Author: ForCommonGround

The Sacrifice of a Son

~ ForCommonGround ~ 1 Comment

This is just the third post in the series on how God revealed our Messiah. We’re barely scratching the surface but today’s post will wrap up our time in the book of Genesis. Enjoy.

God is mysterious. No doubt about that. But when it comes to His plan to redeem a fallen creation, He’s made it pretty unmistakable. It would take God himself to pay the price we owe. Even in the moments following the sin of Adam and Eve, God sacrificed animals in the garden to cover their nakedness and shame.

“And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

Genesis‬ ‭3:21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The animal that provided the garment for humanity was innocent. But sin equals death. And it takes life to restore life. The animal from the garden certainly didn’t remove the sin of man, nor restore them to life, but it pointed to a greater sacrifice that would. But this image in Genesis chapter three isn’t the only one that would point to the role of the Messiah. Another great foreshadowing appears in chapter 22 of the same book.

God calls on Abraham to take his son to a mountain, three days journey away, and offer him up. I know. That’s hard to swallow. But it becomes obvious that God had no intention of allowing Abraham’s son to be sacrificed because God would once again provide the sacrifice Himself.

“Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.””

Genesis‬ ‭22:5-14‬ ‭ESV

So much in this story points ahead to the Messiah. First, the picture of a son being given. Isaac wasn’t the sacrifice, only an illustration of the Son to come.

“”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

John‬ ‭3:16-17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Messiah would have to be ‘of God’ like a son. But not like a son in the human sense. Far closer. When the Bible talks about Yeshua as the Son of God, it is saying that He is from the bosom of Yahweh. He is connected in such a way that they are inseparable. But Jesus became the physical manifestation of the invisible God. And that physical manifestation would be offered in our place.

The second picture in the story of Genesis 22 is that of the ram caught in the thicket. Another title of the Messiah is the Lamb of God. The lamb to be the provision of sacrifice provided by God Himself. In the first chapter of John, baptisms were being done by a man named John the Baptist, to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah. Upon seeing Jesus John says,

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

John‬ ‭1:29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Messiah is the Son and He is the Lamb. In both roles, He would be the sacrifice of God to save a sinful broken world. And the Lord did provide. Just as the prophecy foretold in Genesis 22. And if that’s not amazing evidence by itself, the mountain that the story takes place on is the same one on which Yeshua the Messiah would lay down His life. Nearly 2000 years later. And the wood for the altar would not be for fire but in the shape of a cross. A cross that our Messiah was nailed to. For us. For love.

Peace brothers and sisters

The ‘us and them’ mentality

~ ForCommonGround ~ 2 Comments

I was raised to think the way that I believe most Christians are taught. It’s a sad reality and something that I’m not proud of. By raised, I simply mean that it was the message portrayed through various mediums, not necessarily my family. Everything around me seemed to reinforce that belief.

I’m talking about the separation we place between the church and Israel. A divide that was never meant to exist. A wall of separation, well over a thousand years in the making. A mentality that we inherited from our forefathers. And it runs deep!

I see it in the faces of many of my Christian brothers and sisters. I hear it on the radio, in certain podcasts, in books that have been talked about. History is littered with it too. I’ve even experienced the hostility myself, as a Christian, from other Christians. Six years ago I began a journey into the heart of the Lord’s Holy Feasts, talked about in Leviticus 23 and referenced through out the entire Bible. When some people heard I was doing this, they labeled me legalistic, and worse yet, questioned whether or not I was joining a cult. Neither of these could be further from the truth. I’ve also tried to be intentional about honoring the Sabbath, where I’ve been met with nearly equal criticism.

What is it about the Old Testament that is so threatening to modern western Christianity? Even in asking that question I shudder. I know people would never admit that their disposition towards the things of Israel and the Old Testament were hostile, but it sure seems prevalent. It’s as though the Christian Church has adopted a doctrine of ‘us and them’. Or even a position of ‘then and now’. What I mean is, it is taught that the destinies of Israel and the church are different. That God has replaced the nation of Israel with the church as His chosen people. That God no longer cares about the things of the Old Testament, only the new. Has that been your experience? How did we come to this? Here are some of my thoughts.

#1-Persecution

When the church was being born during the first few centuries AD, many Christians endured unthinkable evils at the hands of the Roman Empire. It was often due to local Jewish leaders causing a fuss and turning in Christians. It was a way of redirecting persecution off of them onto a controversial minority group. Over time, a divide was erected, even among believers who were once Jewish.

#2-Marriage with Paganism

In the forth century AD, the Christian Church got an influx of pagan rituals, most of which we can see in the idolatrous symbols in some churches, and in the celebrations of Christmas and Easter (both of which were pagan holidays long before any Christian celebrated them). Over time, the mingling of ideologies and practices drew followers of Christ further and further from their roots.

#3-Antisemitism

I highly doubt that any Bible-believing Christian today would admit to being anti-Semitic, but the disposition is as prevalent in the world today as it ever has been. Unfortunately, some in the church haven’t been immune to it. Sometimes it can be so subtle that someone may be completely unaware.

#4-Unfamiliarity

As the gap between Jew and Christian widened, people lost touch with practices and teachings that were thousands of years old. Today, most people are simply Bible illiterate, especially when it comes to the Old Testament. I think with that, comes a sense of fear.

#5-Changing Culture

We are so easily influenced and informed by the culture we grow up in. It’s true for everyone. Many of the Old Testament writings were from 3000-4000 years ago. Times have changed a lot in some ways. Not so much in others. And the Old Testament requires being culturally set apart as much as the New.

I don’t believe that any of these reasons, no matter how legitimate they seem, warrant where we are today. I mean think about it. How could we ever excuse shaming and ostracizing a believer who chooses to honor what the Bible teaches? But it’s like some people honestly think that if someone follows the Biblical dietary guidelines, keeps the Sabbath, celebrates God’s Holy Feasts, Studies Hebrew, etc…that they are somehow less Christian. That doesn’t make any sense.

When Jesus came, He did so to destroy the separation between Israel and the world. Israel was not fulfilling its role as the light of the world, to draw people to God. Instead, they had more times than not, merged with the world. The merger was supposed to happen the other way around. The nations of the world were supposed to see God’s glory and goodness through the nation of Israel and be drawn. Enter Jesus. He demonstrated the teachings of the Old Testament, and the character of God, the way Israel was meant to…the way humanity was supposed to. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus brought down the wall of separation forever. He grafted (Romans 11) the nations into Israel and made us all one through faith in Him.

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Ephesians‬ ‭2:11-22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It is no longer us and them. It can’t be. Jesus is the bond of peoples. He isn’t the gate through the wall of separation, He’s the wrecking ball that leveled the wall to the ground. We’ve been the ones, on both sides I admit, that have been rebuilding it. We do our Savior a great disservice if we allow ourselves to fall prey to any of the aforementioned reasons for the division that exists. We cannot allow prejudices to dictate our thoughts. We are about loving God and loving others. The ‘us and them’ mentality can’t harbor love. It is not Israel and the church. It is the Children of God, through faith in Christ. And when God calls a people His, they are His forever.

I implore you, brothers and sisters, to do your part to take down the wall, one brick at a time. Don’t allow unfamiliarity, prejudices, the culture, or history to estrange you from your Hebrew roots. Be the instrument of peace and unity where you are. Together, we can turn back the tide of fear and misconceptions and walk in the path of love and humility. Along the way, maybe we’ll all be changed by the Holy Spirit.

Lineage Speaks Loudly

~ ForCommonGround ~ 2 Comments

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One of the most convincing arguments is DNA. It has been a cornerstone to our legal system for nearly 40 years. It’s revolutionized our understanding of history and relationships. There are programs now that can take a strand of our hair, or a drop of our blood, and trace our roots back to all corners of the globe. It’s absolutely incredible that we can know exactly where we came from because knowing where a person came from says a lot about them. The Messiah is no different. There are many passages throughout the Bible that establish very specific guidelines for the origins of God’s anointed one. This post will cover three of those which appear in the book of Genesis.

#1- The Lineage of Shem

He [Noah] also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.”

Genesis 9:26-27 ESV

The above scene takes place following the great flood of the earth. Trouble has already begun to surface and Noah is pronouncing prophecy in response. The Lord is described here as the God of Shem and descendants of Shem’s brothers will either be welcomed in (made a part of) or become servants of his. The Bible has done us a huge favor here because it would go on to trace the lineage of Yeshua all the way back to Shem. That’s thousands of years of precise calculation between Shem and Jesus. A breakdown is provided for us in Luke 3:23-36. Another cool aspect of this lineage is how you can spot certain people in there and then go back through the Bible and read their stories. People like King David, Zerubbabel, and Abraham.

However, there is far more than just lineage in these verses from Genesis. It says that some of the descendants of Shem’s brothers will dwell in his tent. This essentially means they will become one family down the line. The problem existed though, when over the course of thousands of years Shem’s descendants became the people of Israel, and Japheth and Canaan’s line became gentiles. Anyone who has read the Bible knows that those two group had a major rift between them. But not after Jesus came Earth! A careful read of the book of Ephesians (yes, all of it) paints a clear picture of the effect of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It describes how the separation was torn down by the Messiah’s sacrifice. Gentiles have been “grafted in” to the line of Shem, to Israel, because of the sacrifice made by The One from Shem’s lineage, Yeshua the Messiah.

#2- The Lineage of Abraham

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12:1-3 ESV

There are a couple more verses (22:18 and 28:14) similar to this in later chapters, both of which are God reasserting His promise and blessing to the line of Abraham. The nation being discussed here is not what people would most likely connect. The ‘great nation’ are all of those who become Children of God through faith in the Messiah, who comes from Abraham’s line. Thousands of years later, the Apostle Peter would stand before a crowd of thousands in Jerusalem, and pronounce that the blessing of Abraham’s line had come. He was speaking of Jesus, who had died and been raised from the dead and seen by over 500 people.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3:7-9 ESV

The Apostle Paul spoke these words to the church in Galatia to remind them of the sufficiency of Christ. That their faith in Him made them sons of Abraham. Jesus is the means by which God is blessing the great nation that fills the Earth, both Jew and Gentile. Just like in Shem’s lineage prophecy, the two have become one in Jesus. The great nation of blessing is not according to ethnicity or geography, it’s according to faith. It knows no borders. And people from all corners of the world are being blessed with salvation and hope and life because of Yeshua.

#3- The Lineage of Judah

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Genesis 49:10 ESV

Not only is the Messiah in the line of Shem and Abraham, but also of Judah. Judah was one of Abraham’s great-grandchildren. In the verse above, Jacob (Judah’s father), is speaking a blessing over his son. The blessing turns out to be very prophetic. Take the scepter as an example. This is a symbol of power and authority which should have been his older brother’s birthright, not his. But Judah’s older brothers forfeited that right through actions that we can read about in the preceding chapters of Genesis. The right of authority then passed to Judah. Guess who is a descendant of Judah. Jesus. And the obedience of the people of faith belongs to Him.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

John 10:14-18 ESV

Jesus was anointed to live, lead, and lay down His life for the world. Through that anointing, He also had the power to raise Himself to life and received the name above all other names.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:4-11 ESV

The more specific we get in terms of lineage, the more difficult it is to meet the criteria of the Messiah. That is one of many reasons why the Bible is sure to lay out specifics like this in order to remove confusion and fraudulent claims. Just as God’s response to our mistakes was immediate and precise, so too is the groundwork He laid for us to be able to recognize who that Redeemer was. The line to Jesus was determined from the very beginning and God often used people, such as Noah and Jacob, to announce the specific course it would take. One thing we can take from this is that our God is a planning God. That plan is good and was set forth from the beginning. Through His sovereignty, the plan has carried on from generation to generation for thousands of years.  A plan that was meant to save and to bless the world…to save and bless you through Yeshua the Messiah.

Peace in Christ brothers and sisters

Enter the Messiah

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The title Messiah means anointed one sent of God. It is one of the most cherished titles among both Jews and Christians alike. The purpose of the one who would hold this title would incorporate so many facets. The Messiah would be a redeemer, a conquering king, a servant, and both humiliated and glorified. To be the Messiah one would have to embody both God’s character and His power. The Messiah would be utterly unique and set apart from anything in existence. The Messiah was God’s mission from the very first pages of the Bible. The reason? Humanity chose a path where the only solution that a loving God could have, would be salvation. And every single human in history has needed it.

In Genesis chapter three, a sneaky new character makes an appearance: the serpent. There’s much speculation surrounding what exactly this serpent is but one thing we can agree on: it is evil and it opposes God. For that reason, most believe that it is either the Devil himself, or him embodied in a reptilian creature of some sort. Regardless of which it is, this serpent is Satan, which means God’s adversary. We can make this claim because of what he does in one short chapter. He deceived Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. It is this free will choice that makes salvation for humanity a necessity of love. I insert the ‘love’ in there because a detached god would simply allow humanity to pine away in their misery and offer no possible escape. But Yahweh (God) cannot. His character demands pursuit and a passionate commitment to His creation. Enter the Messiah.

Genesis chapter three contains both the fall of man and the redemption of God. The response of God to our tragic mistake is swift and powerful. In Genesis 3:14-15 God announces that the serpent is cursed and that:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This one verse says so much about the Messiah and introduces us to who exactly that Messiah is. Let’s break it down. The seed of the woman shall deal a fatal blow to the serpent…the adversary…Satan. The blow to his head would render him ineffective and useless. The reference here to just the woman is the first place where the Messiah is mentioned to be born of a virgin. Otherwise, he would belong to the seed of both the man and woman. But that is not what the Bible says. Nearly 2000 years ago, Yeshua (Jesus) became the only person in history to be born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18 and Galatian 4:4-5). This is just the first of many prophecies that reveal Yeshua as the Messiah of God’s redemptive plan. He also fit the second criteria by fatally wounding the deceiver of mankind. The blow that Yeshua dealt by dying on the cross, was, in fact, fatal and the serpent has been suffering from its wounds ever since. Eventually to succumb to those wounds and to die a painful death that never ends. The consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin were destroyed for everyone who believes in Jesus (Hebrews 2:14-15). This blow came at a great cost though. Genesis 3 said that the seed’s (Messiah’s) heal would be bruised by the serpent. A picture of suffering. Just read Matthew 26 and 27. To get a picture of Jesus’ suffering. It was the price of our sin that caused that suffering for the Messiah. A theme that will resurface over and over.

And there remains a final blow yet to be dealt. This will happen when the serpent is cast into utter darkness for good at the second coming of the Messiah (Revelation 20:7-10). This is a day when it is said that Jesus will return as conquering King to reclaim, once and for all, His creation. A day in the future, only known by God himself. A day when life will flourish and the stain of humanity’s error is removed. Praise Jesus for His victory now and His victory then. The serpent’s days are finished.

‬‬“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
 “O death, where is your victory?
  O death, where is your sting?

1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV

Messiah Revealed

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Then He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you—everything written concerning Me in the Torah of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Luke 24:44-45 (TLV)

I’m so excited to announce the upcoming series that I will be launching in September. It’ll be a journey through the Old Testament, book by book, highlighting prophecies fulfilled in the person of Yeshua (Jesus) at His first coming. A few posts ago, I wrote about how Christians can claim that their faith is the one true belief system. One of my points included how Jesus, unlike any other religious figure, proved that He was who He claimed to be through miracles and by fulfilling prophecy. Revelation 19:10 says, “Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” That testimony is the root of this series. I hope that this series deepens your faith and assurance that Yeshua is and always has been, the center of hope and life. The story of the Bible has always had the same main character. Let’s read that story together.

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me…

John 5:39 (NIV)

Which is really blind faith?

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not-everyone-is-blindI really struggle with how much evolution is plugged into our society today. Not because I have a problem with science. I love science. God created science. Yet our public schools are presenting theories as truth which has either been disproved or has no factual evidence to justify it. I’m not going to pretend that I am an expert. I’m far from it. But it doesn’t take an expert to see the major gaps in what is being taught, not just in schools, but in media as well. Of course, I am biased. I am a Bible believing, Jesus loving, Christian. That’s because Jesus has changed my life, God has shown me my value as His child, and the Bible is the most reliable source I know. Even without that bias, I would find evolution wanting on so many levels. I have felt for some time now that I need to share what I’ve found in my journey to understand origins and meaning. I would like to think that I would never be opposed to something that is true. For that reason, I don’t believe things blindly. Here is a simple, not exhaustive, list of why the theory of evolution would require just that…blind faith.

Evolution does not provide for origins of the so-called single-celled organism that can, all of a sudden, know how to replicate and create new species.

There is no proof of macroevolution ever taking place at any point in history. Macroevolution is based on the “creation” and “introduction” of new novelties of biological chemistry which is impossible without outside involvement. Hence a designer.

There are zero “missing links” in the fossil record showing the transition from one species to another.

Evolution, by definition, is based on the creation of a new kind of species from genetic information that never existed beforehand. That has never happened, been observed, or reproduced.

Paleontologists have based much of their theory on “cavemen” from partial skeletons, teeth, bones, etc…and filled in assumptions.

Humans have 1400 novel genes that apes do not. There is no possible way we are related.

Evolution cannot explain the existence of two sexes.

Radioisotope dating cannot be accurate without knowing how much radioactive material was in the rock when it formed. Since none of us were around when the Earth was made, that is impossible to know. Carbon dating is based on faulty assumptions as well.

Ernst Haeckel’s drawings of embryos (which are still in public textbooks) have been proven as fake. They were doctored to look similar.

The universe must have a beginning but evolution makes no explanation of that.

Evolution is based on organisms propagating its own design, which is impossible with sexual reproduction due to the sharing of genes between mates and the existence of recessive genes.

All mutations known to man have had no positive effect. Therefore, evolutionary mutation cannot lead to any new or improved species. In fact, it has been proven that genetically, species regress not progress. That means, as things change over time, there is actually a loss, not a gain. (Yes, that means we are actually not as smart as the first humans. That’s another hit on the caveman theory.)

Bacteria mutate, and so do fruit flies. But never have they ever changed to anything but bacteria and fruit flies.

There has never been any shifting of shapes in the fossil record, therefore no evidence of change occurring.

Evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics which states that things start out concentrated and spread out over time. The natural process bends towards equilibrium and disorder, which is the opposite of what evolution presents.

Evolution also violates the law of Biogenesis which states that life only comes from life.

This is only a taste of the holes in the evolutionary theory, which has changed so many times to try and cover faulty science. Assumptions and theorizing aside, everything we know about science points to intelligent design. The natural world, space, our bodies, everything is screaming creation. In Luke 19 Jesus said that even if we stay silent, the very rocks will cry out in praise of Him. Psalm 19 says that the heavens declare the glory of God. In Romans one, it says that since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. I am not a Bible-believing Christian despite science. Science has only gone so far as to further the evidence that what the Bible teaches is the reality.

The Bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We aren’t accidents. We aren’t the product of mutations and biological improbabilities. And we certainly aren’t related to monkeys. You, dear reader, hold God’s affection. He made you for a purpose. You have a place in this story and your life matters. Evolution would tell you the exact opposite, without reason, and without proof. There is a God, and He loves you more than you could ever know.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

Prayer Warriors

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“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Matthew 26:36-41 (ESV)

When my wife and I started dating we used to stay up all hours of the night watching movies or just talking. There were several occasions I can recall driving her home and knowing that I only had a few hours before I had to be ready to head to work that morning. But it was worth it. The sleep was not that important compared to spending the time with her. From the day we had started talking to one another, we never wanted to spend much time apart. From that point on, we’ve been pretty much inseparable. When I have had to be gone we would text all day long and talk for well over an hour when possible. Even after all these years and multiple children, the bond is every bit as strong.  I’m not telling you my sappy love story to try to impress or brag but because this is what love can look like. That’s what our love for Jesus is supposed to look like.

For our seven-plus years of being together, my wife and I have been the best of friends. Our relationship with Jesus is really meant to be the same way. I mean, think about it. In the Bible, Jesus is referred to as both our friend and as being married to His church. Followers of Christ have several names: child of God, co-heir, saint, disciple, and much more. This chapter is more about the labels of friend and bride (which I know may sound weird to some guys, but it’s actually awesome). As a bride and friend, the followers of Jesus should want, perhaps more than anything, to be connected to Him. That’s what prayer life is all about.  It’s not morning or evening prayers, it’s daylong prayer. It’s not simply seeking God for help in times of trouble, it’s speaking with Him in the good and hard times. It’s not putting Him on the shelf until you need Him, it’s wanting to be in His presence constantly. That’s what the story of the Bible has been about since the very beginning. God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden in Genesis, He tabernacled with the Nation of Israel, He embodied humanity in Jesus, and one day the new heaven and new earth will exist in the glory of His eternal presence.

The question of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane can be a striking conviction for most people. But it doesn’t have to be. I’m not talking about setting aside prayer time, I’m talking about living a prayer life. Remember, Jesus didn’t need His disciple in the garden, He invited them because He wanted to be with them. It’s no different for you and me. We’re invited into prayer, with the God of all creation, because He wants to be with us. He wants us to enjoy His presence because we need it to make it through life. We all suffer loss and difficulty that wages war on our hearts. So do those we love. A praying life is the only way to effectively wage war on the things that seek our downfall.

Prayer is the greatest weapon we have to fight for our families, friends, and even strangers. Prayer is so powerful that it can help set people free from addictions, oppression, depression, pride, and in some cases, disease and death. Prayer redirects lives. Chapter nine explores more of the spiritual realities around us and why it’s so important to live a life Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…”

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (ESV)

The Flood of Salvation #3

~ ForCommonGround ~ 2 Comments

One of the most hopeful themes of the flood story in the book of Genesis comes at the end. As the waters recede and dry ground appears, the earth washed clean from the stains of evil, new life begins to take shape. It’s the fresh start that the world needed. It’s the new beginnings story that everyone is drawn to.

People have a tendency to make mistakes, sometimes rather large ones, and in doing so we make a mess of things. We’ve all hurt others by our actions or words. We’ve all hurt ourselves by poor choices we’ve made at one time or another. Some of us have ruined careers or relationships, or both. Some of us have alienated children or have wandered deep into the path of addiction. Some of us have made choices in life that have led to battles with depression or anxiety. Whatever the person’s story is, God is the God of new beginnings. It applies to everyone’s world.

The flood brought salvation to Noah and his family, but also to the world that had been plagued by misuse and corruption. The flood was a clean slate. As the story goes from there, humanity makes a royal mess of things all over again. We’ve been spiraling into moral corruption ever since the flood. Which means, the slate will be wiped clean again, only this time it’ll be permanent.

In the book of revelation we can read about Jesus’ return. Throughout the book Christ’s return is proclaimed, prepared, and finally carried out. It’s a difficult read but very worth an in-depth study. The preparation for Christ’s return brings about a shockwave of catastrophic events meant to draw peoples hearts back to repentance. Instead, people get more bitter and push God away more than ever. These catastrophic evens serve to cleanse the Earth of the prevalent evil. That evil will finally be eliminated once Christ’s rule is established and Satan is destroyed forever.

It’s pretty obvious that the world we live in now is messed up and getting worse all the time. Truth has been distorted and evil runs rampant at every level of society, in every society. It was no different in Noah’s lifetime. God has always been in the process of reverting the world back to the form of its original creation. A form in which God and man can walk together in the cool of the day. A form in which all of creation lives in harmony and all sin is absent.

God is in the business of redemption and making things new. The flood story is an illustration of that. But as we’ve been looking at, it’s an illustration that points to a far greater event carried out by Yeshua the Messiah. Christ’s death on the cross and subsequent resurrection established the new life and new beginnings for anyone who pursues that in Him. The Spiritual cleansing has taken place and continues to because of Him. All of our bad choices can be erased. Our sins can be vanquished in the blink of an eye. Lives can be redirected. People’s hearts can be transformed. All because of Yeshua’s work on the cross. He rose to life so we too can be raised to a new life. As incredible as that is, it doesn’t end there. One day, there will be a physical cleansing of the Earth that Jesus will bring and it will be amazing!

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Revelation‬ ‭21:1-7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Be the Proof

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment

Throughout my years as a Christian, I’ve had to work through my faith like anyone else. I’ve had to try to reconcile my purpose, what it means to be a Christian, how good works fit in to the equation, and so much more. Conflicting messages have only served to complicate the search. Denominations have been formed over these same basic questions. Debates have long divided societies. If you’ve found yourself struggling to resolve similar questions in your own walk of faith, let me offer you something to contemplate.

On my most recent journey through the Bible I locked on to a passage late in the book of Acts. The book of Acts is a valuable source because it records the commission given by Jesus before He ascended to heaven, the giving of the Holy Spirit to His followers, and records of how that Spirit used Christ’s early followers. The book focuses on many different followers but a big portion centers on the apostle Paul’s missions. He is one of our greatest examples of what it means to follow Jesus, and he laid out his mission statement for us all. It comes in Acts chapter 20 verse 24.

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

It’s simple, and yet very deep. It’s one line but all consuming. Paul’s entire life had the purpose of pointing others to Jesus. Whether by his words or actions, Paul wanted the world to see Jesus in his way of life. When Paul encountered Jesus, everything changed for him. Jesus consumed his heart and every affection, and he had to tell everyone.

Paul said he was propelled with the purpose of testifying to the gospel of the grace of God. To testify is far more than just telling people. It also means to serve as evidence or proof. Our life, as a Christian, is supposed to be the evidence of God’s grace. That means we love greatly, unconditionally, serve everyone, forgive quickly no matter the offense, put others before ourselves, and lay our lives down for the cause of bringing others to God. Every single one of those things, Jesus did and then extended His hands in invitation for us to do the same. Our lives should show the world that the grace and love and power or God are very real and available to everyone.

Shine a little light

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment

“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

1 Peter 2:17 ESV

I’m finding it very difficult to not get bitter towards the media in our nation. Not necessarily because of anything new, but of the consistent manner of its existence. That’s all forms of media by the way. Social, broadcast, print, and chain media alike. In the opening verse above, none of those things occur with much regularity. I understand that not many media outlets run by godly standards, but some certainly claim to. Yet even in those, it’s rare to see people being honored, love being spread, the fear of God being shown, and our nation’s leaders being honored.

I am also aware that all of our presidents have been shady in their own way. They’ve all messed up. They’ve all been imperfect. No president has a spotless foreign or domestic record. And our media sources behave like ravenous wolves out for blood. It doesn’t matter who is in power, the media closely related to opposing ideologies take every opportunity, whether manufactured or legitimate, to attack and ridicule.

It’s expected, sadly, for our media to behave in such a manner. The bigger problem, however, is when individuals operating on their own, mimic the behavior. Gossip and misleading information circulates with rapid speed through our social media. I guess to some extent we can’t blame them since that is what they are being fed. But for those of us who hold allegiance to Jesus and godly virtues, we should not be guilty of the same.

Honor everyone. This is a pretty all inclusive command. We all have people who aren’t honorable in our lives, but that doesn’t excuse any Christian from extending honor to them. That simply means we show everyone that they have value. Whether they act or think like me means nothing. They still have value because they’re created in God’s image just like me.

Love the brotherhood. Jesus said that people will know that we belong to Him by how we love each other. That’s unconditional, sincere, deep seated, servanthood love. And just as Jesus demonstrated, we still love the unlovable in this way.

Fear God. This is probably the most obvious element missing. Godly standards are pushed aside, and in some cases, outright ridiculed. For believers, our faith should be interwoven into everything we say and do. Those around us should know Who and what we stand for.

Honor the emperor. Even though we don’t have an emperor, and even though our president is far from perfect, he’s head and shoulders above any Roman emperor. The worst that any American president has ever done can’t even be compared to the leaders of Rome. Crimes against humanity were a daily occurrence, especially among those who were in power when Peter wrote the words above. To disagree with our leaders is natural. But to disrespect them should not be permitted among those who follow Jesus.

The body of Christ needs to shine a bright light in all three of these areas. Our voices of love and honor need to resound more loudly than the pervasive winds of pessimism and hate that consumes much of what is broadcasted in our nation. Those of you who work in the mainstream media, start where you are. If you have social media, utilize that tool to it’s greatest potential. For all of us, let’s be a beacon of love and honor wherever we are.

Peace brothers and sisters