THE BLOG
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Always Hopeful!
You can virtually summarize hope in one word: resurrection.
It is claimed that humans can live a little over 45 days without food, slightly over 3 days without water, and about 4 minutes without oxygen, but no one can live without hope.
Researchers tell us there’s an array of debilitating consequences with hopelessness (insomnia, headaches, fatigue, chronic pain, increased risk of heart disease, weight loss or gain, nausea, inflammation, decreased libido, exacerbates chronic illnesses, gastrointestinal problems). Research also reveals some great advantages to being hopeful (reduces physical pain, boosts circulation, improves cardiovascular health which is preventative for heart disease).
What a Savior!
This next week we begin what is known as the Holy Week or The Passion Week of Jesus Christ.
The gospel writers record 45 different events, teachings and interactions during the final week of Jesus Christ between the Triumphal Entry and our Lord’s burial.
It is recorded in Matthew 21:1-27:66; Mark 11:1-15-47; Luke 19:28-23:56; John 11:55-19:42.
I encourage you to read through the Easter Week in Real Time as presented in this article by Russ Ramsey, or watch these short videos of each day of the week by Justin Taylor.
Two things jumped out at me about our amazing Lord as I read the opening few verses of the account of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem when Jesus is presented as Israel’s King (Matthew 21:1-11, 14-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19)
Bored?
I subscribe to a weekly Fast Facts email from Christian Ministries International that provides some relevant and practical resources in contending for the faith and growing confidence in sharing the gospel. (I recommend you subscribe.) The ministry is led by Jason and Jared Carlson (whose father and founder, Ron, came to Christ’s Church and equipped us with some excellent apologetic tools back in the late ’90s and early 2000s before the Lord took him home in 2011).
This past week, Jason and Jared shared something different. They addressed a non-apologetic subject they entitled “Boredom in Church.” I thought their words were insightful, instructive, and worthy of passing along:
Uh-Oh! Words Matter
“Uh-oh.”These words were spoken by Kim Beede, a board member of Oakley Union Elementary School District in Oakley, Calif., after learning during an online board meeting that the meeting was being publicly live-streamed. Thinking they were speaking in private, four board members had spent several minutes criticizing and joking about parents in their district. “They want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back,” one board member quipped. The entire board resigned Friday, February 19th, amid a public outcry two days later.
Love/Hate Cancel Culture
Did I just hear that some of Dr. Seuss’s books, Mr. Potato Head, and The Muppets were the latest victims of cancel culture? Really? Who’s next? Chick-fil-A for being closed on Sunday?
Cancel culture is out of control, yet we do need to make a distinction between two very different versions. One I love and the other…I hate.
The one I dislike (to put it mildly) is like a religion with sins (disagreement with public narratives no matter how insane), commandments (thou shalt not dissent), trials by fire (public shaming by the cancel mob), and burnings at the stake (being fired, dropped, boycotted). But what it doesn’t have is grace or forgiveness.
Pandemic Progress?
John Perkins doesn’t quit.
Born in Mississippi in 1930, John grew up in the racist south and had plenty of reasons to hate.
At age 12, he worked all day hauling hay and expected to be paid $1.50 or $2.00 (typical pay for a day), but a white man paid him 15 cents.
At age 16, his 25-year-old brother, Clyde, recently returned from fighting in World War 2, was shot and killed in line at a movie theater by a white deputy sheriff.
At age 39, Mississippi deputy sheriffs and highway patrolmen stuck a fork up his nose and down his throat. They beat him to the floor, then kept on kicking him in the head, ribs, stomach, and groin. Eventually, two-thirds of his stomach had to be removed.
Historian Charles Marsh calls Perkins “the most influential African American Christian leader since Dr. King.”
Don't Quit
John Perkins doesn’t quit.
Born in Mississippi in 1930, John grew up in the racist south and had plenty of reasons to hate.
At age 12, he worked all day hauling hay and expected to be paid $1.50 or $2.00 (typical pay for a day), but a white man paid him 15 cents.
At age 16, his 25-year-old brother, Clyde, recently returned from fighting in World War 2, was shot and killed in line at a movie theater by a white deputy sheriff.
At age 39, Mississippi deputy sheriffs and highway patrolmen stuck a fork up his nose and down his throat. They beat him to the floor, then kept on kicking him in the head, ribs, stomach, and groin. Eventually, two-thirds of his stomach had to be removed.
Historian Charles Marsh calls Perkins “the most influential African American Christian leader since Dr. King.”
Keep Perspective
How you and I view life with all its multiplicity of experiences matters.
COVID-19 and all the accompanying ripple effects whether physical, emotional, psychological, financial, or otherwise continues to throw us all a curveball. We know God is sovereign. We know He is the divine orchestrater of life for His glory and our good. And we know He wants us to view life through His eternal lens rather than just a temporary one (2 Cor. 4:18).
Stay Connected
God has made us relational beings and we find fulfillment in all the special human connections He has blessed us to experience: spouse, children, siblings, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, workmates, schoolmates, teammates, neighbors, etc.
High on that list (as they should be) are those we will spend eternity with. When God formed His church, He placed you and me into a family of brothers and sisters in Christ called “God’s household” (Eph. 2:19). In fact, everything about the church revolves around our common connection in Christ.
