Thursday: Passion Week

What a week.  Jesus now, knows that the time is at hand.  Anointed by Mary at Bethany, cleaned house in the Temple; confronted sadducees and pharisees; parabled the peoples on the kingdom of God, the end times and more; finally Jesus has a room prepared without a servant.  Not looking to His disciples, He takes the role of slave.  Washes feet in a basin.  Dries them.  Then instructs them to do likewise for each other and others.  Jesus calls in the New Covenant.  Celebrating Old Covenant with Passover, now Communion is birthed.  Through the new covenant, Jesus, the new passover lamb makes a way for our sins to be forgiven and He now leads us out of sin slavery for eternity.  Satan enters Judas and as night falls on Thursday, it will be Jesus and the "3", James, John and Peter all being warned to pray with him.  Why?  The temptation will be brutal to overcome.  All three yield to tiredness and then the betrayal kiss from Judas.  This night is special for the Passion Season.  It is a very very intimate moment.  Take time and reflect:  Who are you serving now?  Where are you taking a bowl and a towel?  Also, how is your prayer?  Much conflict comes and Jesus reminds us to WATCH and pray so that we can overcome temptation. 

Thank you Jesus for knowing the way and going the way.

Passion Week: Monday-Jesus Cleanses The Temple!

Passion Week.... a week not void of energy, emotion and life, continues into the next activities during Jesus preparation to liberate all humanity at the cross and then the crescendo of rising from the dead and ascending to the Father.  This week Jesus comes into a Passover packed Jerusalem.  Flooded with Jews from EVERYWHERE to do their religious acts of sacrifice and worship of the Lord that saved them from the death angel years prior.  The Lord "passed over" their very homes and allowing the death of every young boy child of the Egyptians, pushing the final button for the release of their slavery situation they had been in for hundreds of years.  The Jews were very familiar with this custom and religious activity.  And so we see Him step up into the temple area and do a very overwhelming act.  He turns over tables and runs out the money changers and yells that the house of God is to be a house of PRAYER and not a DEN OF THIEVES!!!

C. Baxter Kruger helps explain it in a way we can understand in a more American cultural form (God Is For Us): "About the time the main service is to begin (church), in walks a man.  He is young, and the great crowd recognizes Him as Jesus.  He walks up to the front and grabs the microphone.  We all assume He is about to teach.  But instead of teaching, Jesus rips the microphone from the pulpit, jerks the cable from the socket, and starts slinging it around like a whip, running people out of the church.  He turns over the communion table and knocks down the pulpit.  He shouts at the top of His lungs, 'Stop making My Father's house a house of dead ritual, bereft of true zeal and life!' 'What is this?...where is the real passion for My Father?"   Baxter goes on to write and too much for me to include but a snippet: "The Son steps into the stream of human existence where we have all failed to answer the call of God.  He steps into Adam's shoes, Israel's shoes, our shoes.  And He stands against he whole history of human sloth and indifference, weakness and frailty, obstinance and failure.  He shouts an almighty and intolerant No! against it.  He attacks and destroys it.  He cleans house.  But even more than this, Jesus Christ does not leave the house empty.  He not only takes away our failure, He replaces it with His own rightness for the Father.  He not only removes our false answer, He puts His real answer in its place.  He fills the temple with Himself and all that He is before His Father.  He puts our name on His answer.  He is our priest  int he temple ministering our response and answer to God."

 

PALM SUNDAY!

Jeremiah was excited to try out our new camera.  My phone just doesn't cut it like all the i-phones so I simply had to break down and get a.........camera.

Church yesterday was a blast.  We had our traditional palm branches, Myrtle Beach style.  I was praying that the 5 and unders would not poke eyes out and such. 

As always, this season is absolutely WOW.  The older I get, or the further I go along, the days are simply more significant to me.  I remember being a kid and thinking....when will this day, week, season BE OVER!!!  and more and more, I find myself holding each day and trying to get the fullness out of them more and more.  The season of Holy Week is pregnant with revelation, comfort, humility, humanity and Divinity.  I am baffled the more that I read all of the week activity that Jesus kicks off in this TRIUMPHAL ENTRY from Bethany on down to Jerusalem.  The songs we sang were "Hosanna, Hosanna"  (Save Us Now!).  The theme was joyful as we tried our best to somehow "recreate" the atmosphere that must have been on the street as children and adults alike spread their clothes on the road, along with branches at the Kings coronation.  Jesus on the never sat upon colt, got to hear all the cheers, and adulation, and as He rolls up to His city, He...... weeps over it. 

John MacArthur rightly breaks down the scene: "The timing of this lament may seem incongrous with the triumphal entry, but it reveals that Jesus knew the true superficiality of the peoples' hearts, and His mood was anything but giddy as He rode into the city.  The same crowd would soon cry for His death."

I made the point how often we as a church can be as superficial as the Jews at the time of the passion week.  Looking for Christ to be our Sanctified Santa Clause, the one we call like a genie in a bottle for our every whim, and desire.  But the Passion, is about so much more.  It is about Jesus coming and receiving the praise even KNOWING they would turn to howls for His own death.  That is what the Passion Week is all about.  I pray that this week, the reality of how Christ has pursued us into the bitter places in our lives will pierce our understanding so that we may begin to be transformed by His FINISHED work at the cross.  To which we walk together.....

Stuart

Passion Week Is Upon Us!!!

My great friends Alberto and Victor strolling around after setting up for our Sunday services.  The area is called, "Plantation Apartment Complex:"  The building in the picture is our meeting location!


I sent this work out to the church at 180, but felt that it is a great resource for any family to do together in preparation for the upcoming Passion Season....  Enjoy and let me know if you have any thoughts:

Too often I have found myself at an Easter service only to realize that….. I missed it.  I mean the whole week leading up to Easter is unlike Christmas.  With Christmas we get the hustle and bustle and see it coming the day after Thanksgiving.  Passion Week is the greatest time that we could experience as believers!

Holy Week/Passion Week is upon us April 1 (Palm Sunday) through April 8(Resurrection Sunday).  This week is filled with the process of what Christ did all week leading up to the death, burial and resurrection.  I wanted to suggest a great opportunity to every family and person in the church.  In preparing my heart for this season my son Jeremiah asked, “Dad, can we do the weekly readings for the passion week again this year?”  This floored me.  I wasn’t even thinking about Easter, and I’m the pastor!  What it says to me is the undeniable and powerful truth that we need to have Biblical teaching and leadership in our homes.

 I am suggesting that families this year commit to walking through the passion week TOGETHER IN SPIRITUAL UNITY.  I am suggesting that Father’s lead their families through a daily devotional that I am including to help you carry out Biblical training in your homes for this incredible week.  I have always had a daily reading with my family so that the Bible has become the central focus for authority in our home.  If that is not something that your family has created, you can START NOW!!!  What I suggest for our families is to click onto the link: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/easter_week_devotionals_09-doc.pdf  and familiarize yourself with the process.  I suggest the week before the passion week you do a “pre-passion week” intro.  The link has one such day.  Some shopping will need to be done for the purchase of several candles and such, but the cost is very minimal.  Also, we will need to get some songs ready to sing as a family.  Then simply during the Passion Week, Sunday to Sunday you will need to set apart at least 30 minutes (either at the breakfast table or the dinner table).  Then simply open in prayer, go through the lesson, and then get family members to read the scriptures, dialogue on the questions and then worship Jesus in song and allow everyone to pray over the material discussed (just like a community group!)

If this is too much, a simpler reading schedule below will allow you to do more of your own personal creativity on approaching the Passion Week material.  This may be too much work for a busy dad not able to plan this much in a short time, that is why I have provided the link above.  A simple Passion Week reading schedule is below:
 

Palm Sunday: John 12:12-19; Psalm 24, 29; Isaiah 42:1-9; Zechariah 9
Monday - Cleansing the Temple: John 12:20-36; Psalm 51, 69; Isaiah 49:1-12
Tuesday - Facing his Enemies: John 12:37-41; Psalm 6, 12, 94
Spy Wednesday - Judas Seeks to Betray Christ: John 12:42-50; Psalm 55; 74
Maundy Thursday - Last Supper and Gethsemane: John 13:1-38; Matthew 26:17-56; Psalm 102, 118; Isaiah 50-53; if time allows - John 14-17
Good Friday - Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus: John 18-19; Matthew 26:57 - 27:61; Philippians 2:1-11; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; Colossians 1:1-14; Genesis 22:1-14; Exodus 12:1-14
Holy Saturday - The Great Sabbath as the Savior Rests from his Redeeming Work of New Creation: Matthew 27:62-66; Psalm 16-17; Ezekiel 37:1-14
Easter Day - The Son of God is Risen from the Dead: Mark 16:1-8; John 20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:1-22; Psalm 148-150; 118

This reading schedule might be good for singles, or widowed individuals who would like to work through the materials of the passion week Biblical information.   Another option if able is for singles and divorcees who are alone, to partner with the family of their choice and join in the readings.  This may be a lot to organize, but if it is worked at it has the potential to be really sweet. 

To do something like this I recognize is a big commitment for many families, that is why I suggest using this as a fasting experience for Holy Week.  Day one on the link listed above sets us up for that.  It tells us to be willing to slow down the weekly activity.  If you do 3 nightly activities like tennis, bible study and football on t.v., be willing to give it up for one week so that you and your family can go through this experience.  YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!

A couple scriptures for our Dad’s and the importance of leading this charge spiritually in the home:

““And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”  Ephesians 6:4

And:

              "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.^8”   Deuteronomy 6:6-8

Holla if you have any questions:

Stuart

God's Calling

Reading through Jeremiah can be tough.  My friend Steve says, it sounds like America.  A people, who are blessed by God.  Never really wanting to hear what God is saying, just what they want to hear.  I am amazed at how God sends a prophet to tell people what He already knows that they will not receive.  It must be frustrating.  But God is so faithful and so patient not only with Israel, but with us individually.

One striking scripture to me is Jeremiah 5:30-31-  "An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land.   The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and my people love to have it so."
 
Wow.  Not only is there a conspiracy of the leaders to lead in their own agenda's but the people would prefer it that way.  It reminds me of when God led and protected Israel, yet at one point decided they wanted to have a king (because every nation had one.)  We all think we know so much what is the right thing and what I am learning through these passages is to trust in God for His provision, His connections, His orchestration in my life instead of doing what "seems good in my eyes".

Jeremiah had a tough task to bringing a word to a people who needed to be confronted.  His calling by God is described as, "Behold I have put my words in your mouth.  See I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down.  To destroy and to throw down.  To build and to plant." 1:10.  Jeremiah had the fun fun fun job of confronting SOCIETY and to deal with it God simply instructs, "prepare yourself and arise and speak to them all that I command you.  Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them.  For behold , I have made you this day...."1:17  This is the bottom line.  God called Jeremiah to bring His word.  To a rebellious people.  Not an assignment many of us would want, but when God calls, we are to remember that it is only for Him.

Psalm 118:6: "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?"  I love this mentality.  Man can actually do a lot to us.  Drop us in wells, dungeons, torture and even kill us...yet that is far better than having God dismay us before them.  Why?  "I have made you this day."  If we can get a revelation that our life is not our own, we can boldly and joyfully embrace the calling of God on our lives like the prophet.

We continue our Jeremiah readings this week with Thur:8-10; Fri 11-13; Sat 14-17.  Continue on 3 a day except for Sunday pause.


Peace,


Stuart

Jeremiah

Jeremiah Intro, chapters 1-3 behind us....lets head into Jeremiah 4-6 today and eat up His word!!!

stuart

Girls Basketball

The highlight of the past two months of my life has been coaching a middle school girls basketball team.  Our school is the Christian Academy Saints.  We are, well, beginners.  We played a public team in Myrtle Beach and the 1st quarter score was 23 to 2.  Ouch.  That is a lonely feeling.  It is at that time that I have to just sit back and say, "ok, how do we coach here?"  It is obvious the skill level was not close.  The girls listened.  At one point I called timeout and said in my over the top passion, "I'm coaching harder than you all are playing", that one even makes me laugh now.  It was true, that is why I said it.  The girls wanted to shut down and hide on the court, the only problem was that there was no where to hide.  Substitutions didn't really help.  By halftime and a little help from the opposing coach, we were able to go to halftime under 35.  We looked at each other and talked about fear...about effort, about executing what we CAN do, not what we can't.  I told them I could not coach height, speed or experience, but we had an opportunity to do better in the 3rd quarter.  We got blown out, but I was so proud of them.  They never tucked tail.  They were humbled, but I love that they were able to taste some things they never tasted before.  It was uncomfortable.  I wouldn't want to coach the other team.  I want this one.  I want to bring them along.  Last night we played another local private school and delivered our first win in 5 tries.  I am CONVINCED if we would have not played these bigger, better, faster, confident girls we would not have known what to do last night.  I am sure we would have lost.  But the fight and struggle they went through this season has prepared them to play even teams and execute somethings.  The lessons I am learning about coaching are huge, the lessons I am learning about life are big too.  I am thankful for each of these girls.

Stuart

GROWING

I am so excited to get more and more in the Word of God this year!  If you are tracking with me, we are winding down 2 Thessalonians today.  Still looking to hear what prophet we are studying.  Back to you on that later today.  The scripture below is an awesome reminder of "the process".

"13    But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
16    Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work."

God chose us didn't He?  Sometimes it feels like we found Him, but the reality is that He had His eye on us all the while.  But not just to get us, to save us through sanctification (b : the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion: Websters Dictionary).  He "got us" to grow us through our commitment to Him relationally (by) His Spirit.  The only change that is happening in us is the sanctifying work of His Spirit and our corresponding belief in the truth that He is leading us into.  The Holy Ghost is constantly flashing truth to our mind and heart and as we agree and hold to that truth with adjusting attitudes, values and life habits, we see ourselves "growing in divine grace".  That is awesome.  We often think God changes us all at once at salvation "decision" but in reality it is a process and that is awesome because it doesn't depend that we get there "all at once".  God is more interested in us keeping in step with Him than arriving at a finish line!  Knowing these things, we can truly STAND FAST through the darkness in this world!


Peace,


Stuart

1st Thessalonians

Happy New Year.  Proverbs was the bomb!  Lets keep getting spiritually fit to another level this new year!  On to 1st Thessalonians.  Today is the intro.  Tuesday is chap. 1-3.  Wednesday is 4-5 and intro to 2 Thess.  Then Thursday it is 1-3 all in one day.  Steve- the next book is on you!

WORD!

The Light

The Light has come, the Son has come.  Jesus our Savior, Christ is with us!

Merry Christmas to all.
Stu

Proverbs

Romans just absolutely blew by.  What an amazing  book.  I felt like we are cheating the Bible reading it three chapters a day, in this book especially.  As we press in to more reading of God's Word, we move into the amazing book of Proverbs.  Today we read the chapters 1-3 and Saturday we hit 4-6.  Christmas day is coming up with a break and then we can continue on with 7-10 on Monday.  Merry Christmas to all.  The best gift we have been given is the Word of God and the Word made flesh Jesus.  Let's get closer to Jesus and the Word this year!

Where Is The Problem?

A man came to a mechanic and out of frustration, had to ask the question:  “Tell me why I keep having to keep replacing rear axle bearings?”

The Mechanic replied:
 
Here’s why:  The rear axle bearings fail because the differential fluid keeps dropping to low.  The differential fluid keeps dropping to low because the pinion seal is ripped.  The pinion seal is ripped because the universal joints are wobbly.  The universal joints are wobbly because the driveline is out of alignment.  The driveline is out of alignment because the transmission mount is busted.  The transmission mount is busted because the left motor mount rubber is soft and torn.  The left motor mount rubber is soft and torn because it’s saturated with motor oil.  It’s saturated with motor oil because the oil pressure sending unit is leaking oil onto the motor mount.So the real answer to the question “Why do I have to keep replacing axle bearings?” is “Because the oil pressure sending unit needs replaced.”

 Jeff Z sent this to me and it made me think, "this is what I get all the time when people are struggling with their relationship with God." Often there is a desire to fix a marriage, or a child, or even their own depression.  The reality is much like this mechanical overview mentioned above:

Well, you are miserable because you are spending your time on things that are not eternal.  Because you waste all your time you feel guilty.  Because you feel guilty you don't get around other believers and stop going to church.  Because you don't go to church you feel judged when people call you.  Then you start to lash out and talk junk about the church.  God then begins to chastise you in your finances and your whole world falls apart.  You spiral into a depressed state and you stop reading your Bible altogether and start binge drinking to cope with all the pain.  

What is the problem with your relationship with God?!!!!


Lord help us understand the breakdowns in our relationship with you and how it begins to happen.  Help us to be honest about our breakdowns and service our hearts regularly so we can have many miles with you worry free.


Peace-  Stuart

New Season

OK folks, moving into Romans 1-3 today; 4-6 Friday; 7-9 Saturday.  Take Sunday on your own and we will pick up on Monday.

On another note.  I have the exciting task of coaching my first "school" team.  Christian Academy Middle School girls.  My daughter has been with me as a 4th grader.  Here are some of my first three week recollections and lessons from coaching.

Alexis started asking me to coach for her team.  She thought she could play if I would coach.  Problem is, it is a middle school team and she is in 4th grade.  I tried to sneak her on, because she can already play with more passion than probably most the girls (alex is a bit aggressive).  Upon me committing to coach she was asked to step off the team.  We were able to get her a uniform and she could still practice with the team.  Later 3 varsity 8th graders came down and she was asked to surrender her uniform.  She looked at me with great frustration and tears in her eyes, "No Dad!  I am not giving up my uniform".  She just wanted to be "on the team!"  So now I bought her a school "hoody" sweatshirt.  Last night she lined up in warm ups with an old parks and rec uniform that wasn't close to matching.  During half time she brought me the water bottles she filled and interrupted my halftime speech, "Dad, there are only 3 minutes left on the clock."  She came to me in a heated full court up and down exchange somewhere in the third quarter and asked me, "dad, can i have some money for the concession stand."  I looked at her with frustration and she went to the end of the bench and in her eyes I could see her say, "Im gonna do my job daddy."  The stripping of Alexis' ideas has been humbling.  A life lesson that we don't always get what we want, but we have to wait patiently and often do things we HATE to do....especially if it is the RIGHT thing to do.  My heart breaks for her now, but also I am so glad to see the lesson that God is teaching her through disappointment.

 Wow!  The girls on my team, many never played basketball.  My job is to position them to the best of my ability to be able to succeed.  Well that is hard when you go up against powerhouse programs like Myrtle Beach MS.  My girls were so scared in our second game.  At times I wanted to just stop the game and reposition and realign the girls.  Make the game slow down and bring a loving touch to assure each one of them.  The Lord had me thinking about this after the game.  How cruel the game can be.  Full court press, steal score, over and over and over.  My girls were not getting discouraged but simply are not ready for that level of competition yet.  The Lord showed me, "this is life."  You can't pay your mortgage....the bank doesn't care.  The electric company?  Nope.  When your career starts to spiral downward, no one throws you a sympathy card.  Life doesn't seem to slow down but speed up.  It can be merciless.  That is what I love about these girls.  I get to go back and mentally and spiritually PREPARE them for the intensity needed for competition.  The importance of knowing your assignment, trusting your teammate, becoming one as a unit, fierceness, fearlessness.  Working on skill set, working, working working.  The test is the game, the practice is the preparation.  Seeing these girls connect over something like a sport seems trivial, but they are learning to find something inside of themselves that they have never had.  I can't remember when I felt so satisfied doing anything in the last 10 years of my life.  On a funny note, I actually had butterflies in my stomach last night on the way to the game.  Can't remember when that happened either...in a long time.  I love this!  Peace-  Stuart

ROMANS

Happy Wednesday: 

This is the day the Lord has made!  We have finished out the last of the book of Judges.  What a sobering book especially the last chapters.  We move back into the New Testament to the book of Romans.  WE have the into reading to the book today and chapters 1-3 Thursday, 4-6 Friday and 7-10 Saturday.  Keep it up.  The Word is the source of all revelation and gives us the ability to walk closely with God for instructions and learning to live righteously before Him and man.  Let's stay at it!-  Stuart

Merry Christmas

forwarded from my friend Jeff Z.  So much for Black Friday and keeping up with the Jones'.  Help us Lord.  Really.