Could This Be The Cure?

It's never easy when we are forced into change. Especially when it disrupts our daily routines and weekly schedules. Having temporarily suspended assembling, we long for the shared experience of corporate worship. The familiar and blessed services that we are accustomed to. Our hearts long for the closeness with our fellow believers. The CDC's recommended guidelines, and the extraordinary steps taken by churches over the past few weeks will have lingering effects. Some will find it easier to miss church while others will never take it for granted again. Israel's sojourn in Babylon permanently cured them of idolatry. My prayer is that this period of "captivity" in our homes separates us forever from the notion that we can ignore the Biblical mandate for assembling together.

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Was the Eunuch's Experience that Unique?

Think about the life this man had lived. Although a measure of success had come his way, it was not without costs. Something had caused him to become disillusioned with the religion(s) of his homeland. It is unlikely that he had chosen the life of a eunuch. He may have been picked from among slaves to serve in the palace and forced to undergo the cruel procedure. Eunuchs, however, were not always the victims of some cruel monarchs desire to protect his harem from harm. In many cultures parents mutilated their own children in hopes that they would someday be chosen to serve in the temple of their favorite god. If the young man didn’t end up with a job at the temple, a position in the palace wouldn’t be all that bad either, they may have reasoned. However it happened, there is a strong possibility that he was denied a voice in the decision. Think of the anger that must have boiled beneath the surface of his prim and proper palace etiquette. If in fact his parents had done this to h...

What Planet Did You Come From?

Pulling into the parking spot at our favorite Chinese restaurant, we were taken aback by our son's sudden incredulous exclamation. We had been there many times. It was all so familiar to us. But our young son who was becoming an excellent reader had noticed the signs for the first time. There in front of our parked car was a sign that read, "Parking for Human Customers Only." Well, at least that's what he thought it said. Neighboring businesses were conscious of the limited parking available and had taken steps to ensure that their own customers were not inconvenienced by someone else's. Hunan looked an awful lot like human to a speed-reading 1st grader. Personally I've wondered at times if there are any normal people out there. Wouldn't it be nice if our church parking lot was filled with cars delivering perfect families to our front doors every Sunday. Maybe we should reserve our parking spaces for regular, ordinary, normal people only. Wouldn't li...

Action!

Reading the story of Jesus can be almost breathtaking. It is shocking. Like the disciples watching Jesus ascend upon a cloud, we are left staring upward with slack jaws. God among us! It's almost to much to believe. In his introduction to the book of Acts for The Message Bible, Eugene Peterson points out an inherent danger. The possibility that we will be "...impressed - but only impressed." We run the risk of just becoming fans of Jesus. Peterson suggests, "we could easily becom enthusiastic spectators, and then let it go at that -- become admirers of Jesus, genourous with our oohs and ahs..." Mathew, Mark and John left of telling the story after the ascension of Jesus. But, Luke doesn't stop. Luke set out to make sure we didn't just become Jesus fans . Jesus continued to function and fulfil his mission through disciples in the next generation. And he continued in thier children and in thier children's children. In every generation since there have ...

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