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The whore and the holy

Reading Time: 5 minutes

​Oh boy! I just love these real life examples of Jesus’ interactions with both the highest and lowest people on the social ladder at that time. I have so many questions as I read this story.

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.” Luke‬ ‭7:36-38‬ ‭NLT‬‬

At first, there are no names mentioned, “one” of the Pharisees and a “certain” immoral woman from the city. Where exactly do Pharisee’s live? Since they are relatively separatists, my guess is that they lived uptown somewhere, away from the chaos of the town. And, I imagine that this Pharisee was surrounded by fellow religious leaders that made up his neighborhood. A place where privilege provided privacy. Where it was safe, egos were fed and status was earned by seemingly clean, holy living. There were no sinners there, only saints.

Where did the city-girl live? With her kind, her people. She lived and worked where the greatest concentration of traffic and opportunity would be. Where she could eek out a living, be herself, not be judged and have a certain kind of freedom of invisibility. Her neighborhood may have carried a label like Red-district, Bourbon Street or Crack Alley. Her neighborhood was where people go to purposely get lost, or lose themselves in addictions and pleasures. A place where people were quite comfortable making transactions for a moment of position, pleasure, or pain – searching, aching for peace and anything to escape their mundane lives. I doubt neither the religious leader nor the immoral woman spent much time in each other’s neighborhood.

Ah, but Jesus felt at home in both neighborhoods. He probably hated the stench of one and grieved the sight of the other, but his love compelled him to look beyond the facades of stereotypes and labels to find his mark, his mission – the human heart.

The city-girl, out of some bold desperation could not wait for Jesus to come back through her part of town, that day she decided to make her move towards life itself. She must have heard, she must have seen the kinds of things this rabbi had done. She must have felt that she could risk everything to not just get out of the hood, but out of a lifestyle that was killing her – eating away and stealing every small morsel of moral fiber she had left. This desire drove her to go uptown, to walk the cold quiet streets of glaring eyes and the invisible cloud of judgment and shame to get to the rabbi-Jesus. And with her she clutched her most prized and protected possession. She brought with her escape plan, her nest egg, her only lifeline to a possible retirement from the hell-hole from which she was either born into or chose to make a living. Bringing her alabaster jar appears to be her statement saying, “I’m never going back.” Maybe she didn’t know what she would do with her expensive retirement plan when she, if she, actually met Jesus. Maybe she was planning to pay her way into his group. Maybe she was going to give it to Jesus thus paying for her sin and hopefully the transaction would free her from a life of pain or guilt. But when she arrived at Simon’s complex and saw Jesus reclining, relaxed, possibly smiling, literally being the LIFE of the party, something overwhelmed her.

She looked at Jesus dirty feet and knew what she had to do. She decided she would go all in and use her life savings to clean the master’s feet. She didn’t care who saw her. She didn’t care what anyone in the room thought. She served the rabbi with the only things she owned, her tears, her hair as a towel and her ointment as a way to seal and heal Jesus, now clean but rough feet. And Jesus let her do it! We forget, there was so much tension in that room. It must have vacated the air, time must have slowed to a crawl and everyone one else’s brain went into shock. I’m am positive that eyes were wide, dialated and mouths were gaping open. No one could move. No words could come out of their mouths because their vocal cords were also frozen.

But Simon’s and the others thoughts were written all over their faces. It was the only thought their tiny, tightly-wound, religious minds could think – IF JESUS KNEW… Bah ha ha. If Jesus knew? Are you kidding me. IF Jesus knew? EVERYONE knew who this woman was. Her clothing, her mannerisms, her gender – oh my goodness. If Jesus knew! That is hilarious. Then Jesus speaks. What is he going to say? Jesus had 100% attention in the room. EVERYONE was absolutely captivated by this dramatic, cliff-hanging curiosity of what would happen next. It wasn’t WWJD, what would Jesus do it was WWJS, what would Jesus say?

Jesus tells Simon he has something to say. Remember Luke tells us that Jesus answered Simon’s thoughts, but Simon did not know he’d been read like a cartoon strip! I always wondered, was this Jesus’ human, gifted ability to read the room or was this a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit giving Jesus the unspoken thoughts of humans? I like to think maybe it was both! Either way, it’s important to remember Jesus did not do anything that he didn’t fully expect his followers to do as well. We can’t keep using the, “yeah, but he’s God” excuse to dodge both the gift and the responsibility of all those who believe and follow Jesus.

Then Jesus tells a story that lowers Simon’s pride and elevates God’s grace. Who has greater love? The one with the greater debt! Powerful. Especially because Simon and all the other religious leaders in the room had a wrong perspective in their heads. They believed they had zero debt to God, they were perfect because they kept most of the law. I’m fact, they believed that God owed them! What about the woman? I love the fact that Jesus never winked at, minimized or excused the woman’s own sin. That would have been dishonest and insulting to her.

Jesus said, her sins “and they are many…” have been forgiven. Done. Complete. In the past. Why? Because she cried? Because she served? Because she spent her future to care for Jesus calloused feet? No, because in her act of service she gave Jesus everything! Her repentance was in her tears, her love was in her hair, now becoming a dirty towel, and her salve/lotion gift of generosity was proof of her changed heart. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

If anyone wants to see how God looks at our human sin coming to him in brokenness, this is the picture. If anyone wants to see what makes God sick to his stomach just look at the human pride assuming that God won’t come near to those who are broken. The paradox of Simon’s sin to look down on another compared to this woman’s salvation to look up to God in repentance is stunningly clear!

PRAYER:

Dad,

Oh let me never ever forget from where I have come and from who I have come from. Help me to never look down with judgment and arrogance on a life that is not only different than mine, but much more complicated than mine. Help me to be an broker of hope, generous in grace and approachable because of your joy and peace.

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God does a woodcraft object lesson with Ezekiel

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’ Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. When your people ask you what your actions mean, say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’” Ezekiel‬ ‭37:15-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​I just love the physicality and practicality of God. In having a chat with one of His spokespersons, God tells him, “pick up a couple of sticks and write on them.” There is something wonderfully simple with connecting our God given senses to learn or teach a lesson. The more senses involved the better.

Ezekiel LOOKS for a couple of pieces of wood, he sees the perfect set, he puts thought into the type, length, maybe even circumference. Then Ezekiel picks up the wood, he FEELS the weight and roughness of what was once part of a tree. Maybe he HEARS the sounds as he cuts and carves into preparing the wood and as he does so takes in the aroma as pieces fall to the ground. Wood has its own unique SMELL, individual to the tree that it came from. I love the smell of fresh cut or carved wood!

God had Ezekiel participate not only in a wonderful object lesson by working with these two pieces of wood, but it is also a beautiful picture of craft time with God himself. I wonder if Ezekiel choose two different pieces of wood, different tree stock to represent the two very different tribes of Israel. Maybe one of them was dark and hard, dense and difficult to carve. Maybe the other was lighter, softer, easy to carve but also easy to make mistakes.

When I read these messages, these prophetic words, which by the way IS the point of the writing, I am delighted by the lesson, the idea and delivery behind them as well. God tells him to hold the two sticks together as if they were ONE piece of wood. Ezekiel, after selecting and preparing the woodcraft, would then practice the lesson so that he could easily share it with the people, “Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them.” God has Ezekiel walk around showing them this strange lesson, and it will make them curiously ask, “why are you showing us this?” Isn’t that the best teaching method ever? When the passive watcher wants to know more? Then Ezekiel told them that God himself will personally hold the two pieces of wood (representing the divided nation), just like they see before them. He tells them about God’s promise, “And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever.” Just so you know, God is speaking of Jesus as the peace covenant and we, being filled with the Holy Spirit, become the temple. God still speaks today and still gives us amazing object lessons to help us understand, even using our own senses to make the point sticky!

PRAYER:

Dad,
You’re greatness, your holiness and majesty of all might, authority and dominion does not mean you are not creatively and intimately involved with us even in the smallest details of a lesson or learning. Thank you for truly being with us, as a father and now also as a friend. Thankful for being mindful of both our weakness and our expansive wonder and curiosity.

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How is your family name and legacy doing?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“The proverbs of Solomon: A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother.” Proverbs‬ ‭10:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There are a number of these son to parent proverbs. Modern translations substitute “child” for son, but that undermines the purpose of these writings. If Tim Keller is right, and I believe he is, he says that the proverbs were written as curriculum training for young men. This isn’t a put down on young girls or women in general. It was poignantly written to train boys to become great men – nothing wrong with that, right? We do want our boys to become great men, correct?

Think of this curricula idea being drilled into every Hebrew boy – your decisions effect MORE than just yourself. A constant theme of respect and family responsibility towards their own parents. I was given no such training, no such purpose, no such direction. Yet, even with zero input from my own fathers on how to be man, a husband or a father, I personally learned from God, from Proverbs one of the foundational necessities of life – get wisdom!

By the time Robin and I had children I was able to give regular and constant reminders to all three of our children about this proverb right here – “be wise” and it will bring us ALL joy. Be wise and you will have what is necessary to live a good life, influence every single person you meet and leave a legacy for our family. I didn’t quote the verse to them, I lived it with them. I was adopted, so my birth name is Spear, but when my last name changed at four years old, I grew up understanding that my own adopted father had trashed his family name.

When Christ rescued and redeemed my life, I spent time absorbing the wisdom of God through Proverbs, I instinctively knew my responsibility- clean up the family name and pass it on to my children in good standing. I have worked so very hard to rebuild the Garvin name in every way possible. I wanted it to be morally sound, fiscally sound, socially sound and every bit spiritually sound. I wanted my children to be proud of their father’s name and even more proud of the work God had done to restore that name. Garvin would come to mean, faithful, funny, hopeful, caring, responsible and respectful. I told each one of my children to remember they are a Garvin and to be proud of it!

I know of families who bear the grief of a tarnished name, especially when both parents tried to live godly lives, and raised their children the best way they knew how. There is no shame or judgment towards my friends, I have known them our entire adult lives. But I do know the shadow that their own children have cast on their family reputation.

I also know something else. God’s stories are very long and prayer still works. A momma’s prayer, a daddy’s prayer can move mountains and shake the heavens to bring about change in the hearts of our children. So like the prodigal father who waits, everyday looking for his son to come home, so I know that there can be a “come to their senses” and a desire to return home. Angry words towards and bitter images of our prodigals will not bring them home. However, a godly prayer and prophetically seeing a redeemed image of possibility will yield a huge hug and welcome home party someday. How important is it to raise a child in the wisdom of God? The difference between great joy or great grief in all of our futures!

Prayer:

Dad,
My job, our job is not done even though our children are grown. We still influence them and their decisions. They still need us to speak godly wisdom into their lives. Plus, we now get to focus on our grandchildren and not only reinforce what the parents may say, but put our own special touch of grand wisdom and love into their lives as well. Many a child have rejected a parents advice but still hold to the love of their grandparents. Help us continue to give our family your grace and wisdom to leave a godly legacy!

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A Straightforward, earnest and honest question

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Luke‬ ‭7:18-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A Straightforward, earnest and honest question, John asks if Jesus is really “the one.”

Remember, Matthew, Mark and John record that John the Baptist himself had baptized Jesus and it was quite the miraculous moment. Interestingly enough, Luke had mentioned Jesus’ baptism but leaves out John’s role and the supernatural occurrence, almost as if it were a footnote. Luke shocks us by being the only one with this gritty question.

Are you bothered by John’s question? Did you sort through the facts that Jesus and John had some mystical, supernatural connections in their blood relationship? Jesus and John’s mothers had shared secrets about the possible true identities of their little boys – one being the forerunner of the messiah, the other the messiah himself. Yet, John still asks the question, albeit through a couple of his own followers. It’s okay to ask questions! It’s good to ask really hard questions.

Jesus answered in his own mystical messiah way. And, if you read the answer, Jesus is straight up asking John right back, “isn’t it obvious?” We understand that neither John, a blood relative of Jesus, or Luke, a follower and author gets around a required personal faith. They both have to come to a “I believe” and “I commit” kind of faith. After John’s guys leave, Jesus goes into this amazingly emotional and honoring tribute to John. On one hand he says John is the most awesome forerunner anyone could ask for, but in the Kingdom of God, almost anyone can be greater than even John. I think we forget the human journey that each and every person written about in the New Testament had their own journey, their own struggle to get to the fact that Jesus is the messiah. And even then, everyone of them could not believe what the messiah’s real job was in the end.

PRAYER:

Dad,
I don’t have doubts, but I still have a lot of questions. I just want people to feel safe enough, in the church, to ask the hard questions without fear of being labeled a rebel, or someone unsure of their faith. If John the Baptist can actually ask Jesus if he was the ONE, I think it’s safe to say that we should not only entertain questions, but also be willing to admit, some things we just don’t know. We can’t keep removing the mystery of our faith! Please help us be patient and even witty with folks who have deep questions about you.

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Three tools to view God’s promises.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” Psalms‬ ‭121:1-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A microscope, binoculars and a telescope. I think of these three tools when I read the wonderfully grand promises of God written in Psalms.

Remember the “wow” factor of looking through these glass visual aids and discovering a world you never knew existed. I read a book, How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Stephen Johnson, where the author lists glass as the number one greatest discovery ever! With these three tools we can go from micro to macro views of our world in just a moment. With one we see incredible detail viewing things on a molecular level the eye alone could never see. With the other we see millions of miles beyond our wildest imagination. These tools help me frame God’s promises.

Normally I may read the Psalms with a microscopic view because I am in pain or struggling with difficult circumstances. And, when I use this very narrow purview, I am looking for God to come and help me NOW. But the Psalmist helps me see other perspectives, with a broader scope. He writes about by day and night. Then I switch to an even more robust, macro view and read that God watches over my life! I write this because I must be reminded that God is my rescue at each and every level.

Sometimes, I impatiently get buried in brain-ruts (repetitive neural pathways) and allow myself to feel trapped or squeezed by some random event or some small comment someone made. My mind starts spinning, spiraling down into the cellular level of doubts and fears like out of some creepy sci-fi movie. I instinctively grab the microscope lens of the Psalms to look for comfort amidst the swirling chaos of my own thoughts. Maybe I need to switch my view, my perspective tools and grab some binoculars to see the day, week or month differently. To allow the Spirit of God to bring Shalom, peace, to lower my blood pressure and remember God’s goodness, His trustworthiness.

And maybe, in my own life or the life of others, I need to grab the telescopic view, the really long view of life, even with eternity in mind. I have to laugh at myself to remember, I am not likely going to DIE over some comment or even some failure. And, even if some major event did happen, God let’s me know through His word, He’s still got me in the palm of His hand. God not only controls and shapes the circumstances of my moment or my day, but also my eternity! God keeps watch both now and forever!!

PRAYER:

Dad,
You are a GOOD God, a GOOD father. I give thanks because your love endures forever. You are ever mindful of me. Your grace, mercy are great and you are so long suffering. Thank you for the Psalms, the writings that remind me of your faithfulness to and throughout all generations!

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Finding God’s purpose for your life is not a linear process!

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?” Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him.” Acts‬ ‭9:21-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Well, you know what they say, “if you can’t beat ‘em, kill them!”

For awhile back then Saul/Paul found himself despised by all and feared by believers. After, he comes in from his desert experience, Saul immediately starts preaching Jesus is the Son of God.

His life, his radical turnaround forces this question, “Isn’t this the guy that…?” Basically, this happens in all well known previously bad-human conversions even today. One’s transformation story is very powerful when people ask about the former life. Saul got his speaking groove down so well, that the Jewish religious elite just couldn’t refute his proof. So, rather than see truth or change their hearts, something more sinister took over their thinking. “Let’s kill him,” they said. What hubris, egregious hypocrites. They couldn’t deal with truth, so they ramp up a riot. Sounds like our modern political climate right now.

Saul continued to start with civil synagogue discussions in every town he visited. Yet, it just got increasingly violent, until finally he had to give up going to the Jews first. He believed he was called to the Jewish people! A little providence and a whole lot of death threats convinced him that maybe his calling wasn’t to the Jewish people.

This seems to happen when discovering God’s will. You think it should go one way but door after door continues to close until you realize- that’s not what God wants you to do! There’s something else out there. Paul shifted his focus solely on the Gentiles (non Jews) and then took that passion all the way to the Church leaders, convincing them that the gospel was ALSO for the rest of the world. Acts 15 was all about a fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel and his own favored people to be the ones who brought salvation to the whole world and not just to keep it for themselves. Israel always had a tough time with that idea.

Saul/Paul would go on to bring the message of Jesus to all the major regions of Gentile populations and plant churches (not synagogues) everywhere he went. Paul would come into town, set up his tent making, tent repair shop. Then he would make friends with all the local businesses leaders in the town through shoptalk. He led highly influential men and women to Jesus, then convinced them to use their nicely sized homes to meet in for church on Sundays. Many of those original business owners became church elders and pastors. Paul also ended up writing a large part (almost half) of what we know as the New Testament with thirteen letters, written to correct and encourage these new churches. I would say, all the death threats and riots resulted in explosive growth in the gospel going out to all nations.

Have you started any riots? Received any death threats? Are you struggling with what you think God has called you to do? Maybe there’s something else God has in mind?

PRAYER:

Dad,
Your calling, your purposes are not always the easiest to discover and even more difficult to accept. I have seen a very non-linear path in my own life, right? It’s seems like more of a scribble than a straight line! Yet, you have been faithful and patient. I am thankful for that. For many years, I never thought I would be any kind of first chair leader. There were hopes dashed and failed possibilities. I just settled into the fact that I would be a great second chair for the rest of my life. Then, SURPRISE, through an extraordinary turn of events, I get a callback to serve in my home church as the lead pastor, or Chief Servant Officer as I say. Who would have thought? So now I need your wisdom and favor more than ever before!

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Journal entry from Ezekiel in 593 bc

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)” Ezekiel‬ ‭1:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​On a nice, warm, summer day back in 593 bc Ezekiel is out by a river in Babylon. He tells us that they had been in captivity or exile for five years at this point. We are reading a journal entry of a man that lived over 2600 years ago! He writes about this extraordinary vision as he looks over the river and up into the sky. And, he knows it’s a message and feels the hand of God on him. Chilling right? Then, for the next several verses, Ezekiel describes what he sees.

I’ve got to tell you, I read this as a new believer and could not make any sense of it AT ALL. And, I remember thinking, “who CAN make sense out of this?” It kind of blew my mind when a special speaker came through our church and asked us, “as an ancient observer, how would you have described something “futuristic,” maybe something that would not exist for thousands of years ahead.” Like a vision from someone who travels through time? Whoa. I would never have imagined something so syfi, so cool.

I mean 593 bc could not have had, would not have had any modern day equipment, especially something that could fly! This was a theory I had never thought about – and I liked it! Is it true? I have no idea. Could Ezekiel have been describing a modern Black Hawk helicopter? The guest speaker seemed to think it could have been. Ezekiel could only use words of things that existed in his time to describe what he saw – most of which are animals with a mixture of human faces or features that only the great beasts of his day had. Rotor blades back then could only be described as wings – like a giant dragonfly!

It turns out the modern helicopter may have been designed by studying the dragonfly (The world’s leading helicopter manufacturer, Sikorsky, finished the design of one of their helicopters by taking the dragonfly as a model, IBM, which assisted Sikorsky in this project, started by putting a model of a dragonfly in a computer (IBM 3081)).

Yeah, Ezekiel could have been seeing a futuristic scene of a war and God was telling him to write it down and even share it with the leaders of Israel. This was not just a fanciful dream and Ezekiel wasn’t trippin on some wild mushrooms. There was a reason for it. Many of Ezekiel’s visions were straight out of scenes from the apocalypse, the end times, the final days of the earth and its struggle against evil.

There have been so many possible interpretations and theories of these stunning visions and when they come true in real life, folks will be able to say, “oh, that’s what Ezekiel saw!” So, if you just recently turned thirty, just know this is the kind visionary of stuff you can look forward to! j/k.

Unless I’m joining God as a warrior in his army, I’m not sure I want to be there when this future scene takes place, especially if it’s some kind of global world war. Either way, I know God has got this, He’s in control.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow! These Ezekiel (and others) visions are so amazing. We can only wait and watch as you bring about the finality of your grand story, the epic war and peace, the ultimate love and justice of all things! It’s all there – all written out beforehand for everyone, anyone to read and see for themselves. Either folks have heard or have seen your truth and make a decision. All of us have been given ample time and opportunity to do so. I am so very grateful for your Word and the plans you have for me and the entire world.

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Who rudely interrupts a funeral and tells a widow to stop crying?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Luke‬ ‭7:13-15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​How rude for Jesus to tell this grieving widow – WIDOW, “don’t cry.” Does Jesus not have an awareness of what she has lost, what she has been through. And who is he to tell her what she can or can’t do with her feelings. Jesus must have been displaying some kind of patriarchal control over this woman and she shouldn’t put up with it. Did he not have any respect for her journey, or her present situation? I’m surprised that one of the women, if not the widow herself, didn’t stop the well-intentioned Rabbi and say, “excuse me, you don’t know me or my boy. Who are you to tell me not to cry?”

Oh, that’s not how you read the story? This is where we find ourselves today with an over-inflated sense of self and a misperception of gender identity and interactions.

Luke writes that Jesus was in fact OVERFULL with compassion. The scene, the circumstances and the grief of this woman and friends surrounding her were loaded with deep emotion. If Jesus did not know what was going to happen next or did not have the power to change the direction of the procession coming out to bury this young man – it might have seemed very rude to tell a grieving widow, “don’t cry.”

Also, my curious brain wants to know, did Jesus have full access to his real nature, being fully God to the point that he knew the beginning and the end of every person in the funeral procession? Or did he self-limit that knowledge and in his fully human capacity depend completely on the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak to the dead and tell it to get up?

Jesus really took a risk as well. Luke says he touched the “soros”, the open coffin! There are rules about touching dead things or even being around them. What exactly are the rules for having contact with the resurrected dead?

When I was a new believer I worked for a flower shop and delivered flowers all over town. One my duties was to deliver flowers to funerals. I was told it was my responsibility to pin a boutonniere on the deceased while he lay in the coffin. As a teenager, I didn’t want to see or be around a dead body. It seemed super creepy. The funeral was held in our local senior citizen community called “Leisure World.” Yeah I thought it was a strange euphemism for old people housing as well. When I arrived early at the church to deliver the flowers and fulfill my delivery boy duties, I had this overwhelming sense of spiritual curiosity. I kept thinking, “What would happen if I walked up to the casket and commanded the man to get up?” I was new to Christianity and hadn’t been told I couldn’t or wasn’t supposed to think like that or certainly DO something crazy like that either. Granted, I was NOT moved by compassion. I was moved by a new believer’s curiosity. I have talked with a few Pastors who have had similar experiences asking, “what if” or “should I?”

Do you wonder about such things? When you see grief, or suffering. When you see torment and oppression. Do you feel something rise up within you and to want to say, “get up, be healed or get out to a demon?” Okay, maybe not. Maybe it’s just me. Ok, one more question. Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if believers DID the things Jesus did? Raising the dead, healing the sick, kicking demons back to hell?

I’ve buried children in little caskets. I’ve walked the childrens’ hospitals hallways. I’ve driven down Main St in Santa Ana and seen demonic possession. I wonder, if not out of compassion, but even out of frustration, if I’ll ACT on those thoughts and DO what Jesus did – raise, heal, deliver.

You know what, it’s not that I don’t believe it could be possible. It’s that I believe I’ll look so foolish if it fails, feeling like I FAILED.

Where did Jesus get the cojones to do such things? Yeah, it’s so sunday-school just to say, “God.” Because, God wants us to live in this world and BE like Jesus to the grieving, sick, even possessed! But I don’t. We don’t. What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with us?

PRAYER:

Dad,
How do I get my life, my behaviors, my actions to truly reflect what I believe? I see the pain in my city, in my neighbors, but I just don’t think I’m enough. I’ve got my own sins, my own struggles and I hate looking stupid as well. Clearly, I’m missing something. Can you help me figure this out?

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What is it about the Seven churches in Revelation?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive: “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.” Revelation‬ ‭2:8-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​I don’t spend a lot of time in the book of Revelation. A book of endings. John, the revelator, is writing what he sees and it is filled with mystery, and God summarizing the finality of the story that began in Genesis and now has its apocalyptic conclusions here. John also gives us the letters to the churches, kind of an update on how they are doing and how the gospel either continues to thrive through the people or how it suffers because of sin, error or distractions. John says these letters are from Christ himself who brings praise, correction or judgment to the church’s behavior. There are seven churches listed. Each one, similar has an understanding from God about the struggles they face and most have a complaint or an admonition as well.

The church of Smyrna only has encouragement and a warning of severe suffering ahead. They were already suffering and poor, John notes, but more will be coming. Their enemies are strong and powerful, but God is with them. I find it interesting that these are individual churches in real cities at the time of John’s writing. These are not seven denominations because they all believe in the same thing. At this time there is no mention of differences in doctrine, polity or practics, they are all ONE church under Jesus. I think each church was too busy struggling for their life, or their sin to be splitting hairs over styles of worship (hymns, choruses, sitting or hands raised), sermons (exegetical, verse by verse, practical, or series), or even church management (elder led, pastor led, congregational, or committee). They were just living or not living the gospel and doing the best they could.

Did you know that some New Testament cities still have a “church” in them? Granted, most are just buildings and do not have a gospel witness through a group of people. Some of the buildings are now tourist attractions only. Some of the cities mentioned have no churches, building or otherwise in them. Take Ephesus for example, they have a lot of monuments and ancient ruins, but no thriving gospel witness in town at all.

The gospel itself is still going out to ALL the world and there are some places that it has not been able to go, thus no church presence has been formed. Much of the emphasis of missions continues to take the message of faith, of grace to these areas where the name of Jesus has not been heard. In the nineties, the church focused on the “10/40” window, highlighting the geographic equator lines where it has been difficult to share the message of Christ. The 10/40 window also refers to the “poorest of the poor” in our world. In the past ten years, there have been so many internal, political struggles within those areas, namely wars and genocides, that refugees have fled their own countries and migrated all over the world. These have been extraordinary opportunities for the them to hear the gospel message. Even in the darkest of political climates and radical religious oppression, God has been speaking to thousands through dreams. Through these powerful dreams, God has put a yearning, a curiosity in the hearts of men and women to find this Jesus that appears to them while they are sleeping. In these last days, we may have difficulty getting the gospel into a nation, but God is supernaturally bringing them out. Some of them may even be your neighbors! You might find yourself being a missionary on your own block!

PRAYER:

Dad,
I am so grateful you found me! I am so grateful for THE Church. I am so grateful for my local church as well. The body of Christ coming together to worship, pray and hear your Word. It is both encouraging and challenging these days because of another round of “falling way.” However, your Church will go on and your gospel will go out because you love us and have made a way for anyone who believes!

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Wisdom’s own Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Wisdom has built her house; she has carved its seven columns. She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city. “Come in with me,” she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says, “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.” Proverbs‬ ‭9:1-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​What an amazing way to look at God’s wisdom, actually preparing for and inviting people to a beautiful setting and a meal. There are so many pictures that come to mind as I read this.

First the enormous space that wisdom has anticipated for the event, it had seven columns. It’s not just a great feast it’s a large setting, a banquet hall ready for guests to be honored and treated like royalty. Do you see this? The SIMPLE are given a chance to feel like kings and rulers. Fools are invited to this feast! This is the Hebrew word, pethiy, fool, silly (i.e. Seducible). These are the ones who are easily enticed, misled. It’s the second most used word (15 times) for “fool” in Proverbs.

The other picture I see reflected in these verses is Jesus talking about a banquet feast that no one showed up to! Luke tells us in chapter 14 that Jesus told this story of the man who wanted to throw a huge party and invites had all gone out. However, when regrets started coming back, it made the man angry. He got excuses from the rich and/or well off – a man who just bought property, who was so wealthy he didn’t even need to see it first! Another who picked up some oxen and didn’t know if they were any good. And finally, a married guy, who forgot to tell his bride he’d been invited to a posh event, sorry no plus one. All of these smell of entitlement! So the man got really angry and instructed his servants to go out and invite the disenfranchised. They were not fools, but would likely not have opportunities to attend an event like this. This old proverb is different because the entire extravaganza was planned and prepared for those fools on the fringe.

And, here’s the kicker. Wisdom reveals her motive right there in the last stanza. “Ok,” you might think, “there’s the hook, the switch, the real truth.” But look at WHY wisdom would go to such extremes to host this party specifically for those who are specifically and regularly targeted for being taken advantage of. The catch, wisdom wants them to LEAVE their normal patterns of gullibility and find out how to LIVE! And to LEARN to use good judgment. This was a fancy, free dinner and seminar on how to better themselves and to quit being duped all the time!

Genius! Come for the elegance and free drinks and stay for a life seminar. If you could only see how much God wants to GIVE you a solid life, a good life, a smart and morally sound life, you would see how much He cares for you. Jesus retold a form of this parable with the edgy, entitled angle to basically say the same thing. This grand banquet, this free seminar is open to any who would take God up on his offer. In a very odd coincidence, it feels like Wisdom has its own Chocolate Factory and has invited the Charlie’s of the world to experience it!

PRAYER:

Dad,
Why is it so hard for folks to see how much, how hard you work to love us and give us a life filled with adventure and fulfillment. Why have we pitched salvation and redemption as a jail cell filled with rules and a boring funless life? We’ve really been duped! I think the church has been complicit in pitching holiness and righteousness and as joy and freedom killers. We’ve got it all wrong, all backwards! The real lie is this idea that our free choice to do what ever we want leads to happiness. And having our every wicked desire fulfilled leads to freedom. We have played the Pethiy fool, the simple seducible for believing that! We have all been DUPED! Help us see TRUTH, live truth!