Riding on a donkey‏

Zechariah 9

⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
   and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations.
   His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River^[b] to the ends of the earth.
¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,  I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 

¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Israel has lost her past glory. She has been divided, conquered and plundered.. But she still has the promise of a Savior to come to her rescue. This is a son of David who will chase off her enemies and rebuild the city of David. But what kind of Savior is this? He comes humble and riding on a young donkey! But you may remember that David was disgraced by his son, Absalom. He was deposed and chased out of town. As he rode away, a man in the crowd cursed at David. Is this the same David who was promised to come to Israel’s rescue?

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey like his “Father” David. The show of pomp was simple but meaningful because the King was coming into the city for his coronation. He would be crowned Lord of Lords and King of Kings on a cross. In his humility and obedience to the Father he was exalted above every name on earth or even above. 

"O' come, let us adore him.” 

a donkey shows up‏

^{Mark 1:1} As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
As we prepare for our celebration of Holy Week and Easter we are reminded that Jesus's disciples had their work to do to get ready for Jesus in his "Mighty Acts of Salvation."Among them was to get a donkey. Like everything else about him, he had only to pass the message "The Lord needs it." and it was done. A few years ago we were getting our palm branches ready for Palm Sunday when Jake pulls up in the Church yard with a real live donkey! You can imagine the excitement for kids and adults alike.
You may ask, "Was it necessary?" And I will tell you it was Jake's way of teaching a lesson to the kids. If the Lord needs a donkey or a disciple we will respond. We're his disciples. If we are as obedient as Jake then people will hear about Jesus and come. 
We pray for Julie as she grieves the death of her daughter. 
Amen.  

a new and living way‏

^{Hebrews 10: 19} Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

 

Because the Church has been around for two thousand years it seems hard to see Church worship as "a new and living way." But because the world and it's methods are older than that, it still takes something different to overcome the world, defeat sin and make believers free. That new way is through the body of Christ. It takes a body , which is God's people who are fully human but only alive in Christ to come before the father who offers such freedom and life. So don't try some end run that avoids sacred worship and the fellowship of the body. We can actually help and encourage each other to grow in faith and obedience to God's will. 

Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Be with Julie as she goes to pray for her daughter who is gravely ill. Amen.

A Mighty Fortress‏

Psalm 46

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

 ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will . help her at break of day.

Anatomy of a healthy heart:

You know where to go when you get into trouble. You could find some friends or check your bank account or rely on physical training and conditioning, but you know an unfailing source of strength. That is your God. You turn to him in every time of need and he will not fail to help.

In hurricanes or sunamis, when the earth seems to be cracking apart, there is one place that is secure. That is the Church of the living God. Where Christians league together to battle for what is right, there you will be. It stands like a castle or fortified city. Luther called it, “Ein Feste Burg.”

In this last week before Holy Week let us be sure that we know the way to the City of God. Through prayer and scripture we will be led by the Spirit to take our place with followers of Christ through the centuries who have made their stand against the forces of Satan in league with brothers and sisters in Christ.

We continue to lift up Jack and Norma.  Amen

who's falling beside you?‏

  Psalm 91: ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
   ten thousand at your right hand,
   but it will not come near you.
About one-fourth of my High School graduating class of 1963 at Miami High School have deceased. And the numbers are growing! That means that over 200 of the "kids" who went to school with me have died. It started like a trickle with the car accident even before we graduated. We lost some in Viet Nam and some got hooked on drugs and began a self-destructive life style. In the last twenty years it has really accelerated with heart disease and cancer taking the lion's share. One of my class mates was working on a cure for black lung disease and he died of cancer! Then I wonder about myself: why am I still here?
I could have been killed on a motorcycle in my teen years or a car wreck. I could have gotten in trouble with the law. I could have been killed in Viet Nam. But there was someone watching over me, all night and all day long. It wasn't because I was always careful or better at what I was doing that I survived. God protected me and kept me for his purpose. That makes that much more grateful to God but also motivated to find my purpose and do it!
Be thankful to God who saves you and ask him to show you what is your divine appointment. Why are you here?
Lord God, I am thankful that you have shielded me the arrows of death and kept me to proclaim your name in my environment. Keep me , my family and friends for your loving purpose. Amen.

What's biting at you?‏

^{John 3: 14} Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^{[a] 15} that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”^[b]

The children of Israel were hurting and dying because of poisonous snake bites. Moses hung a snake on a pole so that all who looked at it would be healed of the fearsome snake bites. Jesus offered himself to be hung on a pole (the cross) so that sinners could look up and live.

When someone looks worried and anguished we say to them. “What’s eating you?” Why might just as well ask, “What’s biting you?” To those who are not walking in faith and obedience to God there are many painful consequences both for yourself and those who love you.  But to those who know that there is healing in the name of Jesus, he offers us to look upon his painful death on our behalf and receive mercy and comfort.

So we lift up Christ crucified to all who suffer the painful bite of sin that they might look up and see God’s love that heals all wounds.

Amen. 

He's here.‏

John 14:  ¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[c] in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Jesus walked with his disciples through Judea and Galilee two thousand years ago. Today he walks in your town, in your home, in you. The gap between people and God has been closed. The yearning to seek God has been satisfied. We listen for his voice and it isn't in a wind, or lightning or somewhere out there. We listen and we obey and we sense his presence. Celebrate your walk with Jesus today. Tell me what happens!
We pray for the children God will send our way.

Amen.

The privilege of knowing Christ‏

Phil 3:7

 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Who are the people you really know? They are the ones who have gone through the valleys with you. You have been open to share your pain and failure along with the triumphs. The people you know give you a lift because they understand you and know what you have endured. When you think about knowing God, ask yourself,"What does God know about me? Does he still love me in spite of all that?"

There is an additional benefit to knowing Christ: he knows the way to the Father. He has made arrangements for you to become like a child and sit on the lap of your heavenly Father and pour out your heart. He promised to wipe away every tear from your eyes. With him there is fulness of joy that never ends. And once you know him, you will love him.                      
Amen.

Who is the Master of the House?‏

 John 14:1  "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

Suppose you were going to buy a house you had never seen. You have the floor plans and you know it is situated in a beautiful mountain ridge with fruit trees and a bubbling stream nearby. But you wanted some recent photographs from the salesman. Instead, he said, “Let me tell you about the builder. He is the finest craftsman of native rock and wood in the region. His patience and persistence in doing things ‘the right way’ are un-matched  His honesty and integrity are legendary.” Would you buy the house based on what you know about the builder?

Christians who are looking forward to eternity in heaven have been given that kind of option. Take the Palace of Versailles or the Hermitage and compare them to heaven and you don’t get a good idea of what it would be like to live there. All the crystal and gold in those historical relics don’t make a home. In fact, if I were to describe heaven it would be more like my Grandfather’s Florida Room. What made that place a refuge for me was not the structure, it was the constructor, my Grandpa Ken.

He showed me how to build and use tools and treated me with respect. He told wonderful stories about his travels and adventures around the world.  My knowledge of Jesus is like that, it welcomes me home. Gates of pearl might keep me out but my Lord goes out to meet me and brings me in. As you go about your business and plans for the day, include quality time with the Lord.

 Let the Holy Spirit take you away to the place where your Father sits on the throne in glory. 

Amen.

a season and a time‏

"To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3

It will be dark in the morning when my dog, Bonnie, and I, go out for a walk. For a day, there is an interruption of the "normal" flow of time so we can save some daylight in the evening. It makes time seem more like putty that can be molded to our purposes. Some people want to "seize the day" to accomplish their plans and schemes. Time is not just minutes and hours it is the worth we place in the things we do. So we admonish a friend, "Take your time and enjoy it" or take time to smell the roses."
Time is also composed of seasons. Appropriate to the time, we do things that fit into the weather or the activity that goes with the season. We are in the midst of Lent so our activity emphasizes prayer and devotion that call us back to our "first love", the love of Christ that freed us from sin and set us to work in his vineyard.I pray this time of reflection will both refresh the spirit and motivate you to live to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember to "spring forward!"

TEAR IT DOWN!‏

John 2

¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
 ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

 ²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

 

Jesus has just totally disrupted the worship in the temple by dismantling the whole system of offerings and sacrifices that lay at the heart of Jewish religious practice. No wonder they question him, "By what authority do you do these things?" It would be like a stranger coming into our sanctuary on Sunday morning and knocking the candles off the altar and taking the communion elements and pouring them on the floor. Then imagine if he took the full offering plates and tossed them like Frisbee out the door! We'd be a little upset, too.

Jesus had something more important to do than business as usual in the temple. The great sacrifice that would liberate men and women of all ages and times and places would be offered on a bloody hill outside the city walls. In the place of this magnificent marble structure constructed by Herod for forty-six years there would be one body hanging from a cross to take away the sin of the world. 

Find a way to make a "reformation" in your spiritual habits at worship. Enhance your understanding of the Word and deepen your prayers with worship and songs. May your heart be more open to the work of the Holy Spirit to make the sacrifice of worship the very best that God has offered and give our best for the Lord in his sanctuary. 

We pray for ushers, acolytes, greeters, altar guild, lectors and choir and musicians and worship assistants that we can say, "Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place." Amen. 

Remember a queen named Esther‏

Esther 4:

 ¹² When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
 ¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Read Esther 1-5:
Tomorrow our Jewish brothers and sisters will celebrate the feast of Purim in remembrance of the time that a beautiful young woman of the Jews saved her people by taking a risk and using the gift that God had given her to the glory of God. 
Be mindful of the opportunity you have to make a difference with what God has given you. 
 Let Christ lead and follow with a glad heart.

Amen.

a single connection‏

Matthew 6:. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Read Matthew 6:

The point of prayer is to strengthen the connection between you and your heavenly Father. You may pray in a church but the focus is on your God, not on your neighbors. And what good would it do if you prayed aloud with great emotion so that everyone heard you and thought, "My what a spiritual person!" And so it is with all we do in the name of the Lord: we seek the hand of our Savior not a press release. It's not getting what you want, it's getting in touch with God who is more than you can think or imagine.
Amen.

The Lord be with you.‏

"And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them.and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it."
Read Mark 16: There are two endings to the gospel of Mark. Some early manuscripts end with the discovery of the empty tomb in verse 8. Others end with verse 20. The angel tells the women that the Lord has risen but they don't see Jesus. In verses 9-20 we do have an appearance to Mary Magdalene but the disciples don't believe her. This passage is similar to the scene in the garden in John 20. Then Jesus appears to the two men on the road that we encounter in Luke 24. Then he appears to the eleven and scolds them for not believing those who had seen him alive. He sends them out with power to perform signs and commands them to baptize those who believe. He will be with them after his ascension to the right hand of the Father. That is a promise we trust and follow in the Church.
Be with Mrs. Taylor in the Winter Haven Hospital. Amen.

from the fifth hole to the pits of hell‏

Mark 8: ³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Read Mark 8:31-38

What is Jesus teaching the crowds? Is it membership or discipleship? Membership could mean giving the least possible commitment of time and resources. Discipleship means giving everything for Christ and his kingdom.

There is a theory that attending Church on Sunday is not really that important. You can get close to God on your boat or on the gold course on Sunday morning. My colleague Fr. Reid calls that a lie straight from the pits of hell. Self-deception 101 teaches that if you can get someone thinking that they are doing the right thing  they won’t do the right thing. The heart of Divine Worship is the teaching of God’s Word. Keeping the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy is to “gladly hear and learn God’s WORD and the preaching of it. “

From this hour in the presence of Jesus we go out to help a young couple with their 4 year old who are stranded in front of Winn-Dixie or helping your waiter at Perkins who is sleeping in his car. Get in step with Jesus by offering the sacrifice of worship and praise. Amen.

The coronation of Jesus‏

“Truly, this man was the Son of God.”

Read Mark 15

Although the bloody physical details of the death may overwhelm you, there is a surprising dignity in the way Jesus handles Pilate, the crowds, the chief priest and even the soldiers who perform the execution. Jesus does not deny that he is the King of the Jews so there is an inscription written above his head that every witness can see. He does not try to defend himself but instead he gives a calm silence to all his accusers. When Jesus is mocked by the soldiers, by the crowd and even the thieves who are hanging next to him on their own cross he does not complain. Only when he witnessed the lonely exile of the Son of David who wrote in the Psalms,

   "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When he dies , Jesus continues to teach those left behind. A Centurian, left to tend to the bodies of the prisoners, saw a miracle in the death of this man. He saw the power of the Son of God making his exodus from this life to take up his throne in glory. Pilate is reminded once more that this was no ordinary prisoner when Joseph comes to take his body and bury Jesus. For Joseph, this corpse represents the hope for Israel. In his death, Jesus reigns forever.

Now we are ready for the surprise on the third day.

Lord, keep us near the cross that we may stop and wonder at Jesus in his glory. Amen.

Set your mind on the things that are above‏

Mark 14:7 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial

Read Mark 14:

By now you must know that Mark’s gospel is much more action and much less talk. But even in Mark, there is more detail about Jesus’ crucifixion than about any other aspect of his life. Mark seems to say, “Look at this woman! She understands that I have come to die while you seem to be clueless.” The demand of the mind and the heart is to feel some of the urgency of what is happening. This is a matter of life or death whether Jesus goes to die on Friday. He shares a last meal with his friends. He goes out to pray and his disciples fall asleep. “Could you not one hour? But now the Son of man is betrayed.”

When Jesus is arrested he is taken to the spiritual authorities of Israel who act like a kangaroo court. They have conflicting testimony but still Jesus is condemned. It could not have ended any other way. While Jesus faces his accusers inside, Peter is outside and denies that he knows Jesus. The cock crows as if on command and Peter stands condemned for his lack of faith. Jesus had warned Peter, you have set your mind on earthly things, not on heavenly things.

That is the challenge of Lent. Giving up chocolate is one thing but giving up the idea that you need chocolate instead of prayer is a bigger thing. Our time of scripture study and prayer are focused to let us see that more than anything else, we need God’s mercy and grace. We have to give up the earthly notion that “I can do it myself.”

Can you change your way of thinking? Probably not. Most of us don’t want to change. But with the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can see the Father come running to receive and welcome us into his Kingdom. The flip side of the cross of Jesus is the promise of new life. He will make us alive forevermore.

Pray for David for cancer. Amen

^{Mark 13:1} As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

² “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Read Mark 13:

This the climax of Mark’s story about the coming of Jesus and his impact on all the people of the earth. The disciples ask “When will these things happen. Jesus gives his answer in v. 14, which reads in one translation:

¹⁴ “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’^[a] standing where it^[b] does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

In another translation we read:

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, “standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand),. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains

Notice there are at least two insertions that were not spoken by Jesus”The note “spoken of by the Prophet Daniel was added to indicate the meaning of this abomination in Daniel 9:27 ; 11:31; and 12:11. During the reign of Epiphanes, the Syrian governor of Israel, the Temple was defiles by stopping the sacrifices and placing a pig in the Holy of Holies. The other was added by Mark with his insertion “let the reader understand” was obviously not spoken by Jesus.

But the real meaning of this passage is indicated below where Jesus says in verse 32: “But concerning that day or hour, no one knows.” We are not called to set dates and times for his appearance but to continue to follow and serve him to the end. Our goal is not “A great escape” but for the Lord to say to each of us,”Well done, good and faithful servant.”

So read the passages in Daniel along with Mark thirteen and get deeper into your study of the scripture.

We pray for seminarians, Bible students and teachers to humbly hear and learn God’s Word. Amen.