The First Memorial Day

New Life From A Death Stalk

Approximately 60 to 63 million people die worldwide each year. This global statistic breaks down into smaller time increments: Per month: ~5 million Per day: ~167,000 Per minute: ~116 Per second: ~1.9 Will you use God's sudden burst of energy in you to go on a time sensitive rescue mission? A kernel of wheat has to fall to the ground and die before it can bring forth new life. We are called to die daily. Heavenly suddenly's are a daily occurrence. The agave death bloom is the dramatic final stage of an agave plant's life, during which it shoots up a massive, towering stalk, flowers, and dies. Because agaves are monocarpic, they only flower once in their lifetime. Much of the Christian life is spent waiting to bloom. God calls us into ministries, guides our progress, and helps us through the sanctification process. So many times, just like the century plant, we will expend great amounts of energy with seemingly no growth, no fruit, and no bloom. That's something to think about. Speaking of thinking, I heard a quote the other day that said: "Women spend more time thinking about what men are thinking than men actually spend thinking." Job 8:6-7 "If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. 7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase." Awaken - Ur; oor the idea of opening the eyes] 1 to stir up, rouse, incite, to be excited, be triumphant. "Make prosperous" shâlam: shaw-lam; The famous word "shalom" or "peace" comes from this root word. shaw-lam Rescue includes removing the problem and restoring peace. To be complete, be finished, be ended, be uninjured, to make safe, to make whole or good, restore, make compensation, to make good, We are completed in Christ through complete surrender to Him. 2 Peter 2:9 "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:" Deliver, rhyomai: rhoo-hym-my to draw to one's self, to rescue, to deliver the deliverer Isaiah 12:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and mysong; he also is become my salvation." Salvation: yᵊšûʿâ - yesh-oo'-aw salvation by God, deliverance, welfare, prosperity, victory Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." "I live" zaō, dzah'-o to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead) to enjoy real life to have true life and worthy of the name active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God to live i.e. pass life, in the manner of the living and acting of mortals or character living water, having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul metaph. to be in full vigour to be fresh, strong, efficient, Psalm 51:12 "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." Uphold: sāmaḵ; saw-mak' to lean, lay, rest, support, to sustain, refresh, revive. Isaiah 61:2 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; He hath sent me šālaḥ; shaw-lakh to send, to stretch out, extend, direct, to send away, to let loose, to let go, set free.

He Left the 99 To Rescue Me

The Parable of the Lost Sheep Luke 15:1-7 15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. He Left the 99 To Rescue Me In the days in which we live, we hunger and thirst for the fastest resolution of problems, the path of least resistance, we long for blessings in the blink of an eye. This morning I had the thought that it's time for young people who had contact with our ministry of youth with a purpose to stand up and be counted for Christ. Our ministry has a 25 yr history. It takes time and a lot of work. Resilience, perseverance, overcoming, surrendering, trusting God are not character traits built in the blink of an eye. I once sat with a group of folks in a Sunday morning Bible study before church. We were talking about going out on the streets to tell people about Jesus and invite them to join us. One man rather gruffly said, "Baloney! They know we're here! We shouldn't have to go tell them! Rescue requires effort. Rescue is mostly an individual habit where you leave 99% of what you know and give yourself to the 1% that matters in that moment. The spiritual trickle down effect of the 1% you reach for Jesus will enlarge the Father's territory by greater than 99. God's math is always greater than ours. Implying that the 99 are strong enough in faith that they could be left alone presumes there is a group of 99 to be found. They must be people who are not like doubting Thomas, they believe without seeing. The believe when God seems distant in times of trouble and temptation. If you're strong enough to be one of the 99, how would you go after the one. For the sake of giving our study some focus, let's presume the one we're going after is a Christian turned atheist. How do you bring them back? What would you say to them? How would you begin the conversation? Ask what they believe. It's been my experience that no two atheists are alike. Don't take for granted that everyone knows what a Christian believes. Try to find some places of agreement. You can't see a planted seed growing underground. Just because you don't see a reaction to your words, don't presume they aren't reaching the heart of the hearer. Don't try to be a scholar with all the answers. If you can't answer a question, be humble enough to say you don't know.

Rescue Behind Enemy Lines Part One Podcast

This is Part One pf a sermon series at Passion Vineyard Fellowship. It's about rescuing people behind enemy lines. In Part One we talk about the sword within us - the xiphoid, sternum and manubrium as it relates to the Sword of the Spirit. Our topic verse is Ephesians 5:14 in the Passion Translation: "Arise O sleeper! Rise up from your coffin and the Anointed One will shine his light on you!" Other verses used: Job 8:5-7, 2 Peter 2:9, Galatians 2:20 Psalm 51:12, Isaiah 61:1-2

Jesus, Fanny Crosby, Mud & Mustard

Jesus healed a man born blind by putting mud on his eyes and then telling him to go wash. His disciples asked who had sinned, the blind man or his parents. That attitude still exists today as people assume that folks in bad situations must have done something to deserve it. As we see in this story, Jesus set them straight. The mud in the eyes healing miracle happened so that God's greatness could be revealed. In another innocent life, this time an infant born with sight was blinded by a very wrong medical procedure. Fanny Crosby was an infant and had a fever. The regular doctor was out of town and the replacement that showed up may not have been a doctor. He prescribed a mustard poultice to be applied to the baby's face covering the eyes. Fanny spent the rest of her life in blindness. Unbelievably, Fanny believed the blindness to be a gift from God. She wrote almost 9,000 hymns and played several musical instruments. She met 20 US Presidents. Her life gave God glory through her blindness. People would often say they wanted to pray for her to receive her sight. Fanny said she wanted to stay blind so that the first face she would ever see was her Savior Jesus Christ when she got to heaven. Fanny even went so far as to say that if she ever met the man who caused her blindness, she would thank him for the gift. Often, we think of disabilities as disabling, but when we surrender them to God. He helps us create unimaginable capabilities. Fanny may have appeared as disabled and weak, but God saw her as capable and strong. So be it! Our target Bible verse for this episode is John 9:1-9 A Man Born Blind Receives Sight 1Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.

Being Offended With Doubting Thomas

Hiking to the top of Thomas Point in Sedona was a journey in solitude. The only ones on the trail were me and Jesus! The trail is rated as moderate mostly due to the constant upward hike. The first mile is through the pine forest until you hit the exposed upper part of the trail. The top is about 6,300' with beautiful views of the surrounding canyons, red rock cliffs and even a glimpse of Mt. Humphreys (12,663') over 60 miles away. My goal for this episode is to take a look at being offended in times of doubt. Our life experience with people can set us up to doubt that they will follow through. That may have been the case with a guy we call "Doubting Thomas.' The target Bible verses for this episode are: Proverbs 18:19 NLT "An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars." John 20:24-29 NKJV Seeing and Believing 24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." 26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" 27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." James 1:19 NLT "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." Thanks for your time. Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry - that will help you be unoffendable! Jesus loves you and so do we.