pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: faith


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A Family of Faith

One day Peter preached about Jesus, repenting of sin, and being baptized into faith in Christ.  Baptism was the sacrament that celebrated the commitment of one’s life to following Christ.  On this one day many people heard Peter’s words, felt his passion, and felt that little tug upon their own hearts.  3000 responded and we baptized on that one day.  3000!!

Each of these ‘new’ Christians returned to their homes and daily lives.  But they were different because now they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  And through this faith and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they were each connected to the larger body of Christ.  This commonality allowed them to come together as a community of faith where they could sustain this newfound belief and could begin to grow in this faith.  As they gathered they could help and encourage one another.  They could practice that love of neighbor that Christ called them to.

Like they, we are also made to be in community.  Each of our Christian communities is important to us because it is centered on this love of Christ.  To encourage and love and support and pray for each other, we come to know that couple or family or single person that sits down from us in the pew or row.  And they come to know us.  We notice if they are missing or if something seems different about them.  And they notice these things about us.  It becomes our family.  They become part of our family and we become part of their family.  This Sunday, when we gather, may we see ALL as our dearly loved brothers and sisters in Christ, all as part of the family.


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Walking Along Our Road

Do you remember when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and entered into a relationship with Him?  It may be a moment you can name and date – a ‘born again’ type of experience.  It may have been a gradual shift from the stories of Noah and Jonah to coming to know and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins.  In either case, from the point of decision forward, one is never the same person again.

Often this prompts the awareness that we need to change and we begin to try and live more and more for Christ.  At first we notice and work on the ‘big’ and obvious sins in our lives.  These obvious ones usually fall away quickly.  And as we grow in our faith, we begin to see the less obvious sins in our lives.  Ridding ourselves of these sins can be harder – they often have deeper roots and reside within us where others cannot see them as easily and where we can try to keep them tucked away.  Yet there is hope.  For in and through Christ, we can begin to conquer these deeper sins as well.

As we live into Christ, we are drawn to share our joy and also to enter into other’s pain. We grow to risk greater for our Lord and Savior.  As we risk and step out in faith, we move a little further along our journey of faith and a little deeper in our relationship with Christ deepens.  May your walk be good today!!


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The Living Word

As Jesus and the disciples walked along the road to Emmaus, he explained to them how he was reveals and came to fulfill the Old Testament scriptures about the Holy One.  These were scriptures all good Jews would have known and would have studied and heard preached.  Yet on this day the scriptures seemed new to their ears.  The living word was made new again in their hearts.

Sometimes when I read a passage that I have read or even studied before, sometimes something new jumps out at me.  Does that ever happen to you?  The living word is made alive in a new way within us.  It may be a passage I ‘know’ but there is this new nugget.  We are not who we were when we first read it and we are not the same person after discovering our new nugget.  This is why we are on a journey of faith.  We never ‘arrive’.  In the DEVO today the author wrote of their love for geocaching.  It was not in the finding of the cache or in using the technology.  The joy came from noticing all of the details in God’s creation as she carefully looked for the cache – things she would never have noticed and found joy in if she were simply on a hike.  The Bible can be the word of God or it can be the living word of God.  We can read a passage or we can engage a passage.  We can be simply reading or we can be seeking to find new nuggets.  We can think we have ‘arrived’ or we can be on a journey.

And like the two disciples walking along the road with Jesus, once they allowed the living word to change them, they realized that Emmaus was not their destination anymore.  God was leading them somewhere else and they left for Jerusalem.  May we too allow God’s living word to speak freshly into our lives and to be the guide that directs our paths and that brings us new growth on our journey.


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The Word is Enough

In our society there is often a quest for “more”.  People want more money, more prestige, more time off, more friends, more and more.  The quest can be consuming and the goal can become their god.  But Paul found the secret, how to be content in plenty and in want, hether well fed or hungry.  In Philippians 4:13 Paul writes, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  Today it seems many cannot be content.

In John 20 it is revealed that there are other words and miracles of Jesus not recorded in his gospel.  Should that spur our natural instinct to want more?  No!  But it does make me wonder.  It makes me wonder, would more stories help more people to believe?  Sadly, I think not.  God led men far wiser than I to make prayerful and divinely inspired decisions about what writings to put in the Bible.  Similarly, God led John to write what John wrote, no more, no less.

Our faith rests upon Jesus as risen Lord.  He died for our sins.  That is really the story we need.  True, we want more.  And there is value in knowing more.  There is much written in the Bible that teaches us how to live a Christ-like life and about the nature and desire of God.  If we delve in and study the Word, it is enough.  We do not need to know more.  God has provided all we need to be content. Continue reading →


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From Doubt to Love

Have you ever been a second late to a really funny happening at work or at home?  Have you ever looked away from the game at just the moment the ‘big play’ happens?  The laughter or cheers draws you to the fact that you just missed it.  Then you want ‘instant replay’, right?

Oh doubting Thomas!!  Thomas is the first one to be called to believe in the risen Lord on faith alone – without seeing Jesus.  I don’t think Thomas thought all the others were lying to him, he too wanted to see Jesus for himself.  Can you blame him?

Jesus again appears to the disciples and this time Thomas is there.  And Jesus, ever the same, meets Thomas where he is at and offers him just what he needs.  As always, no judging or condemnation.  Oh loving Jesus!!

We relate to Thomas, often wrestling with doubt, often questioning.  That is natural.  It is good for our faith.  We relate to Jesus too, but if you are like me, could do so more often.  Jesus simply offered what was needed to the one before Him.  He calls us to do the same.


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Into the Fray

The ‘Prince of Peace’ came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, symbolic of a king entering in peace.  The crowd welcomed him with shouts of praise and songs of joy.  But the week ahead was anything but peaceful.  The week ahead caused turmoil and stirred things up in Jerusalem.  Just in case any of the religious leaders missed Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the next thing he did was head to the temple and he cleared it out.

Although Jesus does bring us peace, once we begin to walk with Him, He also causes a great deal of turmoil in us too.  His Spirit stirs us up and causes us to live and act differently.  We do not see the world and all of its hurts, pains, and injustices the same.  When we begin to see with Jesus’ eyes and to feel with His heart, the turmoil begins.  We cannot see and feel without becoming a part of it.  We are called to step into the fray and become a part of the turmoil.  As much as it can be uncomfortable and unknown, we know that we do not step in alone.  He is there too.

As we head into Holy Week, as we walk alongside Jesus his week, it should cause some turmoil and some clearing out in our lives too.  May we see the example that Jesus sets before us and fearlessly enter into the world He calls us to.


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Our Words

Isaiah 50:4 reads, “The sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.”  God’s word is a guide to us too and can also be a mean of holding us accountable.  His word is always true.

Our words can be both good and bad, truth and lies.  We can use our words to teach about God, to encourage and bring hope, to counsel and correct.  But we can also use our words to bring conflict, strife, and disagreements.  Because our words are so powerful, we must choose them carefully.  The expression “Think before you speak” comes to mind.

Despite the power of our words, our actions often ‘speak’ louder.  Anyone can talk.  Anyone can say almost anything they want.  But most think that what we do is more indicative of who or what we really are.

The reality is that for all of us, both our words and our actions must mesh, must come from the same source.  The Word of God is that source.  To matter in our world, as Christians we must act and speak the words of love, healing and justice all the time.  The message of Jesus needs to come through loud and clear in all of what we say and do.  In order to speak and act on God’s word, we need to be in the word.  Happy reading!!


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Who Are You Today?

What would it be to be there in Jerusalem that day Jesus rode in on a donkey?  Could you imagine being there and not knowing what was to unfold in the next week?  We read the Palm Sunday story through the eyes of knowing what is to come on the cross.

But imagine if you were just there!  Imagine if you were one of the disciples sent ahead to get the donkey and her colt.  And they were just where he said they’d be and you simply get them and bring them to Jesus.

Imagine if you were just in the huge crowd that day.  You’ve heard a few stories about this Jesus and here he is processing into the city.  People are cheering and laying down their cloaks and also palm branches.  Can you feel the excitement?

Imagine if you were a Pharisee!  Standing atop the wall, watching all of this unfold as you reviewed the plan your crew has been hatching to be rid of this Jesus.  And in he rides to cheering crowds and shouts of “Hosanna!”

There were lots of people.  There was lots of excitement and anticipation.  There was a lot of hope.

Think about the day ahead of you with Jesus.  Which one of the three are you?  The hopeful disciple?  The curious onlooker?  The Pharisee who just wants to be rid of this Jesus?

If you are the first, think about how you can share this hope.  If you are the onlooker, how can you know more?  If you are the last, may you meet lots of the first today!  God bless!!!


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Martha, Martha… Martha!!

When we first meet Martha in Luke’s gospel she is too busy with the work to come sit at Jesus’ feet.  She is upset with her sister Mary who is ‘just’ sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him teach.  Are we sometimes like this version of Martha?  Too busy to see wh or what God places before us?  Of worse yet, do we see it yet think we are too busy and rush right past to get to what we think is a more important meeting, event, project, task..?

But sometimes we are the Martha we find in John 11, the story of Lazarus’ resurrection.  Martha comes to Jesus in her grief and acknowledges Him as the Messiah, the Son of God.  She professes that Jesus and God are connected, that God will do whatever Jesus asks.  But I don’t think that Martha is thinking Jesus will resurrect Lazarus at this point.  I think she is making this profession because she knows her faith is what will get her through this difficult loss.  Most of us have been there.  After questioning why God has allowed something to happen, we turn to Him and acknowledge His Lordship in our lives.  Our faith carries us through.  Yet it is a faith that is always there.

At times we display this rock-solid faith displayed by Martha.  We truly know Jesus as Lord of our life.  We acknowledge that all we have and all we are is His.  As we draw near to Easter, when we celebrate Jesus’ victory over death, may we have faith like Martha – fully walking with God, living in that faith that is always there.


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Walking a Spirit-led Life

In Romans 8 Paul calls us to live a life in the Spirit instead of a life in sin.  In one we choose the things of God and in the other we choose death.  In one we ask the Spirit to come and dwell in us, to become a part of our very essence.  We humbly admit to God, “I need You.  I cannot walk this path on my own”.   In the other we say, “I can do this on my own.  I can handle this.”  Yet we fail.  Even when we choose to live the spirit-led life, we stumble and fall.  But He is right there to pick us up, to dust off the sin, and to set us back on our walk with Him.

Paul promises that when we choose to live a spirit-filled life, we will find peace.  He is not promising a life of no problems.  But Paul is promising that within the trials we will have peace because of the spirit dwelling in us.  Living with His guiding hand upon us is of great comfort and peace.

Choosing a spirit-led life will exceed any expectations we have for these earthly bodies that we inhabit.  When we choose to let Him lead, we begin to live into an external promise.  We begin to live with an eye on His kingdom that will come again and with an eye on bringing that to reality.  As we dwell in and live into that promise, life is exciting!  The journey is much better when we know where our end will take us.

Guide us this day, O Lord, to choose to walk your path today.  Lead us to live into the Spirit so that we may walk as your child today and to honor You in all we do.  Amen!