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#JesusIsReal

Friday, March 1st, 2024

JESUS IS REAL

A little over two years ago, a local business had a statement on their sign that I must admit rankled me a bit. In fact, if I were to be honest, it ruffled my feathers (and I have none). The sign consisted of three words, words which startled me and I suspect others because fortunately it didn’t stay up very long. I would like to believe it was because of repentance at the blasphemy, but I’m guessing it was more because of blowback.  Those three words were “Jesus was woke.”

The long version definition of “woke” is “a word to describe someone who, whether consciously or unconsciously, has adopted grievances and activism rooted in Cultural Marxism and Critical Theory, especially related to the intersectional oppression matrix of race, gender, and sexuality.” WHEW! Did you get that? Let me put that in my language: a bunch of crock centered around race, gender, and sexuality that finds its roots in Cultural Marxism and Critical Theory. I could add more but that should suffice. To say Jesus followed Marxism and was concerned about Critical Race Theory is heresy. If you ask me what I think, I will tell you “it comes from the pit of hell and smells like smoke.”

There are some definitives about Jesus we simply cannot get around. They are found in I Corinthians 15:1-9.  They were the foundation, the crux, of what the early Christians believed and stood for.

Jesus died for our sins.

Jesus was buried and raised from the dead.

Jesus atoning death, burial and resurrection were inseparable from the Scriptures.

Their core belief in the Resurrection could be verified by evidence.

Progressive “Christianity” is trying to wipe all of that away. Saying Jesus was not divine; He was not born of a virgin; He didn’t die on a cross (if He did it was cosmic child abuse); there are no such things as miracles; there is no resurrection; and there is no second coming. Yeah…heresy of the highest magnitude.

During the month of March I will be covering several of these issues during my Sunday morning sermons. I’d like to invite you to join me either in person or via live stream. Our services are at 9:00 and 10:45. If you watch, let us know or email me!

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December 20

Thursday, December 21st, 2023

There are just sometimes you just couldn’t orchestrate something any better even if you tried. Know what I mean? Case in point: this morning.

I have an almost constant pattern in the morning. I seldom deviate from it. Other than the shower, etc I take every morning, I have what I call my Encounter Time (ET). Some call it their Quiet Time. During my ET, I use several different resources to read and meditate on, but the crux is my reading from the Bible.  I am almost constantly reading from Psalms (usually 2 chapters a day, except 119); every other month the book of Proverbs (1 chapter/day = 31 days); and from the NT. This year I have read through the NT twice and am now on my 3rd time. This will obviously carry on into 2024. Today’s reading was from Psalm 39-40, Pr. 21, and Mark 15-16. There was some great stuff in Psalms and Proverbs today, but the real irony was in Mark. Mark 15-16 is about Jesus’ death and resurrection!!

This is Christmas…the birth of Jesus and I’m reading about the death and resurrection. The irony didn’t escape me. Birth. Death. Resurrection (Life). The story of His life and purpose. Then the words to a well-known Christmas song came to mind. Here is a snippet: “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity; Pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel…Mild He lays His glory by, Born than man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give us second birth.”

The irony-no, the truth-does not escape me. Birth. Death. Life. They go together. For Jesus. For us. Or maybe I ought to say, “For Jesus. Because of Jesus for us.”  The birth needs the death and resurrection to give meaning. The death and resurrection needs the birth to have a beginning. “Born to raise the sons of earth/Born to give them second birth/Hark the herald angels sing/Glory to the newborn King.”

Celebrate His birth with the future (His and yours) in mind.

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December 19

Tuesday, December 19th, 2023

It used to be that one blogger would feature another blogger for the purpose of helping the other to be “heard.” I also had another reason: I felt what the other person said was worth others hearing it. I used to read a blog which has since almost ceased due to a lack of readers (I just may be including my own in that statement). 🙂 Her name was Diane Ronzino and she blogged at Hadarah. Yesterday (Monday) she emailed me to tell me Merry Christmas but also to let me know of a blog she published. Now…for some reason Feedly does not include her blog in any feed to notify me of a new one and there is no place to sign up for an email from her. But this time Diane personally emailed me. I went to her blog and read her post. It was beautiful and since I am not a poet, it struck me even more. I’d like to ask you to head over there to read her post. You can find it here.

While you are there please leave a comment for her to read. In the meantime, I want to comment further on her post.

The poem/reading Diane offers is simple, yet contains profound truth. The HOLY came to be with the unholy. The HOLY came to be with what was once holy and sinless. The HOLY came to be with the broken. But He didn’t just come to be with the broken, He came to make the broken whole. He came to take care of the sin problem we all have (Romans 3:10, 23).  He came to set the captives free. It is easy to talk about how He came to break the chains of shame and addiction and (you name it). But it is far more concise to say that He came to break the chains of sin. Period. All else- our shame, our addictions, our struggles-are a result of that sin that entered the world- when the Holy became unholy-when our parents (Adam and Eve) decided they knew better than the ONE who was and is completely HOLY.

This Christmas season is more than a jolly good time. It is more than lights twinkling on a tree or a house. It is more than greeting people with a smile, a howdy-doody, a “Have a merry Christmas” or singing about chestnuts roasting on an open fire or dreaming of a white Christmas. It is much more about a holy night where joy entered the world in a form of a baby who grew, lived, died, and rose again…all to make the unholy Holy.

May the real truth of Christmas ring in your heart louder than any bell.

 

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July 8

Wednesday, July 8th, 2020

One of the truths of Scripture which is a non-negotiable is the physical resurrection of Christ from the dead. One of the heresies which has never seemed to go away is Jesus did not physically raise from the dead but his spirit did.

To believe the latter you must deny the former. This is not one of those either/or propositions. This truth came home to me as I read the accounts of that Sunday morning. The Sabbath was over and 3 ladies (Mary Magdalene; Mary, His mother; and Salome) made their way to the tomb. They discussed how they were going to move the stone but, of course, it was not an issue when they got there. “He is not here; He is risen.” James and John find an empty tomb. But the best exchange IMHO is His exchange with Mary Magdalene in John 20. Probably driven back to the tomb by her grief, she encountered Jesus. Thinking He was the gardener, Mary asked where they laid Him. You gotta wonder why she didn’t recognize Jesus. I mean, she had been a follower of His for much of His ministry.  She was one of the women who took care of His and the disciples physical needs (food and shelter).  But we aren’t told why she didn’t. Speculation: her tears clouded her eyes (that does happen you know? I’m married and have two daughters). 🙂  It could have been because the last time was ugly and He was beyond recognition. And maybe it was a supernatural thing (like the two on the road to Emmaus). That really isn’t important. But when she did recognize Him? WOW!! She hung onto Him. The word is clung to Him. The last thing she wanted to do is to let Him go again.  But keep in mind you don’t cling to ghosts or apparitions; figments of your imagination; or dreams. She clung to Jesus. But she had to let go.

I’d like to reference the holding on and letting go, but my point today is the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is unquestionable. It cannot be seen as unimportant. Christianity literally rises and falls on its surety. No bodily resurrection = no faith. Bodily resurrection = solid rock.

“Father, Jesus rose. He is alive. Not a ghost or a figment of the imagination. Without doubt one of, if not THE most essential truths of all. To this truth I cling.”

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