Peter’s Posts

Is someone writing all of this down? My mistakes? My willful disobedience? Is there a record of wrongs in some file drawer? No human knows the total of my sin. No one person has the complete record of all of the wrong I have done. Well….Jesus is a man but he is also God…and He knows it all.

And yet…he has chosen to forgive me. All of it.

The next section of Matthew 12 Jesus mentions some notorious people. He doesn’t mention them to point out their sin, he mentions them to point out their state of being forgiven.

“38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.”

The religious leaders of Jesus day who prided themselves on a righteousness based on following the rules will be condemned by notorious sinners who repented.

Then let’s talk about The sign of Jonah, Jesus will die and be swallowed by death and the earth. This planet he created and the curse that was placed on it would swallow him. But not for long. Three days later he will rise from the grave and live forever. The earth and death and the curse of sin forever broken and beaten.

I quote this next verse a lot but it comforts me. I hope is does you too. I know I’ve done wrong, so does God. He knows it all and yet he has forgiven me.

“6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

I am forgiven. That is good news.

Have you heard it yet? We have been forgiven.

Have you received it yet?

I stumbled upon this post looking for something else. It may be a timely happy accident.

The door was closed.
She couldn’t get on her flight.
She missed it and no one could or would help her.

I was at Seatac. I was at my gate early. Not bragging, just saying I was there early. Next to my gate was another gate flying somewhere far away, Texas maybe? I had seen this lady on the other side, the main terminal. She was being seated in a wheelchair by an airport worker. When she showed up at her gate she was walking. Earlier I had seen the airlines hostesses walking the length of the terminal calling out names of missing passengers and heard multiple announcements asking for passengers to go to the desk, announcing boarding and then final boarding. Then they closed up the desk, walked through the doors and boarded the plane. After all of that happened the lady showed up. She was at the right gate but she was late. She couldn’t find anyone to help her. She walked through the seats asking for help, loudly asking for someone, anyone from her airline to help but they were all in the plane already.
She tried crashing the door. She could see her plane still parked at the gate but she couldn’t get on.

When she crashed the door an alarm sounded and security personnel arrived rather quickly. But they couldn’t get her on the plane either. It didn’t seem to make any difference why she was late or how loud she got with her protests. She could not ride that plane. Even with a boarding pass she could not get aboard the plane.

It was a scene that played out in my life that I️ watched like it was a performance for me. It made me wonder and now over 2 weeks later I am still pondering it. As the character Scrooge says in the Christmas Carol, “why was I privy to this conversation?”.

At the same time I have Been reading 2 Peter. In chapter 2, Peter mentions some times when God’s timing and the peoples time ran out.

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;”
2 Peter 2:4-10

So did God show me this so that I would present it as a cautionary tale? As a culture we are constantly exposed to and driven by schedules and time tables. Is it a surprise that God also has a schedule and a time table for his plan for us? Not one of us knows God’s time table and schedule. Not even Jesus knew when it would be. Can we say that God is a meany head for having a schedule? Or can we say thank you to him for his patience thus far?

Further into his letter Peter had this to say,
“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:3-9

My wife Mary calls me Debbie Downer because I see the dark side of things, I really don’t want this post to be that, a dark depressing tale.

God loves us. He sent Jesus to us not Just to say I love you, but to DO I love you. Jesus came to die for sins we cannot pay for or erase. Then he rose from the dead to lead us into God’s heaven. He made a way for us.

We get today. We have today to choose.

I don’t know the outcome for the poor lady who missed her plane. I do know the outcome of everyone who missed Noah’s boat. I do know the outcome for everyone who misses God’s grace in Jesus but I would rather talk about the splendor waiting for those who receive God’s great gift of forgiveness in Jesus.

Today, all aboard.

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.

It could just be the daylight savings time blues. I’m feeling like a smoldering wick and a bruised reed.

Good news for me is found in Matthew 12.

“15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”[b]’

Jesus cares about the lowliest of us. He will meet us where we are. I don’t have to be a flowering vine or a mighty oak for him to care about me. Even the bruised reed gets his attention.

What if Jesus showed up at the door to the museum of our life and asked for a tour? The museum is the store house of our memories, the place where our motives and motivation are kept, where our world view rests. Would our tour sound like this?

“Welcome Jesus to the museum of my life. You may look but do not touch. Please stay on the well marked pathway during the tour. Jesus you are welcome here but please do not alter or change anything, I like my life the way it is”.

What if at the end of the tour Jesus made some suggestions for changes to improve our life? Remove this, add that, clear out an entire area, change the focus of our world view?

Matthew 12 has another story about Jesus shaking up the religious establishments view on their rules.

“9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

It’s very easy to see how the religious leaders were wrong here. I keep wondering what other messages should this story be telling me?

So I imagined Jesus coming to me. My life. Bearing all of my life to him. Immediately I think of things that I don’t want him to see. Then I ask myself, why are they there? If Jesus shouldn’t see them, then why are they still in my life? Is there anger or resentment that I’ve been hiding? Why don’t I let Him wash that out of me? What about my little room of guilty pleasures? Not outright wrong, or the little closet of secret sins? Wouldn’t it be nice to do some spring cleaning and purge that all away? The weight of guilt and shame, overwhelming for me,but not for Jesus. He can cleanse those all away.

Is Jesus welcome in my life? Yes. Generally speaking. What if he asks me to change something?

Jesus is the Lord of the sabbath. He is that because he created it. He created. Everything that exists, exists because of him. He is the author and architect of life. He created me. He knows what is best for me because he knows what he created me for.

Back to the tour.

Today Jesus is at the door of the museum of my life. I am handing him the keys and saying, “Jesus, welcome to my life. It is a mess. I’m tired of the gunk and junk, please help me clean it up and clean it out”. Just over his shoulder I see a dumpster labeled Sin Disposal. That is a welcome sight. All of my sins forgiven.

Today not only will be forgiven of sins committed by me, I will also be forgiving sins against me.

Time for some spring cleaning in my museum.

Come on in. We have a seat just for you. We will worship, sing a few songs, hear the message God gave his servant for us and pray together.

When Jesus died things changed.

“51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”

The temple curtain was the separation between where God was and where men were. Jesus death tore that barrier in two. Jesus is our access to God.

Today is good day to be reconciled to God. We don’t have to do anything. Jesus did it all. We only need to admit that we need forgiveness, that we need reconciliation.

The picture I posted here is not my church but it represents all churches. Today Let us Come to church. Let us Be loved on by a Father God who is longing for our return. It’s not about the building, it’s about the person Jesus and what he has done. It’s about a merciful loving Heavenly Father longing to be reunited with his children.

An after thought.

The Bible refers to followers of Jesus as many things, the body of Christ is one of those terms. Since Jesus ascended into heaven, he is not here, but he sent his Holy Spirit to live in and empower his followers so we become he his body here on earth. We are his hands to touch and heal a broken world. We are his feet to bring the good news of forgiveness, grace and mercy and love.

So let’s do some body building today. Come and join us and become part of the body of Christ Jesus.

John 6

The miracles aren’t the main thing

“60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”

My pastor says this often, the problem with life is its so daily. I live my life day by day and the challenges, especially the spiritual challenges are there every day.

The next day After Jesus fed the 5000 they were all hungry again. At the wedding when the water turned into wine was gone people got thirsty again.

The miracles were not to change the world, the miracles were to point to the one who could change a heart.

The miracles that Jesus performed weren’t an end in themselves. They were to point to Jesus otherness, his holiness. Yes he did grow up down the street but his origins were from eternity, not Galilee.

Not everyone could see past the miracles to the God/man who was before all time and who could build a bridge from a sin filled existence to an eternity with God.

The disciples saw it and Peter said it. ““Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”’

To whom shall we go? Is there another offer? A better offer? An offer with a brighter future than an eternity with a holy God?

To whom shall we go?

It was late at night or early in the morning. I was sitting in my 62 Mercury Comet station wagon outside my apartment. The dash lights were illuminating the inside of the car. The street light on the corner behind me dimly lit the outside.

I had blown it again. I knew the rules of Christian living. I’d spent the last 19 years in church at least once a week. I knew what the rules were. I just couldn’t keep them.

I was remorseful. I repented…again. It felt like it wasn’t just what I’d done that night. I was weighed down with what I had done on all the nights. All the nights and all the days. All the rules that I had broken. And now add one more to the pile of my sins. It felt like I was seeing it all at once. It also felt like God was sitting next to me staring at the huge pile of mess Then he asked me “what are we going to do with all of this?”

I was crying pretty hard at this point and I answered, “…I don’t know God…”

He said “Peter, someone has to pay for all of this. You know the rules, someone will have to die for all these sins…”

I said “ok” assuming he meant me.

I wiped away my tears and snot and went into my apartment and went to bed, expecting to wake up dead.

But life went on. I didn’t die, and life returned to normal.

In an animated version of my life, there would be a map of my spiritual journey and on that map would have a cartoon bubble that instead if saying, “you are here” it would say “for this someone must die”.

What did it mean that someone would have to die? How could God require a death?

Let’s look back to the beginning.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:15-17

Adam and Eve broke the only rule. They ate the forbidden fruit. They sinned and fell short of the glory of God.

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3:6-10

There were consequences to Adam and Eves sin. Among them was being cast out the garden.

But God did two things. First, he made a promise to them (and so also to us) while speaking to the serpent , “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15

God promised a helper, a savior. Someone who would be bruised in the fight, but that would crush or destroy Their enemy (and so our enemy) the serpent.

Second, God provided a covering for their nakedness.

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
Genesis 3:21

Adam and Eve were covered by the skin of animals after attempting to cover themselves with plants.

Unlike the cartoon world of Wile E. Coyote, where Wile E. can unzip his skin, in the real world of Adam and Eve, (the same world we live in), the animals died to provide their skins. This is the first recorded death in creation, and it took place in order that Adam and Eves nakedness would be covered.

Sin caused Blood to be shed.

Sin must be paid for. I guess that is not entirely true. Sin doesn’t have to be paid for. But if we want to undo the damage that sin does, and the worst of the damage is the separation between us and God, we can go on without the sin being covered. If we do that, we die separated from God. Our inclination tends to be to want to even out the score. Do good stuff so we can outweigh the bad. It doesn’t work like that. We can’t pay for it with good works. Our good works, our best possible behavior appears to God looking like filthy rags.

Sin causes death, it must be paid for with a sacrificial death, life for a life.

The pattern of sacrificial death to atone for sin is throughout the old testament. We see it in Abel’s good sacrifice of the firstlings of his flock. We see it in Abraham offering Isaac and God intervening and providing the lamb. We see it in the lamb that was sacrificed on the eve of the Exodus, and then God used animal sacrifice over and over throughout the tabernacle worship that was prescribed for his people in laying out how to worship.

But I was in modern times. Animal sacrifice had faded away. Besides, God had said to me not something, but someone. Someone would have to die to pay for my sins.

My spiritual journey continued. I was trying to pay for my sins with good works and Christian service. I planned on becoming a Lutheran Pastor. Those plans were waylaid, and I was left wondering how I would ever clean up my mess. Then early one Sunday morning, I was alone in the back room of my parent’s cafe, getting breakfast for myself and my very pregnant bride and God continued our conversation that he had started sitting next to me in my car about a year earlier. I had left school to take over the café so I could support our little family. It seemed like I would never finish school and become a pastor so how could I ever right the wrongs that I had piled up?

“Peter, Your sin problem, I took care of it”.

“How God? You said someone would have to die? I’m still alive, I’ve tried to pay for it by being good and doing good, but that’s not working either, I just keep failing…..”

“Peter, I sent Jesus for you. I sent Jesus to die for your sins, it’s my gift to you and for you”.

And then he reminded me of the verses in Ephesians 2;

“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 2:8-10

I would later read and understand that over and over again God says in his word that he loves us so much that he sent Jesus to die in our place. From the garden and even before, he had a plan to redeem us, us his beloved fallen race.

Another of my favorite verses is in Romans chapter 5.

“6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
God has brought us reconciliation, he has restored the relationship between us and him through Jesus.
That night, the night of tears, it was so hard and yet it was a stepping stone on the pathway back to my God.
Jesus didn’t just die for me. He died for everyone. His one death covers all of our sins. He is waiting and wanting for all of us to return, through his gift of love, his gift of sacrifice, his gift of his own blood to cover our nakedness.
What will you do today about this gift? Will you receive it?
Jesus did not stay dead. Once his work was accomplished by his death, 3 days later he rose again and now he is busy preparing a place for us and also interceding for us. Going to his Father and now our Father and reminding him, that we are covered by his blood. Our sins are now forgiven.
There is room for all of us in his house. Will join Jesus and me in our Fathers house and in his family?

It is said of Clarence the angel in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, he has the IQ of a rabbit, but he has the faith of a child.

In Matthew 11 we find these verses.

“25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”’

Who is Jesus?

If we don’t use the word “my” in our answer then he isn’t all he can be to us yet.

I must’ve been 15. I was terribly snarky at that age. We were all in the 67 Ford Galaxy and it was a sunny spring Sunday. We were leaving church heading back home, my sisters Judi and Shari, My new friend Mary, my cousin Kathy, mom and dad, dad was driving. Out of the blue and probably because of my youthful Snarkiness my dad asked me, “Pete, who is Jesus?”

The car got quiet as I thought about an answer, but I said the safest thing that came to mind, “Jesus is my Lord and savior”.

The rest of the conversation is blurry but dad said something like, “you have answered well…” and “I wish someone had asked me that question at your age”.

I don’t know why my dad asked me that, but I’m glad he did. He pushed and popped a truth pimple out of me that I didn’t even know was down there.

It would be several years and many mistakes and blunders later when that confession of my mouth and the understanding in my head and the longing and belief in my heart would all come together and I would be “born again”. My dad helped me that day.

Jesus wants us to know his dad. Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven and our relationship with our Heavenly Father can be restored.

So I ask again, who is Jesus? May this question nudge you closer to a God is waiting with open arms to welcome you home.

So lets tackle the easy one first. What did happen at the beginning, the Big Bang? Not what but who ( or whom?) God happened. He said “let there be…” And there was. It is the only explanation that makes sense. How else do you explain that from absolutely nothing, then BANG and there was everything. No force other than God can start with nothing and end up with everything, let alone ending up with anything. The best that anyone else can do is to start with something, add something and end up with something new. Art is the closest humans can come to creating but even then it’s only a new mixture of what was already there.

I’m not very good with math but check this 0+0=0. Always true right? In the beginning 0+0+Gods command(let there be light)=light. To end up with anything other than zero in the sum there has to more added to the equation.

John 6

Gods math

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”

God provides. Jesus is God. Jesus provided for 5000 men.

5 loaves + 2 fish = food for 5000 with 12 baskets left over.

I myself have many stories of need, usually $$$, and how miraculously our needs would be filled. Are filled. My current job and the things that Mary and I have done together are miraculous. Every day miracles happen all around us.

Sometimes when miracles happen we miss something. We stop asking about Our biggest needs and our biggest problems.

Even if we get food today death will meet us on another day. When death meets us we cash in morally. We need to settle up our debts.

How do we pay for our sin?

The form will look like this:
Have you ever said anything that was not true? Yes or no? If yes you are a liar- you cannot enter Gods kingdom

Have you ever taken possession of something that didn’t belong to you? Yes or No? If yes then you are a thief you cannot enter Gods kingdom.

Have you ever said the name of God in a way not referring to God? Yes or No? If yes you are a profaner of the name of God-you cannot enter Gods kingdom.

Have ever had sex with someone that you are not married to? (Or even thought about having sex with someone you are not married to?) Yes or No? If yes you are an adulterer-you cannot enter Gods kingdom.

The list goes on. There are 6 more. So far I’m not doing so good. Who will help me?

Jesus. Jesus has paid the price for my sin. He has paid the price for all
Of our sins. Do you believe that?

Seriously, that’s the question that is and will be posed to all of us- it will be on the bottom of the form at heavens gate, “do you believe that Jesus died to pay for your sins? Yes or No? If yes then enter into Gods kingdom and welcome to the family of God, we’ve been waiting for you. A place has been prepared for you.”

John 5

Not the gentle Jesus

“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

This is radical. A man claiming to be equal to God. He is either crazy or he is who he says he is. If he is crazy we should ignore his words and go back to our lives seeking what pleasures and comforts that we can find until we die.

If he is Gods son? What should we do then?

“Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”

Jesus said he has the power to give life to whom he pleased to give it and that all judgement has been given to him. And that we can’t honor His father if we don’t honor Him.

These are stern hard sayings. I’m squirming a little just writing them. I’m squirming because Jesus is not talking about rainbows and flowers and sunshine, he’s talking about life and death and heaven and hell, and our role in choosing where we will end up. We choose. Choosing to follow Jesus is choosing life and eternity in heaven. Choosing not to follow Jesus is actually choosing hell.

Let’s move on.

““Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”‘

Death is coming for everyone of us. Sobering truth. Jesus said that if we hear his words and believe God who sent him we don’t have to fear death. We have crossed over from death to life.

So much of our culture we pick and choose from life like we are at a supermarket or in a buffet line. I don’t think we get to pick and choose when it comes to Jesus. You take him all or you take nothing. If you take him you have crossed over from death to life. If you don’t chose him…..? Well just choose him and we don’t have to discuss the other option.

Mary and I have been binge watching Leverage. It’s an action series and on almost every episode there is a rescue. Audiences love to watch a Rescue.

If the Jesus story were rewritten for a modern audience Matthew 11 might be very different. John the Baptist was in prison. He had endorsed Jesus as the messiah, Jesus was showing himself to be powerful in word and deed but John was still languishing in prison.

“11 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.[a]

2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’[c]
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,[d] and violent people have been raiding it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

I think what John was asking in a roundabout way is, “when may I expect my release?”

The release doesn’t come. John will be beheaded while in prison.

Jesus answer to Johns disciples was to affirm that he is the messiah and God’s plan is moving ahead. It may not look like what John was expecting. No daring prison break. No overthrow of the Roman Empire.

Sometimes the center of God’s will is to be unjustly imprisoned. It may even to be unjustly killed.

Does God know? Yes.
Does he care? Yes.

Now a question for us, can we still trust and believe in God if life is not going the way we want?

What if there is no rescue? Can God really be God if there is no rescue?

Yes.

But there is a rescue for each of us. A freeing us from a prison that each one of us is in, The prison of sin.

Jesus came to set us free, free from sin. No one else can do that and without it no other freedom matters. We will all face death. Without Jesus our sin will forever separate us from God. With Jesus even the physically imprisoned can be spiritually free.

God is good. Life is sometimes hard. God is always good.

The final hour.

Which is harder to wait for? The last hour of Monday’s work day or the final hour of Friday?

Waiting is hard to do. It causes anxiety. For me the best remedy for waiting anxiety is to stay busy. To distract myself with activity.

We are waiting for Jesus to return and according to 1 John, we are in the last hour. This last hour hasn’t just seemed to take forever, it has actually been 2000 years (ish).

In hours? If I did the math right it’s been 17,520,000 hours (ish) since John wrote this.

“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
1 John 2:18-23

We have two primary jobs to do while we wait: 1. hang onto our faith. Do not walk away. and 2. Share our faith.

David, who wrote the psalms, had some experience with waiting for the Lord.

“I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Every winter my soul starts to despair because of the short days. It seems like it’s always dark. Dark when I get up, dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home. But if I just wait a little longer, late February, the days get longer again, and there is a glimmer of light on the horizon at both ends of my workday.

Could the world be at that same spot now? Is it late February on God’s timetable? Are we seeing the glimmer of light on the horizon of time? Not because the world is improving but because the world is getting worse. We know from reading through the book that it will. It will continue to get worse.

Even if Jesus’ return is not imminent i have a job to do. I should be sharing my story about Jesus with the people I meet and see every day. Who will I share with today? Who will you share your story with? Who will serve and help and love on because Jesus loved us first?

John 4

It takes a person to save a village

“28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”’

Sometimes it only takes one person in a village who has met Jesus and been changed by him to awaken the rest of the folks living around them to their need of a savior. There is only one. Jesus is the savior of the world.

“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”’

Jesus is the savior of the world.

He knows everything about me and still died to pay for my sin, our sins. Who will I tell ?

Allegories are usually wasted on me. I read Watership Downs in high school and thought it was a story about rabbits. In my early 20s I read a Christian allegory, I think it was Pilgrims Progress but I’m not certain. In the story the characters were on a journey to the celestial city. Each evening they would walk down to the river and some of them would put rocks in their back packs. They would purposely add to their own burden. It didn’t make sense to me or to the main character in the story. Little did I know that at the end of the journey those rocks were revealed to be prayers for other people. Sometimes we shoulder the burden for others as we walk our journey.

That idea has stuck in my head.

Yesterday I was on one of my daily walks and I have a plan to beautify the path I walk. I have some flower seeds that I plan to plant along the way. They are wild flowers so they won’t require water. I envisioned myself like Johnny Appleseed walking down the path and tossing out the seeds from a seed pouch slung over my shoulder.

Then I remembered Jesus story about the farmer who cast his seed and the seed was the word of God. I realized that that was my real mission in life, to spread Gods word.

But I knew that wasn’t all of it. Gods word needs to be shared in context or it doesn’t make sense. The context needs to be in an actively loving and forgiving and serving life. So I boiled that down to grace and mercy, AKA, forgiveness. That’s how I arrived at what I shared below here. I hope it makes sense.

I could see myself on life’s journey with 3 bags over my shoulders. Each bag carrying an essential element to the Christian life.

3 bags. Seed salve and supplication

As Christians We each start out the day with 3 bags over our shoulder.

Each morning two are full and one is empty.

Salve. One full one is forgiveness. Our job is to Empty it. His mercies are new every morning. We are forgiven our sins as long as we forgive the sins of others.

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Seed: One full one is Gods word, we are to share it.

“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”’

This bag we can fill up ourselves. The Holy Spirit can bring seed to us but as we mature we will become more actively involved in filling our own bag. If we don’t become active we won’t mature.

“12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”

Supplication: The empty one we are to fill. It is for the needs and concerns of others. We fill it while walking through life meeting people and asking the age old question; how can I pray for you?

We empty it each night as we pray. ( or throughout the day), for our needs and the needs of others.

The Holy Spirit can at any time fill these bags. He kinda has a mind to do that. He will Give us extra forgiveness, give us the perfect seed to plant in someone’s heart, show us a need that only God can meet in some ones life. We may wake up in the middle of the night with a burden that we couldn’t know on our own.

31%

I wish I could come up with a better way to say this but I don’t know that there is one. Living the life of a Christian is simple, but it is not easy.

Matthew 10 continues with more real life.

“32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[c]
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

The life of a Jesus follower will include sacrifice. It will require devotion to Him in times of opposition. We believe in a God we cannot see, who sent a son who lived and died and rose again, who ascended into the clouds saying he would be back. 2000 years have gone by. We are still waiting.

The joke goes, what is it when a bus load of __ goes over a cliff?

The punch line is – a good start.

In some parts of the world the blank is filled in with the word Christian.

The best answer is, what is it when a bus load of anyone goes over a cliff? a tragedy. Christians make up 31% of the worlds population. What do you have when 31% of the world knows Jesus as their savior?

A good start.

We also have 69% of the world in a bus going over a cliff without knowing that they have savior who loves them. This a tragedy. We have a good start with 31% but their is much to do and who knows how much time is left? Who knows? No one. How do we get people off the bus? Maybe that’s not the best analogy, getting them off the bus. We need to tell everyone on the bus about Jesus because the truth of the matter is that we are all going to die. We are all on the bus. Let’s get busy sharing our story of how Jesus has forgiven our sin and made part of his family.

31%. Good start. Let’s make that number rise.

John 3

Behavior vs belonging

Did this ever happen to you? As a kid You invite a friend to join you for a day of family fun. Then this friend out shines you in every way in front of your parents. They are more helpful, more courteous, more polite. By the end of the day you can’t stand your friend anymore and you are pretty sure that your parents are looking into trading kids. But then the friend goes back to his house and you go back to live with your parents. You are still their kid.

Good works don’t earn us salvation like behaving for our parents doesn’t make us more of their child. The good behaving neighbor kid didn’t earn his way into our family through their good behavior. Our bad behavior didn’t make us lose our last name. Birth makes us a child of our parents. Being “born again” makes us a child of God.

New birth makes us a child of God. Our good works please him but they won’t make us part of his family.

“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b]gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”’

God wants us in his family.

“‘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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 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. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 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.”‘

When I sin as a Christian, what do I do?

The same man that wrote the Gospel of John also wrote this in one of his letters: 1John 2

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

If we are born again we belong to God, we are part of his family. Our behavior won’t change our family status. If we’ve sinned we need to confess it, admit it and get it cleansed by the blood of Jesus. It’s his death that washes away our sin. We need to Stay clean, but if we stumble, we get back up and get cleaned up. Then we get on with sharing About this amazing God who forgives sin.

The first mission of the apostles in Matthew 10 (apostle means one who is sent) is to the lost sheep of Israel, to the Jews, the lost Jewish people. Later on Jesus will broaden the scope to include all people.

“5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Shepherds of that time had it rough. There weren’t fences for pastures. Sheep would stray. Sheep who stray are easier targets for wolves to kill and destroy.

We have an enemy. He is actively seeking out those who stray. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

In the wild it’s the weak and the straying that get picked off. This entire world is wild.

Message to the sheep in the flock: Huddle up sheep. Huddle and and cuddle and stay close to the shepherd. Protect each other and follow the shepherd.

Message to the shepherds: Gather the strays. If we see a stray, so does our enemy. He wants to destroy them. Who will get there first?

Jesus is THE good shepherd. He is calling for us to come to him and be safe.

“11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”’

Jesus is the good shepherd who has laid down his life for us his sheep. I want to learn to follow his voice and stay close.

Jesus please don’t let me stray.

But that’s not the entire message of this section is it? We, Jesus’ followers, are to go out and serve the world. We are To teach, to heal the sick, to free from the devil, cleanse lepers, to raise the dead. We are the shepherds of the sheep. We are to protect. Will we run from the wolves and lions or will we protect the flock Jesus has put under our care?

We have been given the mission, the authority and the tools. Will we do the job we’ve been given?

We love our stuff. Americans, we love our teams, our beers our coffee, our political parties, our birthday parties, our jeans, our sneakers, our car brands (or truck brands). We love our stuff. I love my stuff.

I love watermelon and I love pepperoni pizza and i love sitcoms and crime dramas and tools and toys. I love cars and trucks, some more than others (wink-wink Rusty!) I love my wife and kids and my grandkids. (This is not a prioritized list).

To not love stuff, well it’s downright unamerican. Who doesn’t love stuff? Who shouldn’t love stuff?

As it turns out… me. I shouldn’t love stuff.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15-17

Everything in the world is good, God declared it so at the end of creation but it has in it an enticement that can lead me away from my love of God. My little human heart has only a certain amount of love. How will that be divided?

If I love God first and foremost it opens the chambers of my life to more love. Like when I see my wife from across the room my pupils dilate. They open up as if to get more of her visage and likeness into my head and heart. When I love God first, my heart is opened up to allow more love for people. When I understand that God is creator of all things then things take on a different level of respect and admiration. I see things as part of a creators creation and I start to see people differently. I start to see Each one as a person created to spend eternity in fellowship with God but just now separated from him by sin.

Unless.

Unless we meet Jesus and accept his gift of reconciliation.

This is how that reconciliation happens: “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile —the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:9-13

Say out loud “Jesus you are now my Lord, (master-boss-king-ruler-leader) and I believe that you rose from the dead. “

Can it really be that simple?

Yes, but try it and see.

What changes? Down here? Not much. In heaven? There’s a party, in your heart? Sin is forgiven. And the driver seat of your heart is now occupied by the Holy Spirit.

Buckle up. You are beginning a new adventure.