injustice…

God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodly behavior and the injustice of human beings who silence the truth with injustice. This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. Although they knew God, they didn’t honor God as God or thank him. Instead, their reasoning became pointless, and their foolish hearts were darkened. While they were claiming to be wise, they made fools of themselves. They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that look like mortal humans: birds, animals, and reptiles. So God abandoned them to their hearts’ desires, which led to the moral corruption of degrading their own bodies with each other. They traded God’s truth for a lie, and they worshipped and served the creation instead of the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:18-25, CEB)

God’s wrath is revealed against those who perpetrate injustice. They have traded God’s truth for their own lie and worshiped and served their own needs over what God has called them to do and be.

We have an administration that claims to be Christian, but they are not feeding those in need. The lowly have been cut off from food by those who claim to be doing the will of God. Seriously, how do we let this happen? They are saying, as of the writing of this, that those who will not vote for the continuing resolution to fund the government and destroy the ACA, making health care costs triple or more in some cases, are the ones withholding food, when the funds are there for the SNAP program, but even though the administration has been told by several judges to use the money they will not fund SNAP until the ACA is destroyed. So choose healthcare or food. And that is following God, how?

We need to stand against injustice.

Live in love.

resurrection

Jesus responded to the Jewish leaders, “I assure you that the Son can’t do anything by himself except what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he does. He will show him greater works than these so that you will marvel. As the Father raises the dead and gives life, so too does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. The Father doesn’t judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son so that everyone will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. “I assure you that whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and won’t come under judgment but has passed from death into life. “I assure you that the time is coming—and is here!—when the dead will hear the voice of God’s Son, and those who hear it will live. Just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. He gives the Son authority to judge, because he is the Human One. Don’t be surprised by this, because the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice. Those who did good things will come out into the resurrection of life, and those who did wicked things into the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:19-29, CEB)

We will all be resurrected. But which one will you get?

The author of John records here, Jesus said, “because the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice. Those who did good things will come out into the resurrection of life, and those who did wicked things into the resurrection of judgment.”

Those in the grave will hear his voice, meaning God’s, and will come up out of the grave, to life or judgment. Those who did good and loved others will come to life, and those who did evil and looked out only for themselves will be judged.

Which resurrection will you get?

not a new command

From the elder. To the chosen gentlewoman and her children, whom I truly love (and I am not the only one, but also all who know the truth), because of the truth that remains with us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be ours who live in truth and love. I was overjoyed to find some of your children living in the truth, just as we had been commanded by the Father. Now, dear friends, I am requesting that we love each other. It’s not as though I’m writing a new command to you, but it’s one we have had from the beginning. This is love: that we live according to his commands. This is the command that you heard from the beginning: live in love. Many deceivers have gone into the world who do not confess that Jesus Christ came as a human being. This kind of person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we’ve worked for but instead receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not continue in the teaching about Christ does not have God. Whoever continues in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. Whoever comes to you who does not affirm this teaching should neither be received nor welcomed into your home, because welcoming people like that is the same thing as sharing in their evil actions. I have a lot to tell you. I don’t want to use paper and ink, but I hope to visit you and talk with you face-to-face, so that our joy can be complete. Your chosen sister’s children greet you. (2 John 1-13, CEB)

“It’s not as though I’m writing a new command to you, but it’s one we have had from the beginning. This is love: that we live according to his commands. This is the command that you heard from the beginning: live in love.”

Live in love. Seems easy. And yet people do all sorts of mental gymnastics to get out of it. But being a homosexual is against the bible, and we can not love them because they are obviously going against the scripture. Well, if we actually take a moment and learn the actual meaning of the text and the contextual elements surrounding the writing, we see that what is taken as current homosexuality is not intended for that, and therefore our understanding of the text in condemning LGBTQIA2S+ people is incorrect. So, no, you can not hate them because they do not fit into your understanding of the Bible.

We use all sorts of gymnastics to get around actually loving. It is not a new command but one we have always had, even before Jesus. Love. Simple.

Stop making excuses and actually do what God told us to. Love.

Live in Love!

prophecy

We didn’t repeat crafty myths when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Quite the contrary, we witnessed his majesty with our own eyes. He received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from the magnificent glory, saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. In addition, we have a most reliable prophetic word, and you would do well to pay attention to it, just as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Most important, you must know that no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet’s own understanding of things, because no prophecy ever came by human will. Instead, men and women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:16-21, CEB)

“Most important, you must know that no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet’s own understanding of things, because no prophecy ever came by human will.” No prophecy is the prophet’s understanding but God’s because the prophecy is not from the prophet but God.

So do not believe the prophecy based on who gives it, but on the fact that it is from God.

Look at all God has done and is documented, and see there is a basis for trust in the prophecy that comes from God.

trickery

Some Sadducees, who deny that there’s a resurrection, came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a widow but no children, the brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first man married a woman and then died childless. The second and then the third brother married her. Eventually all seven married her, and they all died without leaving any children. Finally, the woman died too. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven were married to her.” Jesus said to them, “People who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to participate in that age, that is, in the age of the resurrection from the dead, won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. They can no longer die, because they are like angels and are God’s children since they share in the resurrection. Even Moses demonstrated that the dead are raised—in the passage about the burning bush, when he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living. To him they are all alive.” (Luke 20:27-38, CEB)

Some people who do not believe in the resurrection asked a question about the resurrection. They do not believe in what they are asking about, so the question itself is a trick. They do not believe in what they are asking, so the question is meant to get Jesus to trip up. Why do people ask about things they do not believe in? Usually, it is to cause the person who answers to answer in a way that incriminates them. This is not a person of integrity.

This person is looking to trip you up and is only trying to cause harm and get an advantage over others.

We, as followers of Christ, should not do this and should guard our hearts and always answer truthfully and honestly as people of integrity.

Be a person of integrity, not trickery.

Why do they care?

On one of the days when Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders approached him. They said, “Tell us: What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” He replied, “I have a question for you. Tell me: Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘It’s of human origin,’ all the people will stone us to death because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” They answered that they didn’t know where it came from. Then Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.” (Luke 20:1-8, CEB)

The leaders of the temple wanted to know who gave Jesus the authority to teach in the temple. Shouldn’t they know?

And honestly, if he is teaching sound doctrine and in line with the scripture, why do they care?

They care because it takes away from their power.

Do you hold on to power? Do you care more for what is taken from you or for those who are enriched by what they get from what used to be yours?

When we hold more tightly to power and our own well-being we are not being who God called us to be.

Let go of power and let love flow.

integrity

The governor nodded at Paul, giving him permission to speak. He responded, “I know that you have been judge over this nation for many years, so I gladly offer my own defense. You can verify that I went up to worship in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago. They didn’t find me arguing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd, whether in the synagogue or anywhere else in the city. Nor can they prove to you the allegations they are now bringing against me. I do admit this to you, that I am a follower of the Way, which they call a faction. Accordingly, I worship the God of our ancestors and believe everything set out in the Law and written in the Prophets. The hope I have in God I also share with my accusers, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. On account of this, I have committed myself to maintaining a clear conscience before God and with all people. After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring gifts for the poor of my nation and to offer sacrifices. When they found me in the temple, I was ritually pure. There was no crowd and no disturbance. But there were some Jews from the province of Asia. They should be here making their accusations, if indeed they have something against me. In their absence, have these people who are here declare what crime they found when I stood before the Jerusalem Council. Perhaps it concerns this one statement that I blurted out when I was with them: ‘I am on trial before you today because of the resurrection of the dead.’” Felix, who had an accurate understanding of the Way, adjourned the meeting. He said, “When Lysias the commander arrives from Jerusalem, I will decide this case.” He arranged for a centurion to guard Paul. He was to give Paul some freedom, and his friends were not to be hindered in their efforts to provide for him. (Acts 24:10-23, CEB)

In the face of probable death, Paul calmly describes what had happened to him in the temple and how he reacted. Paul’s accusers are not there to give testimony, so Paul asks others to name a crime he committed. It seems the charges are fabricated and a way to remove Paul from the temple, when all he was doing was offering a sacrifice, as is part of the worship of the people he is a part of.

Paul is a man of integrity.

Are you a person of integrity? The same in person as online? The same to everyone? Do you have different personalities and say different things to different people, or are you the same, in person, online, in every situation?

Be a person of integrity.

stand fast

The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Away with this man! He’s not fit to live!” As they were screaming, throwing off their garments, and flinging dust into the air, the commander directed that Paul be taken into the military headquarters. He ordered that Paul be questioned under the whip so that he could find out why they were shouting at him like this. As they were stretching him out and tying him down with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Can you legally whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t been found guilty in court?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. He asked, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!” The commander went to Paul and demanded, “Tell me! Are you a Roman citizen?” He said, “Yes.” The commander replied, “It cost me a lot of money to buy my citizenship.” Paul said, “I’m a citizen by birth.” At once those who were about to examine him stepped away. The commander was alarmed when he realized he had bound a Roman citizen. The commander still wanted to know the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews. Therefore, the next day he ordered the chief priests and the entire Jerusalem Council to assemble. Then he took Paul out of prison and had him stand before them. Paul stared at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with an altogether clear conscience right up to this very day.” The high priest Ananias ordered those standing beside Paul to strike him in the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit and judge me according to the Law, yet disobey the Law by ordering that I be struck.” Those standing near him asked, “You dare to insult God’s high priest?” Paul replied, “Brothers, I wasn’t aware that he was the high priest. It is written, You will not speak evil about a ruler of your people.” Knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, Paul exclaimed in the council, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I am on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead!” These words aroused a dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. This is because Sadducees say that there’s no resurrection, angel, or spirit, but Pharisees affirm them all. Council members were shouting loudly. Some Pharisees who were legal experts stood up and insisted forcefully, “We find nothing wrong with this man! What if a spirit or angel has spoken to him?” The dispute became so heated that the commander feared they might tear Paul to pieces. He ordered soldiers to go down and remove him by force from their midst. Then they took him back to the military headquarters. The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Be encouraged! Just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so too you must testify in Rome.” (Acts 22:22—23:11, CEB)

Our reading starts with, “The crowd listened to Paul until he said this.” What is it that Paul said? And who was he speaking to?

Here is what Paul said, “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I had a visionary experience. 18 I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem at once because they won’t accept your testimony about me.’ 19 I responded, ‘Lord, these people know I used to go from one synagogue to the next, beating those who believe in you and throwing them into prison. 20 When Stephen your witness was being killed, I stood there giving my approval, even watching the clothes that belonged to those who were killing him.’ 21 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” (Acts 22:17-21, CEB)

Paul was speaking in Jerusalem at the temple to Jews and Romans. Paul was both a Roman citizen and a Jew. He stood for what he believed in in the face of many dangers and never backed down.

Paul is a model for us to stand fast in our beliefs and to always be a person of integrity. Paul never wavered in his convictions. Do we bend ours?

And all of us, like Paul, have sordid pasts. Paul watched the clothing of those who killed Stephen, and yet, God sent him to be a beacon of hope for the Gentiles. Your past is just that, your past, not your present or your future. Hold fast to the love of God that claims you as Their child and live that love out loud.

Parable of the talents?

As they listened to this, Jesus told them another parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought God’s kingdom would appear right away. He said, “A certain man who was born into royalty went to a distant land to receive his kingdom and then return. He called together ten servants and gave each of them money worth four months’ wages. He said, ‘Do business with this until I return.’ His citizens hated him, so they sent a representative after him who said, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ After receiving his kingdom, he returned and called the servants to whom he had given the money to find out how much they had earned. The first servant came forward and said, ‘Your money has earned a return of one thousand percent.’ The king replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good servant. Because you have been faithful in a small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’ “The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your money has made a return of five hundred percent.’ To this one, the king said, ‘You will have authority over five cities.’ “Another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your money. I wrapped it up in a scarf for safekeeping. I was afraid of you because you are a stern man. You withdraw what you haven’t deposited and you harvest what you haven’t planted.’ The king replied, ‘I will judge you by the words of your own mouth, you worthless servant! You knew, did you, that I’m a stern man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit, and harvesting what I didn’t plant? Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then when I arrived, at least I could have gotten it back with interest.’ “He said to his attendants, ‘Take his money and give it to the one who has ten times as much.’ ‘But Master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten times as much!’ He replied, ‘I say to you that everyone who has will be given more, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for my enemies who don’t want me as their king, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’” (Luke 19:11-27, CEB)

As I read this, my thoughts went to Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the talents. Because it is basically the same story.

Here in Luke, the king calls together 10 servants and gives them each the same amount. When he returns, we hear about three of them. My first wonder is what about the other 7? I mean, one got 1000%, and the second got 500%. Could we say one got 900%, and another 800%, and another 700%, and another 600%, and another 400%, and another 300%, and then the last got 200%, because the last one wrapped the money in a scarf for safekeeping and has 100% of what was given to them.

At least at the end of Matthew, the only one thrown out is the servant with one coin. Here, all the enemies of the king are slaughtered before him.

This parable about us using what we have been given or face banishment or death is weird. We have been graced with a gift to give the world and are freed to serve. This is what we are called to do and be, and we should not do that because we are trying to avoid eternal punishment or the wrath of a vengeful king/creator.

Use what you have been given out of love, and know that it will always be replenished.

hold on…

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James. To those who are called, loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus Christ. May you have more and more mercy, peace, and love. Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago. I want to remind you of something you already know very well. The Lord, who once saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn’t maintain their faith. I remind you too of the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but deserted their own home. The Lord has kept them in eternal chains in the underworld until the judgment of the great day. In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning. Yet, even knowing this, these dreamers in the same way pollute themselves, reject authority, and slander the angels. The archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil about Moses’ body, did not dare charge him with slander. Instead, he said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these people slander whatever they don’t understand. They are destroyed by what they know instinctively, as though they were irrational animals. They are damned, for they follow in the footsteps of Cain. For profit they give themselves over to Balaam’s error. They are destroyed in the uprising of Korah. These people are like jagged rocks just below the surface of the water waiting to snag you when they join your love feasts. They feast with you without reverence. They care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; fruitless autumn trees, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom the darkness of the underworld is reserved forever. Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, “See, the Lord comes with his countless holy ones, to execute judgment on everyone and to convict everyone about every ungodly deed they have committed in their ungodliness as well as all the harsh things that sinful ungodly people have said against him.” These are faultfinding grumblers, living according to their own desires. They speak arrogant words and they show partiality to people when they want a favor in return. But you, dear friends, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the end time scoffers will come living according to their own ungodly desires.” These people create divisions. Since they don’t have the Spirit, they are worldly. But you, dear friends: build each other up on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep each other in the love of God, wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will give you eternal life. Have mercy on those who doubt. Save some by snatching them from the fire. Fearing God, have mercy on some, hating even the clothing contaminated by their sinful urges. To the one who is able to protect you from falling, and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence, to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, belong glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen. (Jude, CEB)

This is a book written by a person who says they are a servant of Christ, named Jude. Now, some say this is the brother of James, which would be the brother of Jesus. But all of this is speculation and we really are not sure who wrote this book.

As I read this, I see a person who is using authority to demean those who step outside the lines of what is accepted as truth, and to be a dutiful person and not rock the boat.

Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed for sexual immorality. The sin of Sodom as stated by the prophet Ezekiel, is: “This is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were proud, had plenty to eat, and enjoyed peace and prosperity; but she didn’t help the poor and the needy. They became haughty and did detestable things in front of me, and I turned away from them as soon as I saw it.” (Ezekiel 16:49–50, CEB)

In the end, scoffers will come living in their own desires, or wanting to keep power as they have always had. Jesus was not killed because it was the plan; Jesus was killed because he would have ended the power of the leaders who were currently in place. God’s desire throughout the scripture is that all people are equal and the same. Nothing can keep us from God: “There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, CEB)

Love like Jesus, let go of power and live God’s grace, mercy, and love out loud.