Conversation and Revelation

So as I mentioned in my last blog I've been in conversation with some friends from church over Scripture, the Apocalypse, that is, the last book of the Bible has been the subject of recent conversation.  We started out by learning the ins and outs of the four mainstream theological viewpoints as pertains 'End Times' or what I like the think of rather as the in-breaking of the 'Age to Come' or 'World to Come' (aka Eternal Life) Luke 18v30 , John 17v1-3.  The mainstream viewpoints are Historical Premillennialism, Amillennialism, Dispensational Premillennialism and Postmillenialism. The material was good and I believe the teacher did a good job of presenting the differing viewpoints from an objective stance which was very cool to see.  This was a time of Spiritual awakening for me and I wrestled with all sorts of things as the Lord was doing a work in us.  All said and done though I still find myself in the camp of Inaugurated Escatology, not only because I find it as the most compelling and accurate to the full counsel of God's revelation of Himself and His purposes in Holy Scripture, but because it is, in my opinion, the most faithful to the Spirit of these Writings.  Knowing that He works all things according to the counsel of His purpose as summarized in John 3v16-17, namely to redeem a people for His own possession, who in turn will play a substantive role in the redemption of His world by loving Him and rejoicing in His amazing grace and covenant faithfulness at work in and through us.


We had intended to go through the Revelation line by line after this introduction to established viewpoints, but it was prayerfully decided to ensure a firm foundation in Messiah by beginning rather in the Gospel according to John, before we delve into such a powerful discipleship experience as John's Revelation.  That being said I still have a desire to work through Revelation with the Lord Jesus in 2012.  So, my journey is going to start here on the blog and those who would like to are welcome to join me in the conversation and Revelation.  I will be posting as I have opportunity and would welcome any guest bloggers who would like to add something to the conversation.  I will be using a few resources as I embark on this journey, my Bible, a commentary, a resource to help me with spiritual disciplines and a whole lot of prayer.


May the curtain be drawn up and Heaven revealed...

¹Revelation of Jesus the Messiah!  God gave it to him to show his servants what must soon take place.  He signified it by sending a message through his angel to his servant John, ²who, by reporting all he saw, bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus the Messiah.  ³God’s blessing on the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and on those hear them and keep what is written in it.  The time, you see, is near!

⁴John, to the seven churches in Asia: grace to you and peace from He Who Is and Who Was and Who Is to Come, and from the seven spirits that are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  Glory to the one who loved us, and freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and father-glory and power be to him forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see him; yes, even those who pierced him.  All the tribes of the earth shall mourn because of him. Yes! Amen.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, Who Is and Who Was and Who Is to Come, the Almighty.

When things are going 'wrong' in our lives we can very quickly get scared and out of sorts.  For the early church it was severe and violent religious, social, economic and political persecution.  That is where apocalyptic literature comes in.  It is designed to look through the horrific circumstances of the day to the endurance and holiness required of us as God's beloved children and upward toward the hope of the renewal of all things.  

The first thing we see in these verses is that Jesus is to be the central figure, everything flowing through him by the Holy Spirit, and ultimately...intimately... from God the father, 'He Who Is and Who Was and Who Is to Come'.  We see that there is order in God's Kingdom, the revelation is given from the father to Jesus the son, who gives it to his angel who gives it to the seer (John in this case) who ultimately and obediently delivers it to the church.  So we have a four-stage revelation as the basic framework of the epistle.

We see that this is going to be a letter or epistle, there are specific letters to specific churches, that by the symbolic number seven represent the complete church throughout history.  The whole revelation is in the form of an epistle though, telling the children of God what he has seen.  This is also prophecy, Jesus is drawing up from the deep well of John's knowledge of Hebrew prophecy from Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, ect and yet in light of the revelation of Jesus the Messiah, He is painting a fresh picture with images showing up in new and dramatic ways to bring hope and encouragement to the struggling Christian community.

Finally, the Apocalypse serves as Witness / Testimony and this is of paramount importance to the Christian church in every age and certainly today.  As we will learn later it is by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony that we are to overcome the Accuser.  So when God does something in your life...remember it, celebrate it tell of it to whoever will listen and give God the glory He deserves. It's more than God allowing you to pull into that sweet parking spot right near the front doors of the mall though...Witness carries the idea that God is conducting a heavenly law-court and the 'witness' borne by Jesus and ultimately by those who call themselves Christian's is the key that unlocks the final judgment and verdict.  It also carries the sense of the word 'martyr' meaning you are signing up for suffering, even death.

So why would anyone want to bear this cross Jesus calls us to?  Because He has 'made us a kingdom, priests to his God and father' and for the hope...the only reason Christianity makes sense at all...He will come again and set all things right! AMEN

Some thought’s on Judaism, Christianity and the Kingdom of God as the Holy Spirit leads…

Some thought’s on Judaism, Christianity and the Kingdom of God as the Holy Spirit leads…

"But if we would turn to the Father’s grace, We would never be the same, This is an unseen land of a devastated soul, That’s prepared in contemplative silence, For the mighty working hand of an unseen Lord, To come restore this land from its violence, I said walk another mile, Stare across the fields of grain, This is how the prophets train, Learn this lesson well my friend, There’s a time to rejoice and lament, Every season will find an end"

I was gathered together with some friends recently and we were talking scripture when a question came up about the Kingdom of God (Heaven)…how would you explain it to someone? Everyone had some idea, but had never thought to articulate it. Now, this was the primary message of Jesus, this is the Messiah’s Gospel. So I went away from the convo figuring I would spend some time…praying about it, studying and in the name of discipleship share some thoughts…God is always faithful!

The day after I had this convo, a friend of mine returned a book I had lent to him and his wife. The book is titled ‘To Heal A Fractured World’ written by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. It had been a while since I read the book and when I opened it I found myself face to face with a verse we had discussed the previous night. It comes from the prophet Isaiah:

They will neither harm nor destroy On all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of YHVH As the waters cover the sea. - Isaiah 11v9

Now this conversation, to place things in context, stems from our study of ‘Last Days’ and ‘Eternal Life’ also known as ‘The Age to Come’ (Luke 18v30). So let’s look and see what the Lord delivered to me concerning this…

 From ‘To Heal A Fractured World’ pg 77.

‘The prophets and sages, virtually without exception, shared a vision of ‘the end of days’ (the messianic age, the world to come) in which restoration would be far-reaching and macrocosmic. At one level, the political-historical, it would return the Jews to their land and the renewal of the covenant between God and Israel. At a deeper, spiritual-metaphysical level it would mean the end of war and strife and the dawn of a universal sense of the presence of God, as in Isaiah’s great vision: They will neither harm nor destroy On all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of LORD As the waters cover the sea. - Isaiah 11v9 The question is, how do we get from here to there, from historical to messianic time? That was always a difficult question in Judaism.’

R. Sacks goes on to state …

‘On one hand, redemption comes from God; on the other, without human initiative, there is nothing through which God can act.’

Though, in regards to the lack of human initiative, Jesus did say, “Let me tell you,” replied Jesus, “if they stayed silent, the stones would be shouting out!” Implying of course, to get out of the way of those who are willing to engage and celebrate with God for His glory. Those whose human initiative comes from a place of faith.

This brings us to the perceived Jewish / Christian divide, then and now. It can be seen as the result of human error that there ever was a divide, but Paul tells us in Romans that God, in His sovereignty, sent a partial hardening on the hearts of national Israel so that they don’t accept Jesus as Messiah, why? So that salvation, that is, the renewal of the covenant and the inheritance (all things), would extend beyond national Israel to all peoples by faith and so that He can have mercy on National Israel at the appropriate time. That is, when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus, Messiah, is Lord to the glory of God the father. In the Sacred Scriptures we are told that ‘Christian’s’ were at first seen as a sect of Judaism. Of course, early Christian’s saw their Messiah, Jesus, and those in him as the answer to the aforementioned question Judaism continues to struggle with to date. So, I insist on seeing Christianity as the answer to which Judaism is the preceding question. In fact, Paul and certainly John via Jesus himself, see’s Christian’s as the true Jews, ref Revelation 2v9, 3v9. This does and should not lead to any form of anti-Semitism, because Paul says he would give up his salvation and be cut off from Messiah for the sake of national Israel if that were possible. That’s what love looks like, not hate. Who would you give up eternal life for?

As I stated, Christianity, also known as ‘The Way’, was seen early on by those who rejected it as one among many sects of Judaism since there were significant divisions between the likes of the Pharisees, the Saducees, the Essenes, different Zealot sects and even other messianic movements...which usually ended up with dead would-be messiahs. None of which resulted in its followers claiming that their Messiah had risen from the dead. It quite simply was not expected, even amongst those who believed in the Resurrection, even those who followed Jesus…it was supposed to all happen at once, not that the Messiah would lead the way as the firstborn from the dead, and that he would ascend to the highest throne (heaven) and would rule from the right hand of God, sharing His throne. (note: ascension is not the same as resurrection) Though it would stand to reason that that is exactly what God would do when He was ready to launch the renewal of His Kingdom on Earth as in Heaven. Besides reason, it is what David prophesied in Psalm 110.

So what is ‘the Kingdom of God (Heaven)’? In its simplest terms, it is the reign of God. His will, done on Earth as in Heaven. This is mediated through Jesus as King and High Priest. Jesus of course expounds on the Kingdom of God (Heaven)…what it looks like, how it arrives, where it is at…all in his parables. And he teaches these truths in parable for a reason. Jesus also shows us when he casts demons out by the finger of God (the Holy Spirit), and he says the Kingdom of God has come upon you. You see, God has taken charge; His rule/authority has manifested itself because it met with faith. You see Love never insists on its own way. But when met with faith amazing things that some see as supernatural start to happen, but in God’s world, the Messianic world, they are perfectly at home and exactly what you ought to expect to see as the Kingdom comes. (Matthew 13v58, 17v20)

According to God’s wisdom, the King of this Kingdom, God’s anointed, in leading the way and himself being the Way, Jesus is the place where Heaven and Earth come together. In pre-Messianic times this was the temple in Jerusalem, but Jesus re-established the people of God around himself as both Messiah and High Priest (according to the order of Melchezidek). This is why there was so much conflict between him and the temple (which was a type of Christ – temporary until the real thing came), which like the fig tree had ceased to produce fruit. Now, Jesus is the place…or rather the person… where Heaven and Earth come together, the ‘place’ where you come to meet with God, to confess your sins and find forgiveness, to find healing and restoration, justice, mercy and faith. He was able to do this because it pleased the Father to have the fullness dwell in him.

So, if we have washed ourselves in the blood of the Lamb, what does this mean to be a living stone in the temple of God, that is, in Messiah until that Day when all things are brought into subjection to Him who will even transform our present body, this shabby old thing, so that it’s just like his glorious body, by the power which makes him able to bring everything into line under his authority, how then ought we to live now?

“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven,” he said, “which a woman took and hid inside three measures of flour, until the whole thing was leavened.”

“God’s Kingdom,” replied Jesus, “Isn’t the sort of thing you can watch for and see coming. People won’t say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘Look, over there!’ No: God’s kingdom is within your grasp.”

May we take hold of the Life that is truly Life. AMEN

Apocalypse 2012

Getting ready to ring in the new year...watching old videos from my oldest son's first french toast breakfast which was also his first surfing trip. Then I checked out a video from the 'Our Family is your Family' thanksgiving over at our first church, then as I reflected on Sebastian's baptism this year, I was taken back to the day he was born, his little lip shivering and the fear and excitement and beauty and messiness. Awesome. Bringing forth new life is always a messy ordeal though...ask any mother...and as this year gives birth to the next, I can't help but be filled with hope for what the Lord will do and how my household and my community gets to be a part of it all with Him.

In order to look forward, it’s often wise to first look back and see from where you've come. In 2011, there have been a lot of challenges. Many victories and many failures, and life has emerged victorious from the midst of all of it. I've prayed and cried,yelled and sobbed. I've had dreams and nightmares, visions and darkness, I've heard the Lord's voice and battled with the devil. I've been set on fire and filled to overflowing. I've rejoiced and I've lamented. I've struggled with men and with God, fallen and risen, died and come again to life. I do my best to give God glory through it all because I love my Father and I love my King, Jesus.

I’m still learning how to be a husband, a father and all the other things I’m to be…and to do it all while dying to myself, so that Messiah can live his life through me…I have struggled with what that means, what it looks like and how it manifests on earth as in heaven. Following Jesus, has not been easy for me. It wasn’t easy for him, so i don't expect it to be. I don’t believe he lived the life he did so we don’t have to, but so that we would have the hope, courage and power to follow Him in exactly that life. This means courage and humility, boldness and wisdom, strength and compassion, suffering and conquering and so much more…but in the end…faith, hope and love.

A few things I’ve learned more intimately over the past year for what it’s worth…

God is faithful.

My life has been somewhat formless and void over the last year, it lacked direction, function and order in many areas. I battled with confusion, doubt and demons I knew nothing about…but they were as real as me sitting here typing. One thing is a fact though, evil must be allowed to come out, do their worst and then be dealt with head on. There’s no use dilly-dallying around. You have to get past the surface rubbish… ‘peace, peace’ when there is no peace, stare the horsemen in the face and endure…that’s the Way.

The world is coming to an end…and it starts with us

The way we have done things in the past will not be the way they are done in the future. We are called to be good stewards of God’s good creation, to be image bearers and God has ordained it that he will work through his children to bring his glad, wise order into the world…filling it with Himself. Creation groans for this and we who have the first fruits find ourselves groaning within for the redemption of our bodies. In this hope we were saved. May this be a year where the sons of God are revealed. May we not only walk in the Spirit, but be driven by the Spirit. This past year, as I mentioned, I found there were many things that needed to be brought into order, and there is still more. He is faithful to do it if we are willing to stand in the light, as ugly as that might be at times, he can cleanse and renew centuries and even millennia of wounds by the blood of the Lamb and the power of the Holy Ghost. This is for our good, so that we will not lead lives that are to no effect, that we will not run in vain. This is what he wants for us. It pleases the Father to give us the Kingdom.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life

In all creation, there was only one who was worthy to open the truth to us, God’s plan for the redemption of the world. It’s ugly, it’s messy and it’s absolutely beautiful. Messiah Jesus, was the firstborn from the dead so that he might be first in all things. He leads the way. Everything is through him and for him. It is in him that God has summed up the whole cosmos. So if you want to know what God is doing and how he’s doing it, look to the Son. If you want to know what God is like, look to the Son. If you want to know what God wants to do through you, look at what he did through the firstborn of the brethren. Then realize that the same power that created the cosmos, that raised Jesus from the dead, that holds all all things together and sustains all things is at work in you to do it. This is what we were saved for. It will be ugly, it will be messy...nobody wants to hear Revelation 6-20 much less go through it, but 21 and 22 are worth it. There is Life after death.

Pray, listen and walk.

From: Christ-mas To: Easter : Luke 24v36-53

As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said,'Peace be with you.' They were terrified and alarmed, and thought the were seeing a ghost.

'Why are you disturbed?' he said. 'Why do these questionings come up in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; it really is me, myself. Touch me and see! Ghosts don't have flesh and bones like you see that I have.'

With these words, he showed them his hands and feet.

While they were still in disbelief and amazement from sheer joy, he said to them, 'Have you got something here to eat? They gave him a piece of baked fish, which he took and ate in front of them.

Then he said to them,'This is what I was talking to you about when I was still with you. Everything written about me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and the psalms, had to be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Bible.

'This is what is written,' he said: 'the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and in his name repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, must be announced to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are the witnesses for all this. Now, look: I'm sending upon you what my Father has promised. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.'

Then he took them out as far as Bethany, and lifted up his hands and blessed them. As he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven.

They worshiped him, and went back to Jerusalem in great joy. They spent all their time in the Temple, praising God.

As we look to the final scene in the Gospel according to Luke, we have the realization of the hope of Israel and from Israel to all people and indeed, the whole cosmos. In Messiah Jesus, a new heaven and new earth, where justice is at home. God, we see, has taken Jesus' body and made something altogether new out of it. Able to step back and forth through the curtain that separates God's realm, heaven, and our realm, earth (Psalm 115v16). Jesus is perfectly comfortable on either side, in him, you see, the two have become one. This is very difficult for many to understand, Paul invests a good bit of time throwing light upon the subject in 1 Corinthians 15. He makes it very clear that the final state of resurrection is not just spiritual, but has a new physicality about it....flesh, bone, eating, drinking...this is not to deny an intermediate state, that of angels and spirits, where we are 'at rest' and 'with Messiah' (Philippians 1v23-24)...

At these words, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and Saducees, and they were split among themselves. (The Saducees deny that there is a resurrection, or any intermediate state of 'angel' or 'spirit', but the Pharisees affirm both.) Acts 23v7-8

It is a terrifying thing to have the curtain drawn back. Especially the first time. In the Apocalypse (which means unveiling/revelation), John falls down 'as a dead man' before the Lord. But our Lord, seems to always extend words and a touch of grace,'peace be with you' says the Lord...never the less it is an awe inspiring situation, one you wouldn't trade for anything!

And here is the revelation...the biblical Christian hope is for what we see fully and finally in Messiah Jesus right here in the scripture, a fully integrated heaven and earth, this is the 'home' that the born again believer belongs to. God has summed up the cosmos in Messiah Jesus, and this is why we feel so uncomfortable in the world as it is, where His will is not being fully done on earth as in heaven, and why when we have sin in our lives as believers, when we are not walking in the good works he has prepared for us to walk in, it grates on us until we identify it, call it what it is and repent, receiving the gracious forgiveness that is ever available to us through Jesus Christ, our great high priest, the Lamb of God. Then we are not walking in the 'world' or in the 'flesh', but in Messiah.

There is more to it though, Jesus wants us not to just wait round expecting it to all work itself out, but rather to wait, in worshipful prayer and praise, until we are empowered by the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit...power from on high, and then to go out as redeemed redeemers, New Creation's who are sent into the old creation as agents and vessels through whom New Creation pours into the world until, the earth is full of the knowledge of YHWH as the waters cover the sea, or as Paul says...the time when 'God is all and in all.' This is where King Jesus is leading us. He is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, but by him.

For all this, Paul can boldly encourage us, 'my dear family, be firmly fixed, unshakable, always full to overflowing with the Lord's work. In the Lord, as you know, the work you are doing will not be worthless!' 1 Corinthians 15v58

Merry Christmas! May the earth truly receive her King!

Let’s Turn This Thing Around - Luke 24v28-35

They drew near to the village where they were heading. Jesus gave the impression that he was going further, but they urged him not to.

‘Stay with us’ they said ‘it’s nearly evening; the day is almost gone.’ And he went in to stay with them. As he was sitting at table with them he took the bread and gave thanks. He broke it and gave it to them. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

Then they said to each other, ‘Do you remember how our hearts were burning inside us as he talked to us on the road, as he opened up the Bible for us?

And they got up then and there and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven, and the people with them, gathered together.

They were saying, ‘The Lord really was raised! He has shown himself to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road. And he was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Often times when things don’t go as we think they should we, in our disappointment, confusion and feeling of defeat we start to change direction, break away and go back to doing our own thing. We have a tendency to withdraw from whatever it was the Lord had us engaged in and enter into some sort of pity party or other unhealthy, destructive way of dealing with the situation…could be depression, substance abuse, or any other form of dealing with the core issue. It's going to come out somehow.

Jesus is still walking with you. He may give the impression that he’s ready to move on and leave you like that in order to get you to call out to him ‘Stay with us’. And it is in that moment, the moment when you open the door and he comes in and you sup together, breaking bread and giving thanks, when you share in that meal with Jesus that your eyes will be opened and you will receive the gift of repentance. You will remember the words that he has spoken to you only they will be ‘opened’ to you. And what else is there to do but get back to Jerusalem, and give your personal testimony and remind the people of what the Lord has given us to do as a single body.

I have been studying quite a bit on spiritual warfare recently and the Lord has given us some mighty tools to combat darkness. He continues to work and to reveal and 'open' to us new ways of advancing the Kingdom through new ‘spiritual technology'. He said greater things we would do. And in a world where the ‘golden calf’ has been allowed to grow up into a ‘bull’ placed right in the middle of the city, where mammon and belial, and any number of other wicked spirits seem to be entrenched in daily life, we need faith, courage, weapons and the discipleship to know what we’re doing. It seems to me though that in order to do more than bind these disgusting things, but to get them out of our lives and churches and then to start taking ground from them in the world, we need some repentance. No more rusty swords!

We need to ask ourselves why we have allowed the enemy to divide us on the battering ram of the Eucharist (Holy Communion), the good gift, that mighty weapon that declares to the world Jesus is King! Proclaiming his death until he comes!

‘The warfare we’re engaged in, you see, isn’t against flesh and blood. It’s against the leaders, against the authorities, against the powers that rule the world in this dark age, against the wicked spiritual elements in the heavenly places.’ – Ephesians 6v12

Lets look at it again, together, with fresh eyes and see just how powerful and essential it is for everyone who declares with their lips ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, come together worthily for this meal. Secondly, baptism, another essential drained of its power because of divisions based on logistics and semantics…a powerful weapon that sits on the shelf. Why?

Now, let’s get on with it, back into the city, not asking ourselves, ‘Do I really ‘have’ to do that to be saved?’ It’s not just about that, it’s not just about you! That comes from the evil one!

But so that all covenant faithfulness (righteousness) would be fulfilled. That’s what Jesus did and why, and if you have him, you will do the things he did, you will walk as he walked to the degree of faithfulness you’ve been given. That’s what love looks like. That’s your personal relationship with Jesus that leads unto the Father.

‘Fight the noble fight of the faith; get a firm grasp on the life of the coming age, the life you were called to when you made the noble public profession before many witnesses.’ – 1 Timothy 6v12

Who Was That Masked Man? Luke 24v13-27

That very day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, which lay about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were discussing with each other all the various things that had taken place. As they were discussing, and arguing with each other, Jesus himself approached and walked with them. Their eyes, though, were prevented from recognizing him.

'You're obviously having a very important discussion on your walk,' he said; 'What's it all about?'

They stood still, a picture of gloom. Then one of them, Cleopas by name, answered him.

'You must be the only person around Jerusalem,' he said,'who doesn't know what's been going on there the last few days.'

'What things?' he asked.

'To do with Jesus of Nazareth,' he said to him. 'He was a prophet. He acted with power and he spoke with power, before God and all the people. Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. But we were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel!

And now, what with all this, it's the third day since it happened. But some women from our group have astonished us. They went to his tomb very early this morning, and didn't find his body. They came back saying they'd seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Some of the folk with us went off to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn't see him.'

'You are so senseless!' he said to them. 'So slow in your hearts to believe all the things the prophets said to you! Don't you see? This is what had to happen: the Messiah had to suffer, and come into his glory!'

So he began with Moses, and with all the prophets, and explained to them the things about himself throughout the whole Bible.

Life can have it's disappointments.

We don't get into the college we had been trying so hard to get into. We can't seem to land that job will provide that sense of meaningfulness we long for. Our favorite football team can't get out of this losing streak. Our country is ruled by people obsessed with money, power and this global economic empire...people gas our children and publicly humiliate and kill our freedom fighters, all the while our religious leaders are pressing for this elusive thing called holiness and revival, with the more powerful lobbying to implement it by legislating it, enforcing it through violence rather than doing the hard work of making disciples of Messiah, developing character and raising children up in the way they should go. Which equates to not lifting a finger to help the situation, but rather makes it worse.

And yet in the midst of that, we go on walking...having the conversation, arguing and mourning the way things have turned out...it's not supposed to be like this! Why don't they just do what it says in the Bible! The answer, Jesus says, is that they are doing what it says in the Bible...the question is what role are you walking in today? What role is your church playing as a body? The city your planted in? Your nation your planted in? One of faith or one of doubt? One of truth or one of lies? One of destruction or one of healing? One of violence or one of peace? One of darkness or one of light? One of death or one of Life?

Today that's what is set before us, death or Life? I urge you to confront the darkness in you and around you by choosing Life. Chose Life now...and chose it again tomorrow and the next day and for ever more.

Are you in Messiah? The one who prayerfully suffers for the sake of the world and thereby overcomes it? Who refuses to try to overcome evil with evil, but rather to overcome evil with good? Are you one with the only hope of the nations? Or are you walking in the role of the world?

Perhaps you're the young radical who's decided that physical violence or destructive rebellion is the only way to bring healing? Perhaps you're the Sadducee who is just trying to keep the peace, as long as your bank account is filled up and checkbook balanced? Perhaps you've been the Pharisee who knows the bible like the back of your hand, but can't stand the thought of having a beer with the landscape guys, the painter and the unemployed plumber down at the pub? Or maybe you've become like Pilate who just wants to keep all these backward thinking desert people in line and stop them from bringing their violence to your doorstep or worse to upset your boss and then you can forget about re-election?

Or maybe, just maybe...you've come to the foot of the cross...or perhaps you've experienced the cross, that place of death...and on the other side of it you're finding new life springing forth in ways you never could have imagined...perhaps you have found yourself to be a fulfillment of our Lord's prayer...you've been caught up in the love of the one true God and are becoming like the man from Galilee...now you are in the world, but, strangely, you know you are not from the world, your being kept from the evil one, here to boldly announce the King and bring forth the Kingdom, the sovereign reign of God, his glad, wise order. You are a part of a royal priesthood in Messiah, the one they called a prophet, mighty in word and deed...who turned out to be the Son of God.

Maybe...hopefully...you have turned your whole self to our Father, in Jesus' name, and that is exactly where you are at. Want to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?

This is how it works out. Everything exists for the sake of God and because of him; and it was appropriate that, in bringing many children to glory, he should make perfect, through suffering, the one who leads the way to salvation. For the one who makes others holy, and the ones who are made holy, all belong to a single family.

This is why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters, when he says,

I will announce your name to my brothers and sisters;
I will sing your praise in the middle of the assembly,

and again,

I will place my trust in him,

and again,

Look, here I am, with the children God has given me.- Hebrews 2v10-13

Resurrection Now: Luke 24v1-12

The women went to the tomb in the very early morning of the first day of the week, carrying the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, and when they went in they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus.

As they were at a loss what to make of it all, suddenly two men in shining clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified, and bowed their faces towards the ground.

But the men said to them, 'Why look for the living with the dead? He isn't here - he's been raised! Don't you remember? While you were still in Galilee he told you that the son of man must be crucified, and rise again on the third day.'

And they remembered his words.

They went back, away from the tomb, and told all this to the eleven and all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the wife of James, and the others with them. They said this to the apostles; and this message seemed to them just stupid, useless talk, and they didn't believe them.

Peter, though, got up and ran to the tomb. He stooped down and saw only the grave-clothes. He went back home perplexed at what happened.

Have you ever been taken by complete surprise, only to reflect back on it later and realize, oh yeah, of course it had to be that way! Or perhaps you were in eager expectation over something you had well planned and thought out, only to realize, oops, I haven't gotten it all figured out and so your immediate astonishment turns into a hunger to seek more diligently what has actually just happened? It can be an emotional roller coaster learning to trust beyond all our preconceived notions. We often think that we trust more than we really do, it's not until control is removed that we really find out what our faith is made of. That is where the disciples are right now...

Jesus, however, had given up all control and simply said to Father,'not my will, but yours be done.' And in that absolute obedience he became the Lamb worthy to open the scroll of God's perfect will. God honored him by raising him from the dead with Power on, as Luke puts it, 'the first day of the week'. Drawing us ever so subtly back the the future, back to the Genesis creation poem, letting us know that New Creation, the New Heavens and New Earth where true covenant faithfulness dwells has been completed, fully and finally in Jesus the Messiah, our King. And what is true of the King will be true of his Kingdom(Matthew 28v18-20)so it is being worked out with fear and trembling. Right now, they are just wrestling and struggling with the fact that they expected the Messiah to come at the end of history to set all things to rights, rather than in the midst of it. What is going on? This isn't what it was supposed to look like...or was this exactly how it was supposed to be?

One thing I know, and this is a non-negotiable. Jesus must be received into heaven until the ultimate renewal of all things. Our King is seated at the right hand of the Father. The result of which is that the promised Holy Spirit is being poured out upon creation. Jesus is the Savior of all mankind, especially those who believe. As it's written...

'The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
Until I place your enemies
underneath your feet.'

So let everyone 'know' this fact: Death has no mastery over Messiah Jesus, God raised him from the dead and made him to be Lord and Messiah, Jesus...the crucified one, who loves you and died a gruesome death in obedience to our Father. God is Agape and He will never give up on His beloved. He has promised and he will do it, 'the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.''For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.'

Father, may we profess the gospel boldly even as our own faith grows, keeping our minds set on heavenly things and not the circumstances of the day. Be glorified in our bodies, a prepared sanctuary for you to dwell by the Spirit. May we love as you love, with a vibrant humility and a strong compassion, that you may be honored and your will be done on earth as in heaven, even as we are sent out to bring about the obedience of faith by the power of your Spirit,in Jesus' name. AMEN