Imagine if..

Imagine the scene for a moment.  You and your friends have spent 3 years following the leadership of a spiritual man.  During that time, you saw and heard things that made you believe that he was everything he claimed to say about himself.  He was the Messiah, no doubt.  It was all true und you had witnessed it.  You yourself have actually done amazing things like the time he sent you and your friends out to do ministry.  While you were in the cities of Israel, you healed people, preached, raised people from the dead, and even cast out demons.  Your life would be forever different, wouldn’t it?

Imagine that you had just a couple of days before this spiritual leader was arrested, tried, and sentenced to die between two thieves.  You saw him hanging there.  You saw him hang his head and die.  You knew that some of your friends and acquaintances buried him in a tomb just before the Sabbath was to start.  Now it is two days later and some of these same friends have come to you with the news that this man’s tomb was now empty, the body was gone, and some of them even claimed to have seen him and talked with him.  Could it be true?

Imagine you are walking on a road with a friend as you together are going to a village outside of Jerusalem.  You and he cannot talk about anything but the last several days and 3 years.  You would say something then he would say something and the whole time you are absolutely astounded at the events in Jerusalem and how now, the death of this man has changed your life.  In the midst of the conversation, someone joins you on the road and innocently asks, “What are you talking about?”  You and your friend stop and look at him with sad looks and can’t believe this person has not heard of the events of the last days.  The whole city of Jerusalem is abuzz with the news, so how could this person not know.  Do they live in a cave? 

You briefly tell the story to the stranger to catch him up and it is obvious in your words and body language that you are devastated by what has happened.  To your surprise the fellow traveler begins to speak the story of God from Moses to all the prophets.  For about 5 miles or so he clearly speaks of the Messiah and you are moved by the man’s knowledge and understanding of the scripture.  You are so moved that you ask the man to stay with you in Emmaus since the day was late.

Imagine you are in a room and eating bread and the man takes the bread, blesses and breaks it, then hands some to you.  In that moment you see clearly, the stranger is Jesus and you have spent several hours of your day with him and did not even know it.  This you now know – Jesus is alive.

You turn to your friend and tell him how you felt during the time with Jesus.  While Jesus spoke of all the truths from Moses to the prophets, your heart burned and was alive as you came to a better realization that everything about Jesus was completely true and you were a witness.  You did not imagine it, for it was true.

How can one sleep after this, so you and your friend arise immediately, no longer tired and go the 7 miles back to Jerusalem and found the 11 Apostles and you tell them that you have encountered the risen Christ.

He is alive!!!!!

 

Mission Thoughts from Jesus

Several years ago as I was reading in Matthew 10 where Jesus sends out the disciples on their first short-term mission trip.  Here are his instructions to them and they are interesting:

1.  Preach that the kingdom of heaven is near (vs.7).

2.  Freely you receive, freely give (vs.8).

3.  Take only what you need (vs.9-10).

4.  Find a man of peace (vs.11-13).

5.  Not everyone will embrace their coming (vs.14-16).

6.  Be both shrewd and innocent (vs.16).

7.  What happens on his account to us...(vs.17-20).

a.  Attacked and bring charges against you by governers and kings

b.  Don't worry what to say because the Holy Spirit will speak through you.

c.  Families will be divided.

8.  Take the role of a servant (vs.24-25)

9.  Disclose all with no fear (vs. 26-30)

a.  Don't be afraid of what happens to body or soul, 'cause we are his

10.  God deeply knows who we are

a.  His eye is on the sparrow

b.  He knows the number of heads on our head

**Our life is known by him, every little part.**

11.  Don't be ashamed to acknowledge him (vs. 32-33)

12.  Gospel makes a real distinction and can divide relationships (vs.34-36)

13.  Love God more anything and crucify yourself so you can follow him (vs.37-39).

14.  Living as an extension of who he is (vs.40-42).

In other words, this is not an easy thing to take the gospel to our home country or a foreign one.  What is amazing, is that people for the last 2000 years have thought it worth their very lives to live in this way.  

It is worth it - no matter what we face, experience because he knows us and is with us. 

The Name Father

In our twentieth century Western culture, personal names are little more than labels to distinguish one person from another. Sometimes nicknames are chosen which tell something about a person, but even this is a poor reflection of the significance of names in the Bible.  Unfortunately, to many the names God or Lord convey little more than designations of a supreme being. It says little to them about God’s character, His ways, and what God means to each of us as human beings. But in Scripture, the names of God are like miniature portraits and promises. In Scripture, a person’s name identified them and stood for something specific. This is especially true of God. Naming carried special significance. It was a sign of authority and power. This is evident in the fact that God revealed His names to His people rather than allowing them to choose their names for Him. This is also seen in the fact that God often changed the names of His people: Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel. Note also how this concept of authority and power is seen when Nebuchadnezzar changed the names of Daniel and his three friends.

There are a many places in scripture where just the name of God is used in reference to him.  For example:

• Abraham called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:8; 13:4)
• The name of the Lord was not to be taken in vain (Leviticus 13:21; 22:2)
• To call on the name of the Lord was to worship Him as God (Genesis 21:23)

This general reference refers to his whole Character and is a summary for everything he actually is.  We see this is several places in the gospels as well. 

• Salvation is found in his name. (John 1:12)
• Believers are to gather in his name. (Matthew 18:20)
• The Christian who bears the name of Christ will be hated. (Matthew 10:22)

There are also many places where we can read about and see a specific name of God.  I would like to take one of today. I would like use the word Father today.  Father is a distinctive New Testament revelation that we learn about from Jesus.  Through faith in Christ, God becomes our personal Father. Father is used of God in the Old Testament only 15 times while it is used of God 245 times in the New Testament. It is Jesus who pushed this understanding for us and the other New Testament writers carried it further along.  It was a  brand new way of looking at how we relate to God.  As a name of God, it stresses God’s loving care, provision, discipline, and the way we are to address God in prayer.  These passages highlight several: (Matt. 7:11; Jam. 1:17; Heb. 12:5-11; John 15:16; 16:23; Eph. 2:18; 3:15; 1 Thess. 3:11).

For me personally, I think the best picture we can see is found in Luke 15 in the story of the Prodigal Son.  The story goes like this.  One day the younger of two Sons approached his Father and asked him if he could have his inheritance early before the Father died.  Knowing that he could withhold the money from the son, the Father decided to let the Son go and make his own decision.  A few days later the son takes off with his stuff and heads off to a distant land where he could live out his desire of wild living.  Not long after he arrived in this land, he found that he had spent the entire inheritance and to add more trouble to his life, a severe economic crisis happens and a famine enters the land.  In his desperation, he finds a job where he feeds pigs.  Yeah, feeds pigs.

His situation is so critical that he longs to actually eat what he is feeding the pigs.  It is in this desperation that his life takes a turn.  His situation triggers a memory of his Father.  There was something in the Father's face when the son left that must have said, “I love you and you can come back home.  He begins the long journey home and when he nears the home, the Father sees him and runs down the road and embraces the son all the while kissing the son and pouring his love over him. 

What a picture of who God is!!  In the midst of the mess of our life, if we will come back to the Father, we can receive forgiveness and love.  Do you know God in this way?  Do you know that he is a loving Father who waits upon us to return and be restored.  As you pray this week, I want to encourage us all to focus on God as our Father.  The more we know him as Father, I believe will lead us to feel more comfortable in approaching him.

 

Moving Forward

At the end of the Athens Olympics in 2004, some of the athletes participated in a special event in which they ran the same path from which the long distance race, “the Marathon”, got its name.  In 490 B.C., a man named Pheidippides ran 26 miles to warn of the impending attack of the Persians upon the country. His route began in the city of Marathon and ended in the city of Sparta.  Not long after he reached Sparta with the message, Pheidippides died.  Just the thought of running 26 miles makes me think about dying.  With that aside, let us think about Pheidippides feat.  No doubt it was an incredible physical accomplishment, but I want to explore some spiritual questions from his story as it relates to our lives.What motivated Pheidippides to run in this manner?  What obstacles did he find in his way?  Did he meet people along the way?  Did he drink anything?  Did he think about quitting?  There is much unknown about his trip as he did not live long enough to tell it.  We do know that he got the message to Sparta and was able to overcome all kinds of obstacles to accomplish something that had never happened before.  In Marathon, he saw a goal and he went for it with all of his might.  For those last hours of his life, he participated in something larger than himself and I believe that is what enabled him to get the message from Marathon to Sparta.  The message took hold of him and he literally, ran with it.  With that in mind, let’s now move our thoughts toward a specific scripture.     Philippians 3:12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Have we been taken hold by something larger than us or do we only live in the story of our own lives?  Paul says that Christ had taken hold of him and he could help but move forward in the direction of the prize.  He simply could not do anything but go for the prize with his whole life.  That is how much embraced and lived the story of God's call on his life.  No matter the changes that pursuit brought, it never made him give up in his pursuit.  No wavering, no doubts, no regrets for him.  The pursuit brings powerful changes in our lives and they matter not in the greater pursuit of him.                                                                                                                                              

The Real Estimate of our LIves

Salvation Army Commissionar Samuel Logan Brengle in 1933 said, "The final estimate of men shows that history cares not for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart".  This is completely true in how our lives will be measured.  It is sad that we long for the rank, title, and office instead of living out our faith in Christ passionately.  Our passion for him impacts the world way more than our passion for seeing ourselves rise to the top of ministry.  Our passion for him leads us to serve others, but our passion to move up higher leads us to use, cast aside and not value the people around us.  Let us live a life of serving and loving others.  After all, that is the true measure of the depth of our character.

It Happened Today

     I knew that it would eventually happen.  It had to happen. It happened to me when I was a kid and I am sure it has happened to you.  It happened to my parents and to their parents. It happens to every parent who has ever lived, well at least in the modern era of radio, 8 tracks, CD's, and the greatness of the MP3.  It will happen to all of our children. Kids, I guess, never understand the greatness of the generations before them as they are so lost within their own.  If only they could be mature enough to really understand what they are missing.  What in the world am I talking about?  Well, I will tell you.  

     As the 4 oldest kids were looking at something on the computer today, I had my music going, and yes, the greatness of 70's music.  I have a file entitled "Doak's Alltime" and it contains all the greats from my generation.  The kids all turned and said, "Dad, you like boring music."  

       With those words, things changed.  I am definitely older and they are definitely older.  Do you remember when it happened to you?  For me, I got to a place as a kid where the Statler Brothers and Marty Robbins were no longer cool to listen to just because my dad liked them. There were better things in life to listen to like: Journey, Reo Speedwagon, James Taylor, Bread, Styx, Boston, Jackson Browne, and Billy Joel.  Who would not like those all time greats?  My kids that's who!

     Actually, I am okay with it totally.  It means that now, I will have to pay more attention to what they are listening to and stay in touch with this generation of music and I think that is alright, although it will stretch me some to fully embrace the likes of the Hairspray Soundtrack and the Jonas Brothers.  God willing, our kids get older and a sure sign that it happens is when our music becomes boring.

     Regardless of their sudden "stuck up" view of my music, I think I am staying with my bands. To many memories of then and still now flood my mind when I hear those songs.  Though they sound "kommisch" to the kids, they sound sweet in mine.