Hearing the Voice of Jesus

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. (John 10:2-4)

After Jesus was raised from the dead He appeared to His disciples and other followers. He was not always recognized immediately. Mary Magdalene thought Jesus was a gardener when He appeared to her. St. Luke says the disciples mistook Him for a ghost. St. Mark notes that many did not believe the testimony of the first witnesses. And there were some who saw Jesus but still doubted! This is to be expected. For only those who belong to Jesus’ flock will believe.

Those who belong to Jesus flock will believe when they hear His voice because they are the sheep that Jesus is seeking. Our job is to share the Good News that Christ died for our sins being raised to new life as we are no longer held in bondage to sin and its consequences. Those whom Jesus already knows will respond to His voice. Let us open the gate for the Shepherd and feed His flock!

...just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. (John 10:15-17)

Jesus, the Cure for Death and Dying

We die! It is a fact of life. But how many of us really understand why we die? Is it a purely biological phenomena that we come into the world, age, and die? Is it because we are not medically smart enough to cure and prevent illnesses that weaken our bodies and kill us? Or is it we have the misfortune of being in an accident that is fatal? We die because we cannot live forever by God's decree. Do we really want everybody to live forever? The murderer, rapist, thief, liars and idolaters. Do we want them to believe they have no condemnation for their sins? We all die. It's the reward for sin. Even for those of us who believe we are basically good! (Rom. 3:9-20)

Death came into the world at the very moment we chose not to follow God. Gn. 2:17) We are born in the likeness of Adam. (Gn. 3:5) His first son was a murderer. Not even God could stop him. (Gn. 4:6-11) God shortened man's life to reduce the opportunities to sin in the world. (Gn 6:3) And even this did not prevent Him from starting over. (Gn. 6:6)

Man can do no good. Even our good deeds are born from a self-serving heart. (Is. 64:6) So when we do not get the rewards we were looking for, we get angry, jealous and quarrelsome. So what is the solution?

The solution is to change our heart. ( Gk. metanoia = repent) But we cannot do this on our own. And this is where Jesus Christ comes in. He is the Holy one of God. When we see Him take our nature to the cross, see that He stood between us and God, taking upon Himself the punishment meant for us, we become sorry for our sins. And we want to put our trust in Him who died for us. After all, He rose from the dead. That’s right, he paid our penalty and shows us He is the Way to eternal life. We cannot help but look to Him for our salvation for our hearts are broken.

On that first Good Friday, Jesus died in our place. On that first Easter Sunday, He shows us that not even death can bind Him in a tomb. He is Risen! This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the proclamation of the Church. As the Rt. Rev, J. C. Ryle, the first Bishop of Liverpool states, "It is true that we deserve death - but Christ has died for us. It is true that we are guilty debtors - but Christ has paid our debts with His own blood. This is the real Gospel! This is the good news! On this let us lean while we live."

An Open Letter to my Sons about Easter

I wrote this letter to my two college age sons who live on their own but I will not be able to see this holy season. My divorce from their mother was finalized over a year ago. Last spring I resigned my position from the parish I had been serving for 9 years returning to my southern home to help my sister care for our mother whose cancer had become terminal. I have yet to find a full-time position allowing me to travel and visit them. By the grace of God I do serve a small church plant in an assisting position. Our divorce culminating in my recovering from severe depression. so the remark about 'contemplating killing myself' is a reference to the suicidal thoughts I once had. So my posting this is for those who have faced or are facing, our trying to live up to our kids' expectations or percieved expectations and for families who cannot celebrate the holidays together for whatever reasons. God has healed me of my depression and all glory belongs to Him in whom we move and have our being.

Holy Week 2011

Dear Taylor & Josh~

This is letter is to let you know how much I love you and how sad I am that another major holy day of my faith is now being celebrated and I cannot spend it with you. This is not my will. My occasional background work is so few that what money I make goes to gas and to help your aunt with very little groceries. It is not enough at all to go towards any housing expenses. When your grandmother died, she left a debt on her condo and while it's on the market, the mortgage still has to be paid. So I still look for work. My hope right now is to get into a chaplaincy residency later in the summer. But for now, I put my name in for any opportunities in the local film industries suitable for a balding middle age man!

If there is any regret I have raising you two, it's not being stronger in my faith while y'all were young. There is a myth that whatever we want, God should give it to us. We are not at the center of the universe. God has already decided how our lives are supposed to be. Since we are far from perfect, sick with sin, our life is one of moving towards God, like the prodigal son returning to his father. What I am learning in my life is that my journey is just that, moving closer to God who has had my life planned from before I was conceived. This does not mean I am happy all of the time as I have to let go of my wishes, dreams and preconceived notions of how my life should be. In other words, my disappointments stem from a desire to be at the center of the universe rather than letting God be God. This, in the end, is a form of idolatry.

I share this with you as I pray for both of you daily. If I could have my way, I would be with y’all this week. But our lives are one of God using our trials and tribulations to mold us into the person He wants us to be. I must learn to accept my limitations and circumstances knowing that each day I wake up, is another day to be thankful to Him who gives me life.

This week we remember God truly gave His only begotten Son that we may have life, His Life! We are not to live for ourselves but for Him who created us in His image. Much of my parenting was spent trying to save y’all from disappointments much like my father did. And he was not a very happy person. Unfortunately, there will be that job we will not get, or we will lose, the money that is never enough. People will judge us by what we have or don’t have. Yet none of these things are important. In fact the only thing that is important is knowing who your true Father is and He is in Heaven. Yes, He killed His only begotten Son, for us! We don’t have to kill ourselves as I once contemplated doing. Trying to live for others is a losing proposition. Surrendering to God is a winning solution. We cannot control our lives, but we can give up our control to God. So those things that do not go our way, may be best for us. Jesus surrendered on the cross. Before that first Good Friday, he taught us to take up our cross and follow Him.

So today I pray that I will get a steady income to help with my obligations to y’all knowing that God directs my steps. Where I mourn today for what I cannot do, I know God will comfort me by His grace in what He can and will do. I ask that we all accept God’s providential good will knowing that He is molding our character for a future resurrection., a resurrection of eternal life for those who have turned back to God and His righteousness. The outlook is quite bleak for those whose hearts are hardened wanting to live for themselves and not for God!

I love you both very much and miss you very much. I do not know what the future holds but God knows.

May you both have a Happy Easter learning its true meaning for your lives.

Love,

Dad

Why is Good Friday Good?

When I was a young boy I asked my mother why do we call Good Friday good when it was the day Jesus was killed. Her answer was simple: It's good because Jesus died for me. I really didn't get it until I was much older. Here is my testimony why Good Friday is good, for me!

The Importance of Church Attendance

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:24-31)

We shall all do well to remember the charge of the Apostle Paul–“Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is.” (Heb. 10:25). Never to be absent from God’s house on Sundays, without good reason–never to miss the Lord’s Supper when administered in our own congregation–never to let our place be empty when means of grace are going on, this is one way to be a growing and prosperous Christian. The very sermon that we needlessly miss, may contain a precious word in season for our souls. The very assembly for prayer and praise from which we stay away, may be the very gathering that would have cheered, established, and revived our hearts. We little know how dependent our spiritual health is on little, regular, habitual helps, and how much we suffer if we miss our medicine. ~ Bishop J. C. Ryle in his sermon on John 20.

95 Thesis for the Modern Evangelical Church

95 Thesis for the Modern Evangelical Church

Christ our Passover

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor. 5:6-8)

St. Paul was writing to a church that tolerated sinful behaviors within her members. The boasting he refers to is the tolerance they show to a particular member. In short, Paul reminds the early church that while we are in the world, we cannot be of the world. In other words, our behavior must reflect our new life in Christ. St. Paul uses the passover image of Christ to remind us that Christ passed over our sins. (Rom. 3:25) And just what does this mean?

The first passover occurred as God led the Hebrews to freedom. The Hebrews were held in slavery by the Egyptians who neither knew the God of Israel nor desired to love Him. Slavery meant no freedom for the Hebrews and pain, suffering and often a premature death for those who fought against the will of the their taskmasters. God brought an early death to the male children of Egypt. But, the Hebrews were saved. They were commanded by God to take an unblemished lamb, sacrifice it, paint the blood on their doors and the angel of death will pass over their home. They would then flee to freedom by the leading of God. Sin is much like a slave holder or task master. Paul reminds us that before Christ redeemed us, bought our freedom, we were slaves to sin. (Rom. 6:15-23) But Christ, the true paschal lamb, has passed over our sins. This does not mean Christ ignores our sin. It means we are freed from the slavery of sin. Death is the wage or reward of sin. (Romans 6:23) When Jesus died on the cross that first Good Friday, He became the Passover Lamb for all who put their trust in Him. Death no longer has the last word but rather the promise of eternal life. We have the freedom in the here and now to serve God and not our carnal passions. Our consciences are sprinkled with the blood of Christ. As the Letter of Hebrews tells us, "...how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God." (Heb. 9:14)

As Easter approaches, let us remember with thankfulness the death Jesus offered up to God on our behalf much like the Hebrews understood the death of an unblemished lamb and the sprinkling of its blood on their homes, was the price for the freedom to serve God. Our consciences have been cleansed by the Lamb of God. We can serve God in righteousness. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us! Therefore, let us keep the Feast!