Daily Scripture Readings Leading to
Sunday April 30, 2006
Monday:
Acts 3:1-26 Peter Heals a Crippled Man
The power Peter is using is the same power we have available today. Jesus is at the center of this powerful witness. Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Tuesday:
Luke 24:36b-43 Having Fish w/ the Disciples
Maybe the central point is that Jesus was eating a piece of fish. This is the resurrected Jesus, not some ghost guy from outer space. He was real, alive, and eating. That has to be worth something.
Wednesday:
Psalms 4:1-8 Trusting God
Like last week this is also one of the shortest Psalms. It is only eight verses. READ IT!!
Thursday:
Luke 24:44-48 Jesus Speaks
After Jesus eats some fish he begins to share with the disciples the ways that these events have fulfilled scripture. Jesus encourages them to wait for the completion of the promise which God will send. We know that day as Pentecost.
Friday:
1 John 3:1-3 Children of God
One line really caught my eye. It was verse two, “for we shall all be changed.” I use this verse in almost every funeral service. “What we shall be has not yet been revealed. But we know we are going to be like Him.” Is that enough for us? I think not some days. We want to be in control of our days and our future. We want to know, like planning for retirement. We can try to be ready but we will not know fully until that time comes. So there comes the rub. If you are not choosing & planning where you are going you will end up where you are headed. Simply put, choose your future. The form of our lives is in God’s hands, the freedom to choose is ours.
Saturday:
1 John 3:4-7 No Sin in Christ
So sin is lawlessness. And we are speaking of the kingdom laws here, the Big Ten. The author calls us little children in verse seven. How many times I have thought about the ways we act just like children when things go right, or things go wrong. What does it mean to grow in the Spirit of God? How we might act differently today?
Sunday: Reflect and Worship
Scripture: 1John 3:1-7
Sermon Title: “Well, I’ll Be”
Friday, April 21, 2006
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Daily Scripture Readings
Daily Scripture Readings Leading to Sunday April 23, 2006
Monday:
1 John 1:1-4 In the Beginning
Consider these words as a new beginning. Easter is our first day toward a new life in Christ. This passage is a great place to start.
Tuesday:
John 20:19-23 Jesus Appears to the Disciples
John offers the events of the first days. Notice how many times Jesus offers peace to the disciples. This must be very important.
Wednesday:
Psalms 133 Joy in Family
Hey this is one of the shortest Psalms. You have time to read this one. It is only three verses. However, they are mighty. READ IT!!
Thursday:
John 20:24-31 Doubting Thomas
The disciple named Thomas has some doubts and wants to see for himself before he will believe. How many times have I wanted the same thing from God before I would believe and trust? I fear it is too many to count. Thomas is one of us.
Friday:
Acts 4:32-35 Sharing Our Possessions
Disciples act as one body in the use of their possessions. Even today we share with others out of the blessings God offers to us, so that all might see and know the goodness of our God. Share so that not one of us might boast of our individual achievements. The goal is one heart, one soul.
Saturday:
1 John 1:5-2:2 Lessons on Sin
God is light, there is no part without light in God. Meditate on this idea of God as being totally pure and holy. When or as we connect with God we also partake or become holy.
The passage is clear we all sin. Equally clear is God’s Justifying grace offered through the blood of Jesus to cleans us from all sin.
How do we do this? What do we need to carry with us on our life journey to accomplish the task of living a life in grace? Focus on only today and consider your needs. Lets start there.
Sunday: Reflect and Worship
Scripture: John 1:1-2:2
Sermon Title:
“Nobody Said It Was Going To Be Easy”
Monday:
1 John 1:1-4 In the Beginning
Consider these words as a new beginning. Easter is our first day toward a new life in Christ. This passage is a great place to start.
Tuesday:
John 20:19-23 Jesus Appears to the Disciples
John offers the events of the first days. Notice how many times Jesus offers peace to the disciples. This must be very important.
Wednesday:
Psalms 133 Joy in Family
Hey this is one of the shortest Psalms. You have time to read this one. It is only three verses. However, they are mighty. READ IT!!
Thursday:
John 20:24-31 Doubting Thomas
The disciple named Thomas has some doubts and wants to see for himself before he will believe. How many times have I wanted the same thing from God before I would believe and trust? I fear it is too many to count. Thomas is one of us.
Friday:
Acts 4:32-35 Sharing Our Possessions
Disciples act as one body in the use of their possessions. Even today we share with others out of the blessings God offers to us, so that all might see and know the goodness of our God. Share so that not one of us might boast of our individual achievements. The goal is one heart, one soul.
Saturday:
1 John 1:5-2:2 Lessons on Sin
God is light, there is no part without light in God. Meditate on this idea of God as being totally pure and holy. When or as we connect with God we also partake or become holy.
The passage is clear we all sin. Equally clear is God’s Justifying grace offered through the blood of Jesus to cleans us from all sin.
How do we do this? What do we need to carry with us on our life journey to accomplish the task of living a life in grace? Focus on only today and consider your needs. Lets start there.
Sunday: Reflect and Worship
Scripture: John 1:1-2:2
Sermon Title:
“Nobody Said It Was Going To Be Easy”
A Little Closer to Home...
A Little Closer to Home….
Over the next few weeks we will see the church mobilize and come to arms. Dan Brown’s book The DaVinci Code has made quite a stir. I understand Ron Howard has taken the book and made it into a major motion picture. I have read the book. It is quite good. Dan Brown is a very talented writer and story teller. The book however is foolishness and is based on the idea that Jesus did not die on the cross, but married Mary Magdalene and moved to France where his royal linage still survives today. The idea of the book is to place a modern day murder mystery in the midst of this fictional series of events. Brown artfully mixes just enough of the factual with the make believe to pull even seasoned Christians off their path for a few moments.
The reaction to all this by many in the church has been a strong and well defined defense. Over the next few weeks we will likely see many pastors preaching on the evils of The DaVinci Code. We are likely to see churches support studies where the underlying premise of The DaVinci Code is proved false and why. I know of many studies that are for sale already. Now I ask you, what should we make of one who attempts to make a profit from this? I believe we are going to hear more about this book and movie from the church than probably any other source.
Here is my question. Why is the church always against something? Why not be for something? Why not study something good, like the Gospel of John for instance? I am not asking us to put our heads in the sand. For heaven’s sake read the book, it is a good book. But lets spend our precious time and energy making good things happen for the all the people of God. We in the church waste too much time fighting the wind. I think Jesus would laugh about the DaVinci code and then invite us to break some bread and fish to feed the hungry in our midst.
Let’s not be fooled about the mission of the church. God has never asked us to defend the church. God will take care of these issues. Rather we are called to be the Body of Christ; willing to move faithfully in service and love in the midst of a hurting and searching world. They will know us by our love, not by our defense of the church.
Over the next few weeks we will see the church mobilize and come to arms. Dan Brown’s book The DaVinci Code has made quite a stir. I understand Ron Howard has taken the book and made it into a major motion picture. I have read the book. It is quite good. Dan Brown is a very talented writer and story teller. The book however is foolishness and is based on the idea that Jesus did not die on the cross, but married Mary Magdalene and moved to France where his royal linage still survives today. The idea of the book is to place a modern day murder mystery in the midst of this fictional series of events. Brown artfully mixes just enough of the factual with the make believe to pull even seasoned Christians off their path for a few moments.
The reaction to all this by many in the church has been a strong and well defined defense. Over the next few weeks we will likely see many pastors preaching on the evils of The DaVinci Code. We are likely to see churches support studies where the underlying premise of The DaVinci Code is proved false and why. I know of many studies that are for sale already. Now I ask you, what should we make of one who attempts to make a profit from this? I believe we are going to hear more about this book and movie from the church than probably any other source.
Here is my question. Why is the church always against something? Why not be for something? Why not study something good, like the Gospel of John for instance? I am not asking us to put our heads in the sand. For heaven’s sake read the book, it is a good book. But lets spend our precious time and energy making good things happen for the all the people of God. We in the church waste too much time fighting the wind. I think Jesus would laugh about the DaVinci code and then invite us to break some bread and fish to feed the hungry in our midst.
Let’s not be fooled about the mission of the church. God has never asked us to defend the church. God will take care of these issues. Rather we are called to be the Body of Christ; willing to move faithfully in service and love in the midst of a hurting and searching world. They will know us by our love, not by our defense of the church.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
The Gospel of Judas
A note to my son about The Gospel of Judas,
This is not news, in the sense that it just happened.
This “breaking news” was offered one week before Holy Thursday; the day Judas is traditionally credited for betraying Jesus. This does not feel like coincidence to me. I believe someone has offered this Gospel of Judas precisely at this time to make sure it would be noticed. It worked.
The fact is there are hundreds of early church related manuscripts. Literally hundreds.
Almost all are reputable and have been verified as authentic. This does not mean they are helpful or even truthful in their witness to the events. Each of these bodies of work were known and available at the time of canonization of the scriptures and were not chosen to be a part of the corpus of the body of work we know as the Bible. Why were they (or this) manuscript not included?
My guess, probably because the message is not consistent with the other witnesses. When hundreds of people see the same event someone is going to see a shot from the grassy knoll, even if there was none. We must go with the majority of the witness, the ones which come from reputable sources. By the way, The Gospel of Judas comes from the Gnostic community. My New Interpreters Bible Dictionary offers that the earliest testimonies for the existence of Gnosticism (Gnosis = knowledge) “comes from the second century, from heretical groups rather loosely related to the Christian Church. To fully understand this document we must also understand the context, both historically and theologically. Gnostic beliefs may appear closely aligned to our orthodox Christian beliefs, but in closer examination I find that while appearing similar they are not of the same substance.
My point is simply this. This gospel of Judas has merit. It is worth studying. It has been, and will continue to be interpreted by scholars and those who work in the area of textual studies. It should not however be cause for alarm or a revision of our current Bible. If this news event causes us to reach further into our own study and contemplation of the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ then this media event has proved worthwhile. If on the other hand the Christian community allows the gospel of Judas to be elevated to a position of equality of witness along side of our current Bible by a post modern society who wants to believe there is an ongoing large conspiracy surrounding the historical Jesus (example: The Di Vinci Code) than we will have failed as a society and become no more than the Biblical portrayal of Judas in the betrayal of our savior.
I remember studying heretical groups and textual sources while in seminary. I remember thinking this would never be useful, because in my personal experience I had not encountered a society willing to re-think these already discarded ideas. I was wrong, as we now live in a new post–modern society who is very willing to renew and repackage some ancient ideas as new information.
So, we need not run for our lives. The sky is not falling.
Love, Dad.
This is not news, in the sense that it just happened.
This “breaking news” was offered one week before Holy Thursday; the day Judas is traditionally credited for betraying Jesus. This does not feel like coincidence to me. I believe someone has offered this Gospel of Judas precisely at this time to make sure it would be noticed. It worked.
The fact is there are hundreds of early church related manuscripts. Literally hundreds.
Almost all are reputable and have been verified as authentic. This does not mean they are helpful or even truthful in their witness to the events. Each of these bodies of work were known and available at the time of canonization of the scriptures and were not chosen to be a part of the corpus of the body of work we know as the Bible. Why were they (or this) manuscript not included?
My guess, probably because the message is not consistent with the other witnesses. When hundreds of people see the same event someone is going to see a shot from the grassy knoll, even if there was none. We must go with the majority of the witness, the ones which come from reputable sources. By the way, The Gospel of Judas comes from the Gnostic community. My New Interpreters Bible Dictionary offers that the earliest testimonies for the existence of Gnosticism (Gnosis = knowledge) “comes from the second century, from heretical groups rather loosely related to the Christian Church. To fully understand this document we must also understand the context, both historically and theologically. Gnostic beliefs may appear closely aligned to our orthodox Christian beliefs, but in closer examination I find that while appearing similar they are not of the same substance.
My point is simply this. This gospel of Judas has merit. It is worth studying. It has been, and will continue to be interpreted by scholars and those who work in the area of textual studies. It should not however be cause for alarm or a revision of our current Bible. If this news event causes us to reach further into our own study and contemplation of the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ then this media event has proved worthwhile. If on the other hand the Christian community allows the gospel of Judas to be elevated to a position of equality of witness along side of our current Bible by a post modern society who wants to believe there is an ongoing large conspiracy surrounding the historical Jesus (example: The Di Vinci Code) than we will have failed as a society and become no more than the Biblical portrayal of Judas in the betrayal of our savior.
I remember studying heretical groups and textual sources while in seminary. I remember thinking this would never be useful, because in my personal experience I had not encountered a society willing to re-think these already discarded ideas. I was wrong, as we now live in a new post–modern society who is very willing to renew and repackage some ancient ideas as new information.
So, we need not run for our lives. The sky is not falling.
Love, Dad.
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