As Is

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. (Mark 6:1-13 ESV)

Did you hear what they said to Jesus? Really who do they think they are saying that he does not have the authority and that he is just a carpenter? But didn’t the disciples do the same thing few chapters back? In chapter 4 the disciples were not sure who he was after he calmed the storm after sleeping on the back off the boat. But the people think they know who Jesus is and call him on it. They limit him and how often does that happen to us? How many times has someone told you that you can’t do something so you just give up and don’t try? I remember when I was learning to play bass and a friend who had been playing for several years told me I would not be able to play a song I was trying to learn because it was too hard. I took it as a challenge and learned the song. But sometimes we jus give up. And we do that in life and in ministry.

Jesus calls us and sends us. The disciples in the above text are un named because in Mark we are the disciples. Mark says this is the story of Jesus from the time he was here until now. You are called and sent by Jesus just as you are. Do not listen to anyone tell you you can’t serve God because Jesus has called and equipped you to go and help all come to repentance, and live in the love that we all have been given.

Do not let anyone tell you you are just a anything. That you are not able to do ministry because of who you are, because God uses al kinds of people. Take a look at the song As Is by Peder Eide. He talks about the people God uses and how each of us is called as is. God loves you as is, and gives you the tools to do the ministry he needs you to do. So go and spread his love because has chosen you as is!

Here are the words to As Is:
Moses was a stutterer
David was a murderer
Jeremiah suicidal
Naked in the street
Paul, he had a problem
The specifics left unsaid
Timothy had stomach aches
And Lazarus was dead

Samson was a long-haired
Arrogant womanizer
Rahab was scarlet corded
Lady of the street
John the Baptist eatin’
Bugs and honey on his bread
Gideon a scaredy cat
And Lazarus was dead

As is
As is
He chooses us as His
As His
As His
Infuses us as is
With never ending
Love transcending
All our weakness
No excuses
He uses us as is

Noah was a drunk man
Abraham an old man
Jacob was a liar man
Leah second best
Jonah should have followed God
But ran away instead
Martha was a worrywart
And Lazarus was dead

How long o Lord…

“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. “‘Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.’ “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste. (Jeremiah 7:27-34 ESV)

Wow doesn’t that sound like fun? God is telling Jeremiah that he is going to go to the people and speak to the, the message that God is sending him to give and he will but the people will not listen. It will be point less to go and do what he has to do.

Have you ever felt like you couldn’t do anything right or what you were doing wasn’t making any impact on the kingdom? How would you like to told what to do by God and then be told you will do what God wants you to but it will not bring about the desired results of either you or God? Would that make you feel like you had accomplished something or make you cry out ‘how long o lord’!

Sometimes we feel like we are beating our heads against the wall doing what God has clearly told us to do. This makes us wonder and question if we are actually doing what God wants us to, or did we miss understand?

Take heart and follow where you know God has called you and be who God has made you to be. To quote the great theologian Jon Bon Jovi “just remember you are perfect, God makes no mistakes.”

backward rather than forward…

“As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. (Jeremiah 7:16-26 ESV)

God did not command the Israelites to perform sacrifices when they left Egypt according to Jeremiah. Jeremiah said, “But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” Walk in the ways of the lord that it may be well with you. Do not go after your own ideas or pleasures but walk in what the lord whats for you to do.

Jeremiah goes on to say that God also said, “But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.”  They looked after what they wanted to do and and sought their own council and not that of God. They did not walk in His ways, but made their ways to be the way God wanted so they would be right. This does not please God, or men. It sets up a clear us and them.

It makes me think of excommunication and how some are removed from the fold, or not allowed into the gathering because they are deviant. They do not adhere to the ways of the establishment and therefor they are judged as being a trouble to the group. Was there not a man who lived just about 2000 years ago who was a deviant to the establishment? The establishment that Jeremiah is referring to. He was a person who stirred up trouble because He walked in the ways of God, whole those who made the rules He was against. Jesus was excommunicated by the Jewish High Council in the most severe way. They thought they were right, their religion told them so. But they were looking backward rather than forward, scared at what they might see, or have to do…

Who do we exclude because they don’t fit our mold? They don’t fit our understanding of who is allowed? Why do we continue to look backward rather than forward?

God has some amazing things coming down the road that you do not want to miss, so ‘obey His voice, and He will be your God, and you will be His people. And walk in all the way that He commands you, that it may be well with you.’

Fools for Christ…

Have you ever done something really foolish?

The kind of thing where people stop and stare because they are amazed any one could have done the thing that you just did?

We makes fools of ourselves all the time and sometimes we don’t even have to try to make fools of our selves.

In today’s lectionary reading from 1 Corinthians 4 Paul talks about being a fool for Christ.

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day. (1 Corinthians 4:8-13)

I thought this was interesting. I also wondered at the word Paul used in the last verse for rubbish. They are counted like rubbish, or garbage. But I wondered what the word was and what it meant, so I went to the Greek Bible website and looked to see what the word was. And here it is:

περικάθαρμα,n  {per-ee-kath’-ar-mah}
1) off scouring, refuse  2) metaph.  2a) the most abject and despicable men  2b) the price of expiation or redemption, because the Greeks used  to apply the term “katharmata” to victims sacrificed to make  expiation for the people, and even to criminals who were  maintained at the public expense, that on the outbreak of a  pestilence or other calamity they might be offered as  sacrifices to make expiation for the state

Did you catch that? The Greeks used the term to refer to victims sacrificed to make expiation for the people, they were used to help the people be in good standing with the Gods.  Well Paul was trying to help people see that the God was looking out for them and loved them. He was giving his life so that others might come to know the saving grace of the Father if us all.

Sounds like pretty good rubbish to me.  And I think I want to be a fool!

I believe; Help my unbelief…

How many of us believe we are entitled to something?

Let’s look at it from a different vantage point…

How many of you have running water? How many of you have indoor plumbing? A toilet that flushes? A refrigerator/freezer to keep foods fresh?

How many of us can worship how we want without worrying about who is going to persecute us?

Those of us who live in the United States of America are spoiled and and we all think we are entitled to the freedom we have.  This is simply not the case. Many men and women have given their lives so that we have the luxuries that many others in other places do not have. We take for granted the things we have. Running water that is clean and drinkable. A flush-able toilet, a place to keep foods fresh. We have become entitled to these things. Many have suffered so you can do what you think is just every day stuff. We need to remember what has been given so that we have what we do.

And then there is the entitlement our religion gives us. We believe we have the whole story and all of the truth and others must bend to our ways. Read Mark 9:14-29:

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:14-29 ESV)

Did you see that? The disciples couldn’t exorcise the demon from the boy. Because they did not pray we see at the end. They were not conversing with God and did not understand the needs maybe. But that is not my point. The man whose son is being held by this demon says to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief.”  He said he believes in Jesus and God and knows that faith can do it, but help those places in me that maybe don’t get it. Maybe it is that he believes in the wrong things. Maybe he is looking to the law to set his son free. Maybe he is looking to his beliefs to set his son free. Maybe he is looking to what he can do to keep the law to heal his son. But none of these will. Jesus help my belief to be what it needs to be.

Jesus take my belief and turn it into the faith that you have for me. Help me to move beyond where I am to where you have for me to be. It is like us taking our current circumstances for granted as if we are entitled.  Remember whose you are and that He controls everything.

Investing In Freedom

Below is an article I received from my friend Dave Sather. I found it thought provoking and wanted to share it with you. Remember what we have is a gift given, from someone else providing our freedom, to God who gives us everything we need and more…

Often when people ask me how I am doing my response is that “I am far better than I deserve.” Sometimes that gets a chuckle. However, for a variety of reasons, this is a true statement.

I don’t live in a mansion or drive a solid gold Rolls Royce. There are no private jets and my house has foundation problems like many others.

Rather, I am thankful to have tap water I can drink and a toilet that flushes. I have access to health care, significant educational and training opportunities and can practice any religion I want to. I don’t “have” to go to work; rather, I get the “opportunity” to go to work. And, if I don’t like my job—I have the flexibility to change. Oh, and let’s not forget the ability to speak my mind (I’ve been told I do this quite frequently).

It has always been this way for modern Americans—but not for others. By merely being born in this free, capitalist country, we live a life that is easily better than 95% of the people in the world. That is hard to fathom—especially since I had nothing to do with the elite status that all American’s share. Unfortunately, these freedoms are so commonplace in our country that we often take them for granted.

Obviously, if this level of comfort is so unique in the world—someone made an investment of tremendous sacrifice quite some time ago.

Our founding fathers essentially committed treason to get the ball rolling. If they failed, they would die. In the finance world—this would be considered the mother of all “risk on” trades. The biggest risk I face at work is getting a paper cut–that kind of pales in comparison.

Since the Declaration of Independence was signed, there have been millions of Americans who stood tall to give us the life we have today. Many of these protectors were shot at, disabled or killed many years before I was even a twinkle in my parent’s eyes. There have been, and will continue to be, easier ways to make a living.

As such, we as a nation owe an incredible debt of gratitude to these people. They fight for our country, our people and our freedoms. They understand that freedom is not free and freedom is an investment unlike any other. It is a commitment that has been repeatedly made throughout the years so future generations will have a better life.

And to ensure that it remains, this sacrifice will continue to be made going forward.

As we celebrate the anniversary of our nation’s birth, remember to thank those that have served to make our nation great, especially those that made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom.

Dave Sather, President
Certified Financial Planner

You can’t do that…

Have you ever been told by someone that you can’t do something?  What does that do to your understanding of your ability to do that function?

Usually when people say you can’t do that we believe them. We are frozen in fear and do not even attempt the thing we were going to do because it is impossible for us. We have been told it is impossible for us.

Now some of us feed on this. I remember once I was learning a song on bass and I was motivated to learn it note for note because a friend told me that song was too hard for me and I would never be able to play it. Well I learned it and I felt a rush of accomplishment.

But in today’s lectionary reading from 2 Corinthians 9:1-5 we hear Paul setting up the Corinthians for their ability yo give a big gracious gift for the church to continue. He has been building them up to the brothers and he is writing them to tell them this. Not because he has to but just to give fair warning. He knows they will come through but he wants to encourage them some more by telling them much he has been talking about them and the great things they have done, are doing and will do.

That is where all of us are. We all have the ability to do great things graciously because God has gifted us with talents and resources to use for the advancement of His kingdom. We are going to do great things. It is nice to be reminded though that we have the ability.

So today you saint of God go forth showering others with the blessings you yourself was showered with. Giving to them as you have been blessed. Knowing that God will continue to bless you.

Cry Out

O Lord, God of my salvation;
I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!
For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness. (Psalm 88:1-18 ESV)

Have you ever felt all alone? Like no one not even God was there?

We have all been there when the world is pressing around us and we can say with the Psalmist, Yes I’ve been there I feel your pain. Where is God? I’m crying out and He is not answering me, He is soo far away does He even care?

Darkness has a way of being all encompassing, of surrounding us and enveloping us in a deep dark hole and the more we push at it for light, the more it seems to come in around us and hold us tighteer and tighter. And we suffer alone, we are assulted alone, wrath sweeps over us in isolation. We feel like there is no escape and no one not even God hears us.

I’ve been there with the Psalmist, but I remember the promise, that even through the darkest valley He is with you (me).

As I read this soong I was reminded of a song by Third Day

12 years…

There is a lot going on today in the Gospel lessons for the fifth of Pentecost.

We have Jesus and the disciples crossing over the sea again! And they meet the leader of the temple in the place they have landed. A Jew of high standing who is in charge of the Temple. He says that his daughter is dying. As Jesus the the disciples follow this man to his house, a large crowd gathers around and everyone is pressing in on Jesus and the group. Then a woman comes and touches the hem of his robe. And in one of the funnier moments in the gospels, Jesus says, “Who touched me.” And the recorded answer is not the smart answer I would have given if I had been a disciple. “Who didn’t touch you! If you didn’t notice Jesus we are just a little crowded here…” But Jesus knew. And so did the woman. Then she confesses, because she knows if she is found out even though she has been healed after suffering for 12 years that she will be stoned or punished in some fashion, because she is a woman in the square without a man, and moving in amoungest the gathering of the ruler of the Temple. Bad news for her, but Jesus says “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Your faith has made you well and be healed. These are 2 different things. Be made well and be healed, or be saved. They are different things indeed!

Then Jesus makes it the house of the ruler of the Temple and those gather say it is too late, the daughter is dead. Jesus says she is sleeping and goes in with the 3 and the mother and father and wakes her up. And it says in the text she was 12 years old. I always found this an odd sentence to include. But a friend of mine pointed out that the woman suffered with the disease for 12 years, and the little girl is 12 years old, there are 12 tribes and 12 disciples… What is the number play going on here?

12 years is important in the text. These stories are meant to lead us to or point us to the messiah to Jesus and the wonderful things He did, and will do for us! You see these stories are our stories. the Bible is your story and my story. It helps us understand who God is in this world that sometimes doesn’t want to know him, but we have a story to share, so go and share it!