Son's of Thunder!

Jack Higgens, author of the successful novel The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.”

Those called personally by Jesus to follow His way, His life find there’s much more to life, than you could ever dream. There is in fact everything you could want or hope to find, when you know the Lord!

Yet it’s not always Happiness and Hallelujahs!

The Apostles, men set aside by Jesus, and commissioned to carry His message around the world , were typical humans, they (Like Us) ran cold, and hot…sometimes zealous, other times intimidated…the personalities of their past….the old nature, frail, undisciplined would often rush to the for-front of an event.

How very evident is the humanity of James, and his brother, John…James was the oldest “Son of Thunder” So named I believe because of their zealous, passionate personalities!

The following event from the life of these two brothers, illustrates the struggle we all face trying to live as Children of the King, in this present world.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?" 55But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56and[b] they went to another village. (Luke 9:51-56).(NIV)

As this drama unfolds we see...

A Village Rejection

A Village Suggestion

The Lord’s Rebuke

In the Scripture passage we just read, Jesus sets a prime example of obedience for us. Luke tells us that Jesus resolutely set out from Galilee to Jerusalem.

He was determined to offer His life for all who would believe, nothing would or could deter Him from His desire to follow the will of His Father, even though it would include the cross!

Our Lord would experience a short lived acceptance, in Jerusalem as the crowds cheered him, soon to be followed by people jeering him, accusing him, hating him, beating him, trying him, rejecting him! Our Lord's Jersualem drama is soon coming!

In the passage before us today Luke tells us the reason they rejected Jesus(In this Samaritan Village)was because he was going to Jerusalem.

This was offensive to the Samaritans because they had their own shrine for worship at Mount Gerizim. They felt they could worship there, and they refused to acknowledge Jerusalem as the valid center for worship.

Remember the words of the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” (John 4:20).

This sets up the response by James and his brother John. This Village rejection, this willful disregard, and coldness shown to Jesus infuriated these two brothers, nicknamed “ Son’s of thunder” all because…. the people who lived there said they would not welcome Jesus.

When this report was given, James and John quickly stepped forward and offered a Village Suggestion

"Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them" (Luke 9:54).

*Immediately prior to this journey toward Jerusalem, James and John had witnessed the transfiguration. They'd been living as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. But they held two passports, dual citizenship. As these Jewish men passed into Samaritan territory, the habits and prejudices they carried deep in their own DNA surfaced in a flash, triggered by the Samaritans' deep-seated prejudice against them.

The offense sparked a militant response from James and John, Jewish citizens, and they grabbed for the big guns from the armory of their other kingdom. Which showed, perhaps, that they didn't truly understand the power of that other kingdom at all.*theparablelife.blogspot.com

Jesus demonstrated the way His kingdom's weapons are meant to be used.

Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. (Luke 9: 56).

This incident in the life of Jesus as He was making His way to Jerusalem, is in fact a glimpse into the lives of two of His most faithful followers.

When Jesus is not welcomed, they desire to right that wrong…..with blazing judgment! That desire to call in an “air strike” when things are not going the way we think they should, can damage more than villages it can wreck lives.

Emotions unchecked, can lead to impulsive actions, critical comments, and hateful conduct that will leave you living a life of regret!

Is there a place for “Holy Anger” ? Theologians refer to it as Righteous Indignation, and Jesus exampled it when he threw money changers from the temple area…they had made His Fathers house, a den of thieves, rather than a house of prayer!

In the passage today, the Lords rebuke comes not because he is not a just God, not because He will not eventually judge all who reject Him, but because James and John’s hearts were not right. Vindication is best left up to God.

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. (Romans 12:19).

The message Bible reads this way:

Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."(Romans 12:19).

We can trust Jesus to watch over us, and to provide wisdom for how to deal with those who reject us , who keep us at arms length.

We especially when pressured ...need to follow the example of Jesus and not that of the ..."Son's of Thunder"

Amazed by Grace!

Grace...how many times have you heard that word? If you have been around Church for any length of time....you have heard it plenty of times!

Words often used, over used, can lose their ability to convey meaning. Grace is a word that should never become common!

Grace properly understood, properly embraced will convey and carry deep meaning, to every Christian... until their last moment on this earth!

Then Faith shall become sight! We shall behold Him! Until then, we need to consider, to ponder the meaning of...Grace.

Grace...what is it? What is so amazing about it?

Why do Christians refer to it so frequently? I believe because Grace is the one word that reminds us of our value to God, to His Son, to the Holy Spirit.

Because of Grace, lost humanity became the object of both love and rescue!

A love (Personified in The Lord Jesus Christ) that would rather leave heaven, endure unbelievable cruelty, to provide a rescue... from sin for lost humanity, through personal repentance and acceptance of God's Glorious Son!

If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are loved...you have been rescued!

It has helped me to think of Grace this way...

G- God's
R- Riches
A- At
C- Christ's
E- Expense!

A real and vital relationship with God through His Son and the assurance of Heaven, is a reality for human beings who acknowledge their sin debt, to the only one who can do anything about it!

It's grace extended by the hand of our Redeemer that enables us to be saved. We can't work for it, we can't earn it! An evangelist from another era in time named George Whitefield wrote:

What! Get to heaven on your own strength? Why, you might as well try to climb to the moon on a rope of sand!

Pastor Charles Stanley wrote:

“If you believe that your salvation came about by anything other than simply believing in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, then you believe that your salvation was in some way related to your own works. If you believe that your salvation is related to your own works, then you will believe that you can in some way “undo’ your salvation.

On the other hand, if you believe that your salvation was based solely on what Jesus did for you and what the Holy Spirit has done in you, then you believe that your salvation was the work of God.”
Charles Stanley, Understanding Eternal Security, (pg 18)

The Apostle Paul whose own life was radically changed by meeting Jesus wrote:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9) NIV

His grace will amaze believers for always...for ever! The following video reminds us of ...His Matchless, Amazing...Grace...

Cautious and Careful?

*On August 7, 1974, shortly after 7:15 a.m., Philippe Petit stepped off the South Tower WTC and onto a steel cable (A walk that took six years to plan, and was illegal)

He walked the wire for 45 minutes, making eight crossings between the towers, a quarter mile above the sidewalks of Manhattan.

In addition to walking, he sat on the wire, gave knee salutes and, while lying on the wire, spoke with a gull circling above his head!

As soon as Petit was observed by witnesses on the ground, the Port Authority Police Department dispatched officers to the roof to take him into custody.

One of the officers, Sgt. Charles Daniels, later reported his experience:

"I observed the tightrope 'dancer'—because you couldn't call him a 'walker'—approximately halfway between the two towers. And upon seeing us he started to smile and laugh and he started going into a dancing routine on the high wire...

And when he got to the building we asked him to get off the high wire but instead he turned around and ran back out into the middle....He was bouncing up and down. His feet were actually leaving the wire and then he would resettle back on the wire again....Unbelievable really....Everybody was spellbound in the watching of it."

Petit was warned by his friend on the South Tower that a police helicopter would come to pick him off the wire unless he got off. Rain had begun to fall, and Petit decided he had taken enough risks, so he decided to give himself up to the police waiting for him on the South Tower.

He was arrested once he stepped off the wire. Provoked by his taunting behavior while on the wire, police handcuffed him behind his back and roughly pushed him down a flight of stairs. This he later described as the most dangerous part of the stunt!

His audacious high wire performance made headlines around the world. When asked why he did the stunt, Petit would say "When I see three oranges, I juggle; when I see two towers, I walk". *Wikipedia article

Risk, adventure, daring….some are drawn to this sort of thing….they are adrenalin junkies. Is that the way you are?

It’s doubtful that we would have ever seen the Apostle Philip on a high wire, because he was the cautious practical Apostle. Philip was cautious and careful!

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" (John 6:5-7) NIV

We've all heard the story before. Sometimes, often times it’s the familiarity of God’s word that we have to overcome. We often think we know everything about a story…in reality there is always yet another “Life” application. In the story and the life of Philip there are many!

The story teaches us: that God provides for our needs. A boys lunch of five barley loaves and two fish, are multiplied by Jesus and thousands have lunch provided by God that day!

Jesus cares about our physical necessities, that much is true... but there is another lesson in the story, not as obvious as the first, but there nonetheless. It was a lesson that Philip was to learn, that we must learn.

This story really begins—although it doesn't say so— with a mother. The mother of the little boy. Can't you just see her: baking the barley loaves (The bread of common people) preparing the fish; packing them tightly in the basket for her son to carry.

She knew it would be a long day, and her boy would need her love-packed lunch to give him strength. What she didn't know was that Jesus would need that lunch too, for a much greater purpose than that for which she was now preparing it.

The need that day was great, the provision prepared, in a humble home somewhere in Galilee.

The answer to your dilemma, just might come from the most unlikely of sources...remember God's resources are limitless!

It was a reminder that an often overly cautious Apostle named Philip needed, its a lesson that we all need, when it comes to trusting God...we are often much to cautious, and much to careful!

First things First!

I had an interesting experience on a Monday afternoon recently. A man named Andrew called me and asked abruptly if he could ask me a series of questions. He jumped right in and asked if I though of myself as Free, or in bondage? He followed that up if I thought I was more flesh or Spirit?

(I just had several cookies that one of our Church members had left for me, so when He called I was definitely, more flesh than spirit!)

He also wanted to know that when I speak is it God’s words or mine. He also was captivated by the concept of binding and loosening, He was confused, He was confusing! I shared my life journey to faith in Jesus and how He could know him.

He had a problem with thinking of himself as a sinner…I quickly told him that I was a sinner, and the only difference between me and a non-believer is that because of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have been forgiven….

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
(John 8:36).

I learned that he is an engineer and calls Pastors at random from around the country…to ask the questions he asked me. I told him that I believed the Lord had arranged for him to call me…Andrew is a seeker!

Andrew the brother of Peter, was once a seeker as well, then he met Jesus and Andrew became a sharer, of the love of Jesus he reached out to his brother Peter and told him about Jesus. He kept…first things first!

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus. (John 1:40-42).

If we are to keep First things first…we need to be like Andrew, have a ….

A humble listening heart:

*Andrew was the first called...the first disciple Jesus enlisted... he was the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, however, Andrew never achieved the fame that his brother Peter did. During his years as a disciple Andrew was never included in Jesus' inner circle. Unlike Peter, James, and John he was not taken up to the Hill of Mt. Transfiguration or in with Jesus when He healed Jairus' daughter...or when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest.

Andrew never preached like Peter, never recorded a gospel like Matthew or John, nor was he ever recognized by the early church like James. PETER'S name appears in the four gospels 96 times. Only Jesus is mentioned more often but Andrew's name is only found 14 times and most of those times he is referred to as Peter's brother. Peter is constantly in the center of the action. There are numerous accounts of things he said or did but Scripture only records Andrew as doing three things.

Now, it takes a great deal of grace to play second fiddle, especially if it's your own brother who's playing FIRST fiddle!

And Andrew must have learned to access this grace because he doesn't seem to mind this arrangement. I mean in a similar situation many of us would have considered ourselves slighted. *Redland Baptist Church on line sermon

Not Andrew, why? He was humble, he had a listening heart, and what he heard was “No life is insignificant that belongs to Jesus!

Andrew happy to be apart of the twelve, He had a humble listening heart, he kept first things first...do we?

Son-lit Pathways!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.(Proverbs 3:5-6).

To be directed by the hand of God, to know that your life has been useful, helpful...needed, that is my hearts desire. Today on a crisp beautiful afternoon, I am thinking of how incredibly exciting and fulfilling it is to follow the Lord's path!

He offers "Son-lit Pathways"!

This past Sunday (October 18th) I received a unanimous call to serve as Pastor of the exciting and loving, HillTop Baptist Church in Green River, Wyoming. A remarkable series of events brought me (It was all the Lord) to this town of 12,000 in South West, Wyoming.

I have pastored full time since 1988, in every Church the Lord has directed me to, I have found acceptance, adversity, community and challenge! And in some Churches, more...bee's than honey:)

As I look back with deep gratitude to the people of God I have met along the way,( In other Churches) My wife (Laura) and I now feel that we are at last... home!

Maya Angelou wrote:
"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself".

To be at "Home" for me is to at last have found ( been guided) to the Church I have always wanted to pastor.

The Church I have always wanted to Pastor, is where kindness is the norm, where people believe that God has unlimited power, and can change an entire community if we dare to believe Him for it! A Church where laughter and hallelujahs fill the hallways!

Wyoming is a beautiful state...and the people I am privileged to serve have opened their hearts to me in so many wonderful ways! If every Pastor, pastored a HillTop, how incredibly blessed their life would be! And there would be fewer search committees!

I will forever be thankful that in the providence of God, His hand, His pathway, pointed West...

I pray that He will leave me here for the rest of my ministry life, the people are that warm....the opportunities are that vast...the path is that Son-lit!

Fragile Stones

When you think of the qualities that make a man a man, or a woman a woman, of distinction, high on the list would be courage.

We need courage because, life's pressures can test the mettle of the strongest of personalities.

Unforeseen challenges, financial pressure, unemployment, temptation, frustration and the ever present reality that people, depend on you…people need you, can make anyone weak in the knees.

Not in his goals but in his transitions is man great. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Peter the Galilean fisherman who responded to the call of Jesus on his life, knew all about transitions. I often think of Peter, and his many challenges and find great encouragement in the way He finished his race. He did so with courage!

To be sure the life of Peter reminds us of the danger of assumption, thinking were to strong to fail.

Remember "An unguarded strength, is a weakness". Adrian Rogers

Yet after his denial of Jesus, he wept bitterly, and those bitter tears of repentance brought Peter back to the Lord, and he became a great leader in the early church.

The life of Peter is a vivid picture of the response of one life to the call of Jesus.

In all of the Lords followers there will be occasions of fulfillment, and times of failure, sometimes, we are strong, sometimes we are weak, we are like...

“The Apostle Peter, Fragile stones”

Luke describes Peter’s denial of Jesus this way:

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him." But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said.

A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied.

About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."

Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.

Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly. ( Luke 22:54-62).

*All through this time he has been denying Jesus while sitting with unbelievers. Once you become enmeshed in the world, it is hard to leave!

What was Peter still doing there? He could not stand up for Jesus Christ in that compromising situation. He was with His enemies. And when Peter denies Him the last time the rooster crowed! *John MacArthur

We have a real enemy in Satan. You can count on this, He will attempt to wreck your devotion to the Lord sometime, somewhere, there is a courtyard waiting for you!

A fire crackling,in the distance, warm, inviting... offering the warmth of the World, and you will be invited to deny the Lord.

That denial opportunity might come in a temptation at work or school, or you will be enticed to let your guard down financially, emotionally, sexually or in some other way…When your time in the courtyard comes, what will you do?

Decide at this moment, that you belong to Jesus, He is your King, to deny Him, is not an option!

This devotional just might be, the Lord Jesus Christ looking at you, at me!

How should we respond? We ought to go out and weep bitterly and make our relationship with Him right if it's wrong!

There are so many things that Peter's life teaches us.

We learn that the strongest of Christians are often weak.

We learn the danger of self-confidence.

We learn that failure isn't final!

We learn we are all “Fragile Stones”.

Got Kindness?

"I expect to pass through this world but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do, to any fellow being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".
Stephen Grellet

I have always loved that quote, from the first time I read it. Kindness is so important to the harmony and rhythm of life. Without it...life is, well to continue with my music metaphor, out of tune, dull...flat.

I have been on the receiving end of kindness countless times in my life.

Years ago while on my way to preach in Rocky Ford, Colorado (Southeastern Colorado) our car decided not to go any more! I was 30 miles from Rocky Ford! I explained my dilemma to a farmer, who promptly loaned his car to me... the stranger preacher, at his door!

I kept that preaching date, arriving just in time, however, the passing of time ( It happened more than 20 years ago) has never diminished my appreciation and awe, at the memory, of that profound expression of kindness!

Currently I am serving a most loving and kind congregation in Southwestern Wyoming. From accommodations to friendships, and emotional support (In my sisters home going) I have come to treasure these wonderful people!

In fact in my office at this very moment are four ripening home grown, tomatoes, two jars of(Home Canned)green beans and two big jars of home made grape juice!

For breakfast today our ministerial assistant brought me two awesome "Home made" breakfast burritos, (Payoff for her Dallas Cowboys, losing to the Denver Bronco's...but I digress). Not long after breakfast, a church member brought a delicious desert for me to taste! Gifts of kindness from kind people!

And it all happened to me withen the last 24 hours!

Kindness of course is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
(Galatians 5:22).

When the Lord Jesus Christ has you, you have His Spirit! His people should be characterized by kindness.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.(Ephesians 4:32).

In some the "Milk of human kindness has curdled" for those people I feel genuinely sorry.

When I meet people who say they belong to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords who are not kind...I can't help but wonder, if there really His, why are they not like Him?

Can non-believers be kind? Yes! But an unkind Christian is a contradiction in terms...you might as well be talking about a heavenly devil!

Jesus in John chapter 8 is facing critics (Religious Leaders called Pharisees) who challenge His motives. He responds to their biting sarcasm with this reminder...

"He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." (John 8: 47).

People who belong to Him, hear Him, they will be like Him!

For this King's Kid my life, my success, is defined by my devotion to the Lord, my Love for my wife, and my family, and the kindness I show to the people whose life door I pass by.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it this way:

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

Got Kindness? If you know the Lord...you will!

And you will be a success!