Good Friday

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:5-11 NIV)

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!  (My Saviour Love, Charles H. Gabriel, 1905)

Amen.
May God meet with you and bless you this Easter.

Modern Day Parables

I got Jonathan a couple of books about Jesus and his Jewish roots. In part both books look at archaeology as well as Jewish traditions and customs of the time. From flicking through them, the books both seem interesting. Jesus, as we know, spoke to the Jewish people of his time through stories using traditions, customs, work and objects that they would not only understand, but also relate to.

This got me thinking about what customs, work and objects Jesus would use today if he were present in body on earth. How/what do you think modern day parables would be like?

What Jesus Didn’t Do

I got this from Cindy, who got it from Fred via Randy!

Seven things Jesus didn’t do:

1. Didn’t bring a lost person to decision
2. He offered forgiveness without confession of sin
3. Failed to ask about the prospect’s (yuck, hate that word) spiritual background
4. Didn’t use healing as a bait for decision
5. Failed to get the prospect (yuck, again) into a Bible (Torah) study
6. Failed to communicate the urgency of the encounter
7. Forgot to assign a spiritual person to do follow-up

What are your thoughts?

5 things I dig about Jesus

John Smulo started this new meme yesterday which is really cool, as so many out there will be sharing their thoughts on Jesus. The idea is to write down 5 things you dig about Jesus, and then tag 5 other people. There are already some great ones out there. Here are mine:

1) Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, he gave of himself in a way I don’t think I ever could.

2) He was bold, brash, dangerous and quite simply extraordinary. He had and still has so much WOW factor, I’m in real awe of him.

3) He loved everyone, he didn’t despise, reject, or look down upon anyone.  EVERYONE was welcomed by him.

4) He got his hands dirty, he walked the talk and talked the walk – he lived as an example to us, showed us how to live, he couldn’t have made it more clearer.

5) He is not in the past, he is still here today – yesterday, today and forever still the same ….. and he loves ME and YOU!

I tag:

Jonathan
David
Paul
Erin
Heidi

Faith and Healing

 

This morning when I was reading Jesus Creed I became aware of someone who is in need of prayer for their health right now.  I felt drawn to pray for her complete healing.  When Jonathan came home for lunch he was talking to me about a man who comes to church, who is confined to a wheelchair, and does not communicate very clearly.  He saw him on the street and talked to him for a while, and prayed for him.

What followed was a discussion between the pair of us on healing.  Why is it we do not see or hear of many healings, when we know Jesus does heal.  Is it because we have a lack of faith or is it because Jesus chooses not to heal everyone?  I know in the past I’ve prayed for healing for people, and they have simply not been healed – was it my lack of faith, was it theirs, or was it just not God’s will for that person?  Sometimes now I wonder if I should pray for healing for people, what if they are not healed?  what if someone, like the guy in the wheelchair, has had people pray for healing in the past, and it doesn’t happen, then you pray for healing, and still nothing happens.  Humanly we feel stupid, the people who have been prayed for feel let down.  Do we not pray for healing so much now because, not only do we have a lack of faith, but because we are worried that if nothing happens our God will look weak and uncaring?  We must remember that healing isn’t always physical.

I read recently on someones blog – sorry, I can’t remember who’s now – about how they were in a coffee house recently and noticed someone on the table next to them was in a lot of pain in their back.  They had a word of knowledge from God that this person had one leg shorter than the other, so he asked the man if he could pray for him.  The man left the coffee house pain free with both legs the same length.  Should we listen for words of knowledge before we pray for healing?  Would we see more healing in the world if we really trusted in God, had a lot of faith, and prayed for who ever we came into contact with, believing that Jesus would touch them.  What are your thoughts?