Author: Peterloeffelbein

In a binary numbering system there are only two numbers, 1 & 0. If a number is not 1 then it’s a..0.

Binary, on or off, yes or no.

Is Jesus my savior? 1 I mean yes.

It turns out that for the Jesus question there are only 2 answers. Our culture has told us that there are three possibilities , yes, no and ‘?’. Or a fill in the blank.

Matthew 12 has this story.

“22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

These verses have a lot in them. I have focused on one verse.

“30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. “

There will be a test in this. It is not an essay test. It is not multiple choice. It is a true or false binary 1 or 0 question.

I see it like this: i wake up dead. I am in a blue room, well it feels like a room but there are no walls, just blue. I am seated at a desk. It has a sheet of paper on it with this question.

Do I accept what Jesus did, his death, as payment for my sin? 1 = yes, 0 = no.

In front of me there is a screen with all of my sins being played out in a loop. So many. I cringe as I watch. Shame wells up, remorse, regret all wash over me.

Interspersed in the video of my sins is a video of Jesus death. I see him Being flogged, the crown of thorns, the huge heavy wooden cross that they drop on his whipped and raw shoulder. I see his trek up to the top of the hill carrying his cross, I see the nails hammered into his hands and feet, as they stand it up I see the bottom of the cross dropping into its hole, I see his body slammed against the nails. I watch him slowly die. I hear his words, “father forgive them…” then, “it is finished”. He looks at me with compassion and love and mercy.

I write a 1.

Because he died but rose again, as soon as I finish my test the blue melts away to the roar of people all around me praising God and Jesus himself welcoming me home.

1 or 0. Yes or no.

We can take the test now, today. We can fill in the answer today. I don’t know if we get the chance after we die. I made that up. I know that we can choose now. Today is the only day we can count on or do anything in. Today. 1 or 0.

James 2

“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”

Maybe it’s contagious. This wealth thing. We tend to want to hang out with wealthy people. Remember the show “lifestyles of the poor and destitute”? No wait, that wasn’t it, it was the “rich and famous”. Our human nature wants to associate with wealth and success. Could it be that we think it might rub off? At the very least, rich people have cool stuff. Cool stuff is fun and expensive and so it is rare. Hanging with rich people we might get to play with their stuff. But human nature is almost always counter to Christian belief and practice.

The kingdom of God is upside down to the world. Our king laid down his life and died for us. Our king washed his friends feet. Our king never had a palace or a throne or a scepter. Our king was born in a barn and slept in a feeding trough. Our king carried his own cross.

Christianity is counter cultural and sometimes counter intuitive. It doesn’t always make sense.

“5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?”

Favoritism = adultery = murder. That is not good math. Not in my mind. It’s like saying a penny equals a million dollars because favoritism is a penny sin, murder? That’s a million dollar sin. Am I right? No. I am completely wrong. Sin = all other sin. Sin is sin.

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”[b] also said, “You shall not murder.”[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.”

There is hope. Our God is merciful. He expects us, once we have experienced his mercy, to extend his mercy to the world around us.

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Mercy. Not getting what we do deserve. Grace. Getting what we do not deserve. They are what distinguishes Christianity. That and the fact our savior rose from the dead. Yes, I said fact. Feels harsh to leave I there but I’m going to.

No I can’t. Jesus loves us. He died to wash away our sin. He lives to intercede on our behalf. Won’t you accept that gift today?

Feeling prickly much?

I am not sure what’s wrong with me but my head and heart and soul feel sludgy.

That feeling makes me act prickly. Like I lash out irrationally. I feel like, well like a pumpkin stem. I say that because we recently went to a local pumpkin patch and bought some pumpkins. Pumpkins are smooth skinned and they look jolly and happy even before a smile is drawn on them and yet when I picked them up by the stem My hand was poked full of little holes by the pokey thistle shaped spikes on the stem.

Later in the day, I read this in Isaiah. It gives me hope while I weather through this prickly season of my heart.

“In that day, sing about the fruitful vineyard. I, the Lord, will watch over it, watering it carefully. Day and night I will watch so no one can harm it. My anger will be gone. If I find briers and thorns growing, I will attack them; I will burn them up— unless they turn to me for help. Let them make peace with me; yes, let them make peace with me.” The time is coming when Jacob’s descendants will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole earth with fruit!
Isaiah 27:2-6 – NLT

God said he will burn up briers. God will burn up the prickly. UNLESS. Unless they turn to him for help. Is Isaiah just talking about weeds in a garden or is he using a metaphor and talking about people, contrasting fruitful people with those people who are parasites, who are antagonistic prickly people who detract and distract from the fruitful?

We recently spent time at the Oregon coast. It is beautiful there. The variety of plants and trees is amazing! One constant in all the flora is the black berry brier. They seemed to grow everywhere. We saw several abandoned properties that were being enveloped in briers. The black berry it a sweet delicious fruit but the vines are spiked with thorns and they can envelope and reclaim the ground from houses and barns and vehicles.

God talks about planting a vineyard. Grapes are a vining plant. Blackberries briers are a similar vining plant however grape vines don’t have thorns. I have never seen a domesticated black berry patch. I suppose it’s possible to control them but they seem to want to spread and take over wherever they grow. No matter where they are, they have long prickly thorns. Those of us who would eat of their fruit will be scratched and torn in the process.

Their thorns make it difficult to harvest the berries.

Jesus used many different farming analogies; if we are the sheep, he is the good shepherd, if we are the wheat, he is the farmer, if we are the grape branches, Jesus is the vine and God the Father is the vine dresser.

I’ve just done an internet search for domesticating blackberry briers. I read several, They all say to start by cutting out the dead wood, cut the vines back to 5 feet, and strap them to a post.

Jesus used the vine/branch/vinedresser analogy in John 15.

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
John 15:1-8 – NLT

If we are following Jesus we need to to be connected to him in a way similar to a grape vine and a branch. We need to receive our life source from Jesus. If we aren’t producing God will prune us so we can be. I read somewhere that a vine dresser will cut back the vine to the second budding branch, No room for superfluence.

Well, I woke up this morning in God’s vineyard, looked around at all the grapevines around me, looked down at myself and realized that I am a blackberry bush. What Am I to do? What will God do about me being a blackberry in the middle of his grapevines?

“If I find briers and thorns growing, I will attack them; I will burn them up— unless they turn to me for help. Let them make peace with me; yes, let them make peace with me.”

This morning I am turning my prickly self over to God for help. We will see what he can do with prickly me.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6

By the time I am done praying about my request I am already mentally trying to answer my own prayer.

Forgive me Father God. I know that I might have some responsibilities in the answer to my prayers but if I just asked you to to help, why am I shouldering the load again? It’s like saying “here carry this” but never transferring the load.

Forgive me Father. Help me let go and trust you.

Acts 18

The homespun chapter.

There is still much travel. We start out in Athens and then travel to Corinth, Ephesus, Caesarea and Antioch. How can this be the homespun chapter?

The chapter talks about making new friends, meeting Priscilla and Aquila, meeting Apollos. And old friends reunited- Timothy and Silas rejoin the team. Then it also talks about just living life, making tents.

“2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”

I like this chapter. Maybe because it shows real life. Maybe because it shows friendship and fellowship, maybe because it shows discipleship and inclusion,maybe because God speaks encouragement. But I think mostly because it shows that Christianity isn’t a destination, it’s a journey. It’s a part of a life, a real life.

I know I haven’t arrived. I’m not done learning, growing or failing. I haven’t outgrown the need for grace and forgiveness. Thank you Jesus that you know me and love me and forgive me. Forgive me.

Save, heal, protect and bless my friends and family. Become more real to us Jesus.

I’ve been reading the Psalms. They are ancient songs, most written by David who was the second king of Israel.

It is not politically correct. Living in our American PC world where morality is upside down its strange to read non PC literature. But I guess non of the bible is PC. It is true, it is right and it pulls no punches to appease us who read it.

I found this today in Psalm 68.

“1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
2 May you blow them away like smoke—
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
3 But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds[b];
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,[c]
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”

There is only one way to be righteous, and that is to covered over in the righteousness of Jesus. It’s like it’s a cold winter day and all of us are naked standing in the cold freezing. We have no protection from the coldness of our sin. Jesus comes along and wraps us in his coat, his warmth, his love, his protection, his perfection. We can be covered by his righteousness.

Evil will lose. God will reign. God is worth all our praise because he is a God who has not abandoned us but provided a coat of protection through his Son Jesus. Among all of the rest of us, He is the God of the fatherless, the widow and the lonely.

“19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
20 Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.”

A blessing and a warning.

Be blessed today. Come in out of the cold. Take the warmth of Jesus offered to you today.

Acts 14

The cities change but the message never changes. It is the good news that all of our sins are forgiven through the sacrificial death of Jesus.

Jews and Gentiles (we are one or the other) all have the same gift from God. Jesus is the savior for everyone, for every one.

This chapter is encouraging to me. Not just because a great number believed in every town they went, and not just because miracles followed them.

“8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.”

Not just that but also because not everyone accepted the good news, in fact Paul was stoned and left for dead by a crowd who opposed the message of good news.

“19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.”

They just kept preaching. I sometimes determine whether or not I’m doing the will of God with the opposition test. None to little opposition means I am in Gods will, opposition means try something else but that isn’t what we see here. When opposition came they changed locations but not vocations and message stays the same. Jesus came to save sinners.

“21 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.”

I don’t think that God is asking me to travel and share his message for a vocation. I think God is saying through this text that the opposition test is not a valid test.

Share the good news everywhere I go and don’t be deterred by opposition.

That’s what I’m hearing.

What are you hearing from God through these passages? Is God leading you into something new?

I read this this morning. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

“Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

I especially like the last sentence.

“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

Acts 13

What did Paul look like? I’d like to think that he looked Tom Hanks, medium build, handsome, friendly, approachable. But what if he looked like Woody, not the doll, but the actor writer, director Woody Allen? It’s more likely. He was Jewish. What about Barnabus?who did Barnabus look like? I think of Patrick Warburton. The voice of Kronk in the emperors new groove.

Now with that picture in mind read the chapter.

“Acts 13:2-5New International Version (NIV)

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

On Cyprus
4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.”

Saul changes his name to Paul. And he begins to do what he was created for, build and build up the Church.

“9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”

“15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!”

Paul then goes onto do a very thorough explanation of the person and mission of Jesus.

The Jewish people would reject him and so he immediately began to speak to the gentile population.

I think that Paul was a small man in stature but a giant in intellect, in passion and in purpose.

He jumped into the new role of traveling evangelist with everything he had and everything that he was.

So a guy who looked like Woody Allen and a guy who looked like Patrick Warburton walked into a synagogue….and the world would never be the same.

“49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus use me to change the part of the world that you have set me in.

I sum up

What is Christianity all about? What is the deal with this Jesus guy? Why do we care about some obscure carpenter/teacher from 2000 years ago?

As I was reading through the book of 1 Corinthians today I read this great summary that the writer Paul gives us in chapter fifteen.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Jesus lived a perfect life and then voluntarily died and rose from the dead 3-days later his resurrection was witnessed by many people over a course of 40 days.

Okay but why? Why did he do it? Why does it matter? How can it one man dying and rising again make a difference?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”John 3:16-17

Like a child born to a slave, from birth we are born into slavery to sin, which is anything less than 100% perfection 24/7/365. And we will all die, so we are all a slave to death. We will all die. In the above passage from John we read that once we have received God’s gift we shall not perish but have eternal life.

People keep dying though.

What do we have to look forward to? What happens when we die?

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Where are you on your spiritual journey? Are you ready to ask for help? At the end of life do you have a plan for how to pay for all the things you’ve done? You can ask for help. Do you want to begin a relationship that ends with an eternal dwelling with a God who loves you?

Jesus says this to all of us, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Jesus wants you to establish a relationship with us, with me, and with you.

Will you answer the gentle knocking on the door of your heart today?

Just start with a simple prayer of saying yes, yes to forgiveness, yes to belonging, yes to relationship with Jesus.

If you say yes to Jesus today, tell someone who already knows Jesus. If you don’t know anyone like that you can tell me and together we will get you plugged into a group of people who will help you grow in your new relationship with the God who loves you enough to die for you. In that death, he paid for all of your mistakes, all of our mistakes.

Do you want your start fresh? You can do it today.

Acts 11

Can a leopard Change its spots?

I don’t think so. But that is what is usually asked when there is a question about some person changing their mind or heart or character or position. Can a person really change or is our die cast at birth and we are just living life the way we are designed?

Just two chapters ago this is how Saul is described, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”

Can people change? I don’t think we can change ourselves. But that isn’t really the situation here. The real question is, can God change a person once Jesus is their savior? Can people be rehabilitated by Gods spirit living in them?

“19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. “

Can God change a person? From the evidence here in this chapter the answer is YES. From the evidence in my own life and my experience of other people who have received Jesus the answer is YES.

God through the living in us spirit can change us. Saul started pastoring here in Antioch. It’s here that we get the name Christian. It means little Christ. An imitator or clone of Jesus. I like it. It doesn’t always apply to me, I am not always Christlike but I bear the name as something to grow into.

Saul who will soon change his name to Paul and go on to write most of the New Testament is brought into the ministry by Barnabas. Son of encouragement, that’s what his name means. That’s what I want to be. That’s what I need in my life. That’s what role my wife Mary has played in my life. Encouragers, the world needs more of those.

I sum up. Jesus is for everyone. Jesus can and will change people. Jesus is changing me. Jesus can and will change anyone who admits they need forgiveness and accepts Jesus death as payment for their mistakes. Persecutors can become pastors and bible writers. I want to be a little Christ (Christian) who encourages people.

Acts 10

And the rest…..

Here is where we come in.

Up to this point in the story Christianity was as a sect of Judaism. God had other plans. God had bigger plans. God had plans that would eventually include me, not exclude me.

“34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

Jesus had said that they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, the city, Judea, the area, Samaria, the area next door, and the utter most parts of the world, and the rest. I think that they were thinking geographically. That they would travel and tell their story to the Jews in the utter most parts of the world but God wasn’t talking about land masses. He didn’t come to save the land masses. He didn’t come to just save Jewish people. Jesus came to save the masses. Jesus came to save the masses that are messes. I am one one. I am one of the mass that is a mess. I am a sinner. I’ve done things. but more than that, I still, even after accepting Jesus as my savior want to stray away. My heart is self centered and bent on wanting what it wants. Jesus knew all that and he died for me.

Because of Cornelius and his family, and Peters obedience I can be welcomed into the family of God without becoming a Jew first. I don’t know all of the details but The process was not easy and would leave a convert always on the outside.

On the show Gilligans Isle, for the first season only the top stars had their characters mentioned in the theme song. The last line of the song was “…and the rest” Bob Denver wanted equal billing for all of the characters on Gilligans Isle. Again I don’t know all the details but after the first season we get to sing, “the professor and Maryanne,”. Because God so loved the world, the masses of people not the masses of land, he gave his only Son that whosoever would believe in Him, would not perish but have everlasting life.

Good news for ALL of us. In Gods song of salvation our names can be included.

“Del, It’s a gift…. “

That’s what Neal Page tells his friend Del Griffith when Del frets about repaying a debt. (Planes, Trains and Automobiles)

Being indebted to someone or something is a terrible place to be. I got money from the US. Government to go to college. I don’t have to ever pay it back because it was a grant. That’s what you do when you give something of value to a person when you know they can’t repay you. It’s a gift. It’s a grant. No payments, no interest, free. A gift.

That is what God has done for us in Jesus. He has gifted, granted, graced us with forgiveness. It’s a debt we cannot pay. Our sin is a stain that we are powerless to wash away. We can’t pay for it. We cannot clean it up or cover it with a pile of good deeds.

Do you know what God calls our good deeds? He calls them filthy rags (think used feminine protection). Our good deeds look like used tampons to God. How can we ever expect to pay for our sins with used tampons?

The good news is we don’t have to. “Though our sins be as scarlet, he will wash them whiter than snow”.

We cannot pay for a gift. If a gift is a gift then it is free.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:4-10

We are forgiven by the grace of God.

(your name, my name here)It’s a gift.

We have heard it said that the rules to life are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our mind, with all of our soul and all of our strength and to love our neighbor as we love ourself.

But what does that love look like?

I read this this morning.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Cor 13:4-7 NIV

We love like Jesus loves us.

It may seem impossible to love like this. In a way, it is. We can’t give what we haven’t received so step one is to receive the love of God through receiving God’s gift of forgiveness in Jesus. We can do that today.

It starts with a simple prayer. We just need to ask to be forgiven for our sins. Then we acknowledge that we are giving over the control of our lives to Jesus. We must believe that Jesus died and rose again and through that process, he paid for our sin and is now alive forever interceding for us.

Then tell someone that you did this. Tell me or someone you know who is already following Jesus. Telling someone else makes it real.

Tell me. I would love to hear your story.

We are at the point in Matthew 26 where Jesus is going to make a statement that condemns him. He claims to be God.

what are we to do with this information. Here is what C.S. Lewis said about the matter,

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Here is the story from Matthew 26:
“57-58 The men who had seized Jesus took him off to Caiaphas the High Priest in whose house the scribes and elders were assembled. Peter followed him at a safe distance right up to the High Priest’s courtyard. Then he went inside and sat down with the servants and waited to see the end.

59-61 Meanwhile the chief priests and the whole council did all they could to find false evidence against Jesus to get him condemned to death. They failed completely. Even after a number of perjurers came forward they still failed. In the end two of these stood up and said, “This man said, ‘I can pull down the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

62-64 Then the High Priest rose to his feet and addressed Jesus, “Have you no answer? What about the evidence of these men against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the High Priest said to him, “I command you by the living God, to tell us on your oath if you are Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “I am. Yes, and I tell you that in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of Heaven.”

65-66 At this the High Priest tore his robes and cried, “That was blasphemy! Where is the need for further witnesses? Look, you’ve heard the blasphemy—what’s your verdict now?” And they replied, “he deserves to die.”

67-68 Then they spat in his face and knocked him about, and some slapped him, crying, “Prophesy, you Christ, who was that who hit you?”’

It isn’t a crime to claim you are the son of God, if in fact you are the son of God.

Jesus is the son of God, I say is, not was, because he lives, he is alive today. He suffered, he died, he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven and he is returning some day, one day, possibly soon.

Our eternal destiny hangs in the balance of our answer to this question: What do you believe about this man Jesus?

Acts 3.

“6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

As a child I spent 21 days in a hospital bed. I was a complete surprise to me when I was able to try and walk that my legs would not support me. I just crumpled to the floor.

This healing then is actually two-fold. The beggar was not only given the ability to walk but also the strength to walk.

Then Peter uses the miracle as a platform from which he told everyone there about Jesus.

Jesus said that we would receive his Holy Spirit so that we would be Empowered to be His witnesses.

Are we as a church, the whole body of believers in Jesus experiencing this power now? Where did the power to heal go? What changed? Is wasn’t God. Jesus Christ is same, yesterday, today and forever.

It feels like being late to the party. When you arrive the people there say “oh, you should’ve seen it, wow it was great!” Or when the old timers reminisce about the good old days, “back in my day…”

It is today. I am here now. What miraculous signs will God do through us today? I’m Praying for healing for cancer patients, for babies hanging on for life in crisis pregnancies, for people healing from surgery, for GERD, for rashes that won’t go away, for food allergies and the list goes on. For marriages, ones in bliss and ones on the rocks. God please hear and heal and touch. Show us us your power God. Most important God, save us from our sin. Forgive us and clean us.

Psalm 25

Do you ever wake up at night a rehearse all the stupid things you’ve done? The feeling of shame wraps you in a suffocating hug. Where is the escape hatch? Where is tag out button? How can we get separated from our past? It’s like our shadow, we can’t get away from it.

We have 2 options: forgetting it, or forgiving it.

“6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.[b]
13 They will spend their days in prosperity,
and their descendants will inherit the land.
14 The Lord confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.”

God forgives sin. Jesus died to take away the sin that we confess to him. The memories don’t go away but we can cling to him and his forgiveness.

“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[c] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”’

Forgiveness is a prayer away.

The next story in Matthew 26 is about the garden of gethsemane. I don’t like this story.

“Matthew 26:36-46 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”’

What happens if you pray for a problem to go away and it doesn’t go away?

Mercy Me has a song that I think deals with this.

Even if you don’t.

“They say sometimes you win some
Sometimes you lose some
And right now, right now I’m losing bad
I’ve stood on this stage night after night
Reminding the broken it’ll be alright
But right now, oh right now I just can’t
It’s easy to sing
When there’s nothing to bring me down
But what will I say
When I’m held to the flame
Like I am right now
I know You’re able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone
They say it only takes a little faith
To move a mountain
Well good thing
A little faith is all I have, right now
But God, when You choose
To leave mountains unmovable
Oh give me the strength to be able to sing
It is well with my soul
I know You’re able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt
Would all go away if You’d just say the word
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone
You’ve been faithful, You’ve been good
All of my days
Jesus, I will cling to You
Come what may
‘Cause I know You’re able
I know You can
I know You’re able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, I know the hurt
Would all go away if You’d just say the word
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
Songwriters: Bart Marshall Millard / Benjamin Glover / Crystal Lewis / David Arthur Garcia / Tim Timmons
Even If lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Music Services, Inc

I see two things to learn here. The first is that God said he will hear our prayers. He has said that we can move mountains if we pray. But if the mountains don’t move, will we still trust in God? Jesus prayed that there be another way to save the world but he trusted God and God’s best plan.

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will, but as you will.”

The second thing for me to learn is that Jesus knew what was coming, the whipping, the hitting, the spitting, the mocking, the beating, the thorns, the nails, the hanging by the nails, the pain, the spear, and did it anyway. He loves us so much he continued on in the plan that would destroy him but make a way to save all of us.

And now the offer is open to all of us, “if you will confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that he was raised from the dead, you will be saved”.

Luke 25

There is no Luke 25.

What we have instead is the book of Acts which was Luke’s second writing to a man named Theophilus. The name Theophilus means love of God.

It is the last place we will see red lettering until we get to The book of The Revelation of John. Not all bibles have red letters. Some times the publishers put the words of Jesus in red letters so that they stand out. The book of Acts is the story of what Jesus’ followers did after Jesus ascended into heaven.

The last words Jesus spoke to his followers are:

“After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”

Jesus ascended into heaven to accomplish 2 things: 1) intercede for us his followers and 2) send his Holy Spirit down upon his followers to empower them, power them to be witnesses of what Jesus can do in a human heart.

I don’t believe Jesus wants to change the world. I believe he wants to change a human heart. The heart is where we decide to do good or to do evil. Without Jesus working in us our propensity is to do evil. To be selfish and self centered and self serving.

I have given my heart to him. He is the boss of me. I don’t always obey… But when I do? Good things happen. When I don’t? Sometimes nothing happens and sometimes I see right away the consequences of going against the better plan that God has for me. I’m thinking of my burn scars right now. I knew it was the wrong thing to do to play with fire but I did it anyway. Not all rebellion carries with it the horrible consequences of my burns. And even my burns have brought good things into my life ( wife and family)

Rambling a bit.

Jesus loves us. He left, but sent his Holy Spirit to comfort and empower us to tell our story of how HE Can change a heart, change a life, change the world.

The death of the perfect man. Jesus willingly died. He could’ve fought against it but he didn’t. He died on the cross between two thieves. Three men entered eternity that day. Two went to paradise.

Luke records a conversation between the three men that died on crosses that day. Brian Duncan wrote a song about these verses, the chorus said, “when you enter kingdom Lord re-me-em-ber me, (echo- remember me). I loved to belt sing it. I identified with the dying thief, I deserve to die, but Jesus? An innocent man? He didn’t deserve death. But he died willingly. Why?

Luke 23

“38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ” 43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus’ Death
23:44-49pp — Mt 27:45-56; Mk 15:33-41; Jn 19:29-30
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”

Good Friday service. I was 17. I was in church but was spiritually the furthest from God that I could get. There was a cross erected at the front of the church. It wasn’t normally there. It was made from rough lumber. At the end of the service the ladies of the church draped the cross with a black veil. The veil I knew symbolized his death. Jesus was dead. I couldn’t stop staring at it. Jesus was dead. I had lived my life being told about this man. The healer, the miracle worker, the one who cleansed lepers and gave sight to the blind, who forgave and protected prostitutes and tax collectors. He was dead. What did it mean?

What does it mean? The perfect man was killed. Why? What does it mean?

It means God hasn’t forgotten us.

It means God loves us.

It means that we can be forgiven.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

He took my place.

He took our place.

He took all of our sin upon himself and paid the price for it with his death on the cross. Now he offers us forgiveness. For free. For reals. For keeps.

Three days later he rose from the grave conquering our enemy, death.

Today we can be given the same promise the thief received. Paradise with Jesus.

Will you accept his gift of forgiveness and eternal life in paradise today?

I did.

The meal was over. Jesus knew what was next. Did he heave a heavy sigh before he said these words?

“Matthew 26:31-35 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same. “

Was Jesus face stern and angry when he looked at his friend Peter and told him the truth about his bravado? I don’t think so. Why? Because that’s what I would do. Thank God Jesus isn’t just like me. I believe his face was filled with compassion and concern.

Jesus is like me in that he is human but he is not like me In That he is also God, his heart is pure, he loves purely and completely.

Mary says my face speaks volumes. My expressions tell what my heart is feeling even if my mouth is saying something different. Jesus’ heart loved his disciples, even the one who would deny even knowing him 3 times in the next several hours.

The truth: “Matthew 26:69-75 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

Jesus came to the earth to suffer and die the death that we deserve, that this Peter deserves. He did it because he loves me, he loves us. Even if we’ve denied him.

If you are estranged from God right now, Repent, turn around, 180 degrees and come back to the God who loves you enough to die for you. And then live your life with and for the God who has defeated death by rising from the dead.

If you already know Him and have been restored then can you share your story with one person today?