"I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." John 16:20

Jesus was talking to his disciples about the three days between his death and resurrection, but he was/is also talking to us. Jesus knew that his crucifixion and the reaction of those who hated him and his message would cause his apostles great pain, while the priests and Pharisees rejoiced that the trouble maker was finally gone. He also knew that there would be days for us when being one of his followers would cause us pain and hardship, and the world would mock us and rejoice in our distress. But as the day of Jesus' resurrection brought great joy to his apostles and close disciples, so his presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit provides us with joy and peace the world does not understand. And, as Paul says in Romans 8:18, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Which is to say that no matter how much we may suffer for Christ in this age, the glory we shall share with Christ in the next age will bring us joy beyond anything we can imagine. And for those who rejoice now at our present discomfort, their sorrow and pain shall know neither bound nor end.

So a little suffering now; and compared to eternity, it is like a length of three days. And then the joy that last eternity. Praise God!

May his peace be with you.

Good Friday is the day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as payment for man's sins. It was God's way of displaying his righteousness by being both just and the justifier. (Romans 3:26)

Man had proven through The Law that he is incapable is justifying himself and achieving righteousness. And the sins of man demanded the penalty of death. So, God out of his gracious love for man, and his own righteousness, decided to offer one pure sacrifice to atone for all of man's sins once and for all. The choice he made was his own, only begotten son.

Through his death on the cross, the lowliest and most degrading way you can die, Jesus became the atoning sin offering for all who will accept him through that faith which itself is a gift of the the grace of God. Through him we are justified in the eyes of God, and have access to his love, power, and life forever. We receive as a free gift that which we could never attain through our own effort.

On this day, let us remember what God has done for us. Let us contemplate the great mystery that he has always wanted us to be his true children and a part of his family. We had strayed, but we did not have to earn our way back into his household. Instead, God made the way for our return to his kingdom. There, dwelling with him in our hearts and in his presence latter, we have peace and joy that nothing can take away.

May the grace of God, the love of Jesus, and the peace of the Holy Spirit be with you.

"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

As we approach Good Friday it does us good to think of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. For it, along with baptism, symbolizes the Christian faith and the community of the Church. In both we share in the death and resurrection of Christ. Both serve as symbols of what God has done for us through Christ, as well as publicly displaying that we are part of the new people of God in Christ.

It is, I feel, unfortunate that churches have become so large and modern and commercial that we no longer actually use a common loaf of bread. The whole purpose of sharing the one loaf and one cup was originally to symbolize that we are all part of one body by sharing the body and blood of the one man, Jesus. It is meant to be both an act of remembering that Jesus gave his body and blood for us, and an act to remind us that we are all part of the same body. It is meant to promote the idea and spirit of community among believers. I think that is lost when each has his own little individual wafer and little individual cup of juice. It allows people to remain little individual parts unto themselves, rather that enforcing the idea of "participating" in the one body.

As we approach this Holy weekend. let us remember that we are part of a special body created by a special person for a special reason. Let us remember that it is not about what we get individually, but what we have been made a part of. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been adopted into the family of God. Now we are no longer little, insignificant individuals, but precious parts of a great whole. We are the family of God. Let's celebrate this occasion together as a family actually sharing a meal together.

May the peace of God be with you.

In Philippians 2:20-22 the apostle Paul gives us a truly extraordinary description and commendation of his best friend, son in the faith, and fellow servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, Timothy. He starts with the amazing statement, "For I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state." (Philippians 2:20 KJV) Of all the people Paul encountered and worked with, he singles out young Timothy (whom some scholars think Paul met shortly after Timothy's sixteenth birthday) as the only man he knows who has the same attitude toward Jesus as himself. And he says of Timothy that his caring for others is "natural" for him. That is to say that it is Timothy's natural character to think about others before himself. Paul makes this point clear in vs. 21-22 where he states that all others "seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's", but Timothy has shown the proof that he served the gospel "as a son of the father."

When most Christians and preachers talk about the great men of the New Testament, they always seem to start with Peter and John. Then they mention the sacrifices of Stephen and James, the brother of Christ. And of course Paul is spoken of with his partners Barnabas, Timothy, Titus, and Luke. But they seem to forget that Paul himself singles out Timothy as the best example of them all of service to Christ as a true son of God.

In his book, Paul: A Novel, Walter Wangerin portrays Timothy as a single child whose Greek father has recently died. His Jewish mother then seeks a Rabi to teach her son the ways of her religion. The man she discovers is Paul. At that point the apostle not only becomes the young man's teacher, but also his father figure. A bond immediately develops between the two, and when Paul decides it is time for him to move on, he asks Timothy to become his partner in his work to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is then that Timothy makes his life-long commitment to Paul and service to Christ. And, as Jesus commands in Luke 9:62, once Timothy had "put his hand to the plow" he never looked back.

We really know very little about Timothy's background. We know he was born of a Greek father and a Jewish mother in Greek-Roman Asia Minor. (It was because he had a Jewish mother that Paul agreed to circumcise him.) We know from Paul's two letters to him that he was young. We know that he seemed to be with Paul or running errands for Paul until his final days of imprisonment. And we know that he settled in Ephesus where he served the region as the spiritual leader until his sacrificial death by stoning.

When it comes to looking for an example of how we can demonstrate proof that we are true followers of Christ Jesus, Timothy stands out as one of the best. But it is surely not be human effort that we could ever achieve the same "natural" attitude of service to God which Timothy displayed. It can only be the result of living in the Holy Spirit. By opening our hearts to the Spirit of Jesus, which Timothy must have done from his first introduction to Christ, we can become the kind of "son of the father" that Paul so trusted and loved.

May God's peace be with you.

In the letter to the Hebrews the author implores us "not to give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25 NIV)

The Greek word Paul most often uses to identify a community of believers is ekklesia (church). He also often uses the phrase ekklesia kyriou (church of God). The word ekklesia also emphasizes the gathered community, and can refer to a local gathering or refer universally to all who gather together in the name of Jesus Christ.

Paul often refers to the gathered assembly of believers in Jesus as the body of Christ. It is not know nor agreed upon by scholars as to how Paul came up with the idea of the church being the body of Christ, but all agree on its importance. For it is the gathered believers who can best carry out the instructions of Jesus. Feeding the hungry; visiting those in prison; caring for the sick; clothing the naked; comforting those who sorrow; spreading the Good News of the Gospel and teaching the lessons of Jesus. Of course all of these things can and should be done by individual believers in Christ. But as Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, the group of believers make up the different parts of the Body of Christ, just as the human body is a collection of different parts that all fit and work together. And just as the human body cannot work effectively if one or more of its parts are missing, so the Body of Christ, the church, cannot be as effective as it should be if the believers are not combining their skills, knowledge and efforts. For as Paul states in 1 Corinthians, each member of the church is given special gifts (talents) by the Holy Spirit to use for the benefit and glory of God. This is, no doubt, part of the grand plan and purpose of God to bring together those he has called into one family; the family and kingdom of God. It, therefore, logically follows that those who do not gather with the other parts of the Body of Christ are limiting their inclusion in the family of God. And, by limiting your inclusion in the family, you limit the benefits you can receive from the family. For Paul exhorts the members of the family to build each other up, comfort each other, pray for each other, and keep each other spiritually on track. These are aides to Christian living that everyone needs; and they make life in the Spirit much easier and just more fun.

So, as Paul says, let us all continue to meet with other Christians for worship, service, comfort and assistance, and fun. And as the body of Christ gets larger and stronger, each of us will benefit from the growth and strength of the whole.

May the grace of God, the love of Jesus, and the peace of the Holy Spirit be with you.