Setember 30 -- had to post in the comments - Ken

Tuesday, September 29

September 28

Acts 2

This week the passages focus on presence and being together in community.

What an amazing day is described in Acts 2. The disciples are together in the upper room. The Holy Spirit descends upon them like wind and fire. They move out into the streets to preach. 3000 accept Christ and were baptized.

One of the signs of how radical a transformation the people went through that day comes in verse 44. "All the believers were together and held everything in common." The passage does not say they were required to do this, but the response of the people was to do so. Can you imagine what would happen today if we said that every person who joined our church should sell all that they have and we would hold everything in common? I am not interested in doing this. I have to ask myself why I am not interested. Is it because I don't trust others to handle the money well? Or maybe it is because I like my money and my possessions a little too much? Are you interested in doing as the early church members did? If not, why not?

September 26

John 17

John 17 is a prayer of Jesus. He prays from himself, for his disciples and for all who will believe in him. When he prays for all who believe in him, he is praying for us. I want you to focus on Jesus' prayer for us. Spend a few minutes listing out what Jesus asks God to do for you and me (verses 20-26).

September 25

John 12:20-38

Have you ever longed for the voice of God to speak to you as it does to Jesus in this story? I have. There have been moments in my life when I felt God spoke to me clearly; in a dorm room while praying in college, before I received the phone call about moving to Grapevine, on my first trip to Kenya. The first time was a sense of encouragement about the direction of my life. The later two times changed the direction of my life. I was with others each time it happened, it was only while praying in the dorm room that anyone else sensed God speaking.

There have been many other times in my life where I felt direction from God. The general ways have been through scripture and the wisdom/ teaching of others. I have come to realize over the years that the hearing of God's voice is the exceptional moment in life, not the general practice. I long for those exceptional moments but want to be careful that my longings don't cause me to miss the way God has usually acted.

On a side note, I received very good news this morning. When we returned from the Kenya trip this summer, I reported that we had discovered that some of the funds we had sent for the Lanyiru Church had never been received by the church. Most of our funds are sent through the Meru Synod office and Bishop William. The funds to the Lanyiru Church had to be sent through a different Bishop. After a number of emails to various leaders, part of the money was found in August. The rest of the money was located yesterday and will be forwarded to the church next week. This is very good news!

9/24 - John 11:38-44

John 11:38-44

Jesus does many miracles in the gospels. He feeds the 5000, gives sight to the blind and cures those with leprosy. Seldom when he does a miracle is a prayer included in the story. In raising Lazarus a prayer is included. What is fascinating about this prayer is that Jesus says it is more for those who hear his prayer than for God.

You probably have someone that you are close enough to that you can just look at them and know what the other is thinking. Or you have looks you give each other that speak loudly without a word being said. Those experiences come from being closely connected to another. I think we catch a glimpse of Jesus' intimacy with God in this moment. His prayer is not for God, he and God are already connected in this moment, his prayer is for others who are listening.

Can you imagine a point in your relationship with God when you just know what God would be thinking in a situation? A situation where you don't have to think through what God would want you to do, you could just act.

9/23 - Matthew 27:45-54 &

Matthew 27:45-54 & Luke 23:44-49

That Jesus was on the cross as he says these two prayers is amazing. The Matthew prayer expresses a sense of abandonment, the Luke prayer commits his soul to God. Why would the gospel writers decide to include these prayers? Could it be because they give insight into the experience of Jesus? The Matthew prayer shows the physical agony he is experiencing, so great that he thought God had abandoned him. The Luke prayer suggests his openness to God at the end of his life.

If someone were to examine your prayers, what would the person learn about your relationship with God?

September 22

Matthew 11:25-27; 26:36-46

When I read the bible, I tend to spend time considering why the author would include what he wrote or wonder why he left something out. The gospels record so few of the prayers of Jesus. The gospel writers focus far more on what Jesus taught than what he prayed. These passages contain two of the prayers offered by Jesus. With the infrequency of his prayers, why are these two included? Spend some time considering what we can learn about prayer from the inclusion of these two.

September 21

9/21 - Matthew 6:1-15

This week we will be looking at passages in which Jesus teaches about prayer or prays. This passage contains the most famous of all prayers. A prayer that we recite so often that we may not pay attention to what we are praying. Spend some time today looking at this model prayer of Jesus. To give you another way to look at this prayer, here is the version from "The Message"

Our Father in heaven
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right.
Do what is best -- as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

Sept. 19 - Acts 5:1-11

Acts 5:1-11

"Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events."

Is it any wonder that great fear seized the church? Why would Ananias and Sapphira lie about this? They were not required to give all their money. The money was theirs to use as they desired.

We can work hard at justifying to ourselves why it is OK to lie. Seldom is it a "lie", we just are exaggerating or omitting the full story. This story from the earlier church makes the point rather clearly that we should always speak the truth to God.

Sept. 18 - Matthew 27:11-66

Matthew 27:11-66

"I am innocent of this man's blood." "It is your responsibility!"

How can Pilate be innocent? He is the one who has the power to set Jesus free or put him to death. Just because he does what the crowd wants, the power to decide is his. He is the one who is responsible.

There are moments when it is easier to blame someone else rather than accept responsibility for my own actions. When I learn to accept responsibility, life will go better for me.

Sept. 17 - Matthew 26:31-75

Sept. 17 - Matthew 26:31-75


This is a bad night for the disciples. Many times you could ask "what where they thinking?"

Peter says he will never betray him
They fall asleep instead of praying
Judas with the crowd that comes to arrest him
One of his disciples draws a sword and attacks a person
All the disciples desert him
Peter denies him three times.

Jesus response, he dies for them. Jesus response was dependent upon what he was thinking, not what the disciples were thinking. Fortunately, it still is.

Sept. 16 - Matthew 26:14-30, 27:1-10

Sept. 16 - Matthew 26:14-30, 27:1-10

"Surely not I, Rabbi?"

What was Judas thinking? There has been tremendous speculation about what Judas was thinking among Christians for the past 2000 years. Some believe that Judas was trying to force Jesus into leading Israel to freedom from the Romans. Others believe that Judas felt betrayed by Jesus. Does it matter why he did it? The reason might make us feel better, but obviously it did not help Judas. Whatever his reason, the final act of Judas' life was one of regretting what he had done.

What I find of value in this is that neither Jesus or God gave up on Judas. Judas commits suicide, but it is not because he has been spurned by God. That was his choice If Jesus could forgive Peter for his betrayal, I can't help but think he would have forgiven Judas. I wish Judas would have given him the opportunity.

Sept. 15 - Mark 9:33-37

Mark 9:33-37

You have to wonder what were the disciples thinking when they were arguing who was the greatest? It is no wonder that they remain silent when Jesus asks them what they were arguing about. How could you be a disciple of Jesus and find yourself arguing with other disciples about who was the greatest? Their argument makes it seems as if they weren't paying attention. Do you have such moments? Where your actions or words make it appear that you are no longer paying attention to Jesus?

Sept. 14- Genesis 27

Sept. 14- Genesis 27

"Esau held a grudge against Jacob"

The older son was to receive the blessing. The words of the blessing would shape the rest of the son's life. They believed the father could only give one powerful blessing. Did you notice the difference between the two blessings? I would certainly rather rather have the blessing Jacob received. I can understand why Esau would hold a grudge. But why would Jacob steal this blessing from his father? Why would his mother help him in this? What was he thinking?

He was obviously thinking only of himself. Years go by. In chapter 32 Jacob has an amazing encounter with God. God changes his name to Israel. Yes, the Israel after whom the country is named. The the beginning of his life, where he is a thief, is not the only story of his life. We have a good who never gives up on us.

Sept. 12 - Matthew 18:13-20

Matthew 18:13-20

This is one of the teachings of Jesus that sounds great in theory, but is so difficult to practice. How often have you gone to talk to someone who has hurt you deeply that you are not related to? Our natural tendency is to walk away from the relationship rather then deal with the other person. Jesus seems to ask us to go against our natural tendencies a lot!

Sept. 11 - 1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14

Speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift where the Holy Spirit prays through a person. When the person goes to pray, it is not the person praying but the Spirit speaking the words. No one can understand what is being said unless someone has the gift of interpretation of tongues. This person can understand what is being prayed and translates that to the others in the room.

The problem in the Corinth Church is individuals thought speaking in tongues was the greatest gift and were doing so in worship without someone to interpret. This did not help the body of Christ because no one could understand what was being said. So Paul writes "I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue."

Later he tells women to be quiet in the service and ask their questions to their husbands when they get home. It it very likely that some women were shouting out questions in the middle of the service and order in the service was being lost. Some have used this passage as justification for telling women not to teach in the church. I think that misses the point.

The of speaking of tongues and women shouting out questions raise the same issue. Both the speaker of tongues and the woman with questions are focusing on themselves and what they want to express in the service. Paul makes it clear when the church is together, what is best for the community is most important. The individual is to put aside his/her desires of the sake of the community. That was contrary to the thinking of the Corinthians and most Americans.

Sept. 10 - 1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13

"And now I will show you a more excellent way"

Paul writes he could have spiritual gifts such as tongues, prophesy, or faith but if love is not the underlying element in his life, these gifts are meaningless. God's love provides a way for us to have relationship with God. God's love reflected in our lives is at the core of our relationships with one another. If love is not present in our relationships, or if love in not central to how we treat one another in the church, we have missed the point.

Sept. 9

1 Corinthians 12

The image that Paul uses for the church is the body. We are all part of the body. Paul's teaching is clear that Christianity is not something we do in isolation but in community. We have been given gifts and abilities not for ourselves, but to serve the body. Our task is to learn what our gifts and abilities are and to use them in service. In doing so we serve Christ and Christ's body.

Sept. 8

Acts 6:1-6

The story of the early church takes a pivotal turn in Acts 6. The church has grown rapidly. They are caring for many people. The Grecian Jews feel that the Hebraic Jewish widows are receiving better treatment than Grecian widows. They complain. The Twelve, the apostles, feel the care of the widows is important but they need to give their full attention to preaching the gospel. So they appoint seven men, who all happen to be Grecian Jews, to care for the widows. The end result? More people take leadership in the early church and the word of God spread.

We are all called to serve in the body of Christ. The body is most effective when every part has a role. If you read the rest of chapter 6, you will see that an individual can have more than one role. As Stephen, chosen to serve the widows, takes on a second role.

Sept. 7 - Acts 2

Acts 2

This passages this week will be about the church. We begin with Acts 2 which tells the story of the birth of the church. The church begins with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the believers. Jesus had given them instructions to go to Jerusalem to pray and wait. On the day of Pentecost, while they are together, the Holy Spirit comes and empowers them. A huge crowd gathers, Peter preaches a sermon that invites individuals to repent and be baptized. Three thousand turn to Christ that day. These new believers begin meeting every day with the disciples, who are now apostles, to be taught, pray and break bread together.

It is hard for me to imagine the world without Christianity. What would your life be like if you did not believe?

Sept. 5

Hebrews 11

This is the chapter of faith. The author recounts the great faith of many people of the Old Testament. Did the you notice some of the names of individuals that we read about failing this week? Great people of faith will have moments of failure. But they do not allow those moments of failure to define their lives. Do you?

September 4 - Matthew 26

Matthew 26

The failures of Jesus' disciples in this chapter are stunning. What must have Judas been thinking when he asked "Is it I?", or what did Peter experience when the cock crowed. After Jesus' arrest what went through the minds of the disciples who could not stay awake to pray with Jesus? While Peter follows Jesus after his arrest, what happened to the rest of them?

One crucial aspect for us to remember in considering their failures is what they ultimately did with their lives. Judas ends his life in despair but the rest become the leaders of the early church. Their failures were not the final word.

When we fail, it is not the final word. The forgiveness and redemption offered through Jesus to his disciples is offered to us.

September 3

2 Samuel 11

The first clue that something is wrong comes in the first verse. "In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men....But David remained in Jerusalem." David should have been with his army, that was where the king belonged. Instead he sent someone else. The story plunges into disaster from this point forward. He knowingly sleeps with a woman married to one of his soldiers. He tries to cover his action, but Uriah is righteous and will not sleep with his own wife while the army is at war. In desperation he creates a plan where Uriah will be killed in battle. After Uriah's death, David takes Uriah's wife to be his. The chapter ends with this "But the thing David had done displeased the Lord." Maybe one of the great understatements in the Bible!

Prior to this, most of the story about David has been one of his faith and obedience in following God. Here is fails miserably. But God does not give up on him. Spend a few minutes to read chapter 12 and see how God uses Nathan to draw David to repentance. In his repentance, he engages his life once again with God.

Next time you think that your actions are so horrible that God could never forgive you. Remember David's adultery and murder, and God forgives him. God will forgive you.

September 2

Exodus 3

Moses' conversation with God is rather extraordinary. Each time God speaks, Moses seems to question God. I find it rather amazing that a human being that speaking directly to God questions what God wants him to do! At least Moses is honest with his questions and doubts. He speaks them directly to God.

Having doubts about what God wants us to do is a rather common experience. When we have them we tend to hold them in, thinking there is something wrong with our faith. Maybe Moses has given us the best model of what to do with our doubts and struggles. Openly express them to God. God knows what they are already. Maybe in expressing them, we can move past them.

September 1

Genesis 12

The story of Abram is quite amazing. His response of leaving his home and all that he knows to follow God is a measure of his great faith. What is fascinating is that as soon as he runs into his first real problem, he forgets all about his faith. When the famine arises, he is afraid the Egyptians will kill him so that they could have his beautiful wife. Wouldn't you think after having the faith to follow God to a strange land, that he would at least plead with God to help him? Instead, he takes matters into his own hands and tries to deceive the Egyptians. It does not work out very well.

When I read Abram's story, I think of my own. There are times in which I have great faith in response to the call of God upon my life. No sooner have I had faith, then fear grips me over a simple issue and I create a plan that has nothing to do with God. Part of the struggle of faith is we keep wrestling control of our lives back from God.