being right in the rules and having a complete understanding about who God is and all the rules we need to follow. It is about being like Jesus, loving and understanding and helping everyone see the love of God.

Pray!

“To improve your prayer life, understand that it’s not meant to be just a time to ‘put all your begs in one ask it!’” ~Dr. Mark Vitalis Hoffman

Have you ever been asked to pray in public for something? I have. It happens all the time, as soon as I walk into the room, it is like no one else there is qualified to say a prayer. And the best place to ask for someone to pray is a room full of pastors! It is like a classroom when a teacher asks who wants to answer the question. Head down, don’t make eye contact, don’t move, don’t breath, as that might be mistaken for volunteering!

download (1) This year during Lent our confirmation youth will be studying the Lord’s Prayer. And like during Advent where we as a congregation joined them on learning about the Apostles Creed, we will join them in learning about the Lord’s Prayer.

We will walk through this prayer, and dig into the details of it and what it means.

For instance, did you know there are 5 different versions of the Lord’s Prayer? 2 of them are in the New Testament, one in Matthew and one in Luke. And did you know that the Contemporary version of the Lord’s Prayer was translated 28 years ago!

Do we actually know what we are saying when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, and are we supposed to be saying that prayer word for word or was is given to the disciples as a model so they would all be able to pray and give Jesus a break at meal time?

Join us and dig deeper into the Lord’s Prayer. And see you don’t have to be a deer in the headlights when someone asks you to pray!

May God bless as we enter Lent and help us all to grow in our discipleship and closer to Him.

these remain

1corinthians13_13-f If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13, NRSV)

This chapter is probably the most read bible passage at weddings because it is all about love.

Just do a search of 1 Corinthians 13 and you will get all images of love.

But is that really what this passage is about. Yes, I will give you Paul uses the word love and talks about what love is, but is love the emotion here?

Because after he describes what love is, he talks about being a child and reasoning as a child, and putting away childish ways, and seeing in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. When will we see face to face? When we will know fully and be fully known.

At the coming of the new kingdom, we will see things clearly, and at that time we will fully know and understand all God is leading us to.

And in all of this, faith, hope, and love remain. When everything else will be done away with. When all is destroyed and the new heaven and the new earth are here, faith, hope, and love will still remain.

These remain, but why?

When the new heaven and earth are here, why do we need faith, the belief in things unseen, as we will be seeing.

When the new heaven and earth are here why do we need hope, the understanding that something is going to happen or is true.

And won’t we be love at that point?

passed through their midst

Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. (Luke 4:21-30, NRSV)

No prophet is accepted in their hometown.

Elijah healed those who were not Jews. Those who were not a part of God’s chosen people.

And because Jesus brought up these stories the people were enraged.

They wanted to throw Him off a cliff, but He passed through their midst…

How many times are we upset because of what someone else gets?

The healing that eludes us or our loved ones, but sets someone else free.

The promotion we get passed over for while our friend gets a new great job.

Is Jesus passing through our midst, trying to elude our attempts to throw Him off a cliff?