Tag Archives: God

Lament For A Dying World

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crying eye      In my mind’s eye I am standing once again in my grandfather’s kitchen delivering him the news about my grandmother’s terminal cancer. His watery blue eyes fill with tears but he sets his jaw with that grim New England resolution I have grown up with.

He lifts his chin proudly refusing to let the tears escape, “Well we have had 61 wonderful years together.”

Despite his assertions of thankfulness I know something in my grandfather dies that day. That is the point he loses the will to live. That is the moment where life becomes a rash clinging to his mortal skin, a plague to be cured so he can rejoin my grandmother on the other side.

In this world one out of one dies.  Death is ever-present in the midst of life. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 it is the final enemy, man’s nemesis. Because of this plague on the world we all know lament and raise it up from one end of the globe to another on a daily basis. Somewhere right now someone is weeping over some soul cast forth from the Earth into eternity on this day we call Good Friday.

I can see a hill with three crosses. Two criminals hang beside him, one  to his right and one to his left and there on the middle cross, struggling for every breath, hangs the Darling of Heaven, God with skin on, Jesus.

He gasps one last time and cries out “Into Your hands I commit my Spirit.”

Immortality meets finality. The whole world laments. The clouds weep darkness and the earth trembles in terror as God dies. But in this world it is a rule as certain as death, God changes everything He touches. And when He touches death it is changed from enemy to entryway for those who believe on the Lord Jesus to be rescued.   

     For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

     For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:17

    But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12     

In my memory I am sitting at my grandmother’s side as she prepares to breathe her last. I sing her to Heaven with her favorite hymns, “In the Garden” and “How Great Thou Art”. It is 4:30 A.M. and the hospital smells of antiseptic as death creeps in to take her. But because of the cross death can do no more than release her from cancer’s shackles. Because of the cross 61 years of happy marriage are not forever marred because of death’s pall. Because of the cross my grandfather can hope in a better future even as his own life wanes alongside hers.

We can raise a lament for this dying world. It is sad. Today is a day to recognize the awful power of this enemy called death. But it is also a day to recognize that long ago on a hill called Golgotha God and death had a showdown and there in that time and space God’s touch forever made a slave of this thing that enslaved us. Jesus died on Friday but hang on church Sunday’s on the way!

Pray with me today:

     Jesus I thank you for Your cross. I thank you that You met death and won! I thank You that Your power has turned death from an enemy into an entryway. I believe in You Jesus and receive Your death on the cross as my access into Heaven. I know I could never do enough good works to enter Heaven on my own but You have made a way by dying for me by taking the punishment for my sin. I love You Lord and dedicate my life to You this day. Amen.        

 

 

 

 

High Holy Week

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I mentioned in an earlier post this week that I feel like the Lord is bringing many things together during this season of my life. I feel like I am on high alert and the that the world is just rushing by. Maybe that’s not quite right. Maybe it is me that is rushing by the world trumpeting as I go, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

Holy Week always approaches with the force of a level five rapids but this year it feels more like I am heading towards Niagara in a barrel. Maybe I should be terrified; But I am exhilarated and filled with a powerful hope that the dead world around me is about to meet up with the resurrection power of Jesus:

I feel that as I prepare to head off to the sound stage to consult with one of our artists who is cutting his first album. I feel that as I load the sound system for Special Touch into my van for our monthly outreach. I feel it as I prepare for Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter services next week. I feel it as I prepare for two town meetings concerning the makerspace/art center project. I even feel it as I prepare for two potential hospice visits and for two committal services scheduled for the week after Easter. I feel it… even better I feel Him in all these situations because I have called Him into them. He always answers when I call. I have hope and victory in all these situations because He walks with me in them.

As I think about it Holy week would not be holy if  Jesus had not chosen to involve himself in it. I suppose that means any moment or day or week into which I call His Spirit becomes a High Holy moment or day or week

What situations do you have to call Him into in order for your times to become holy?

Heaven Pt. 142: So What Are You Going To Do?

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Mel11

In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face. Psalm 11

This world needs warriors! The Earth needs men and women sold out to Christ who are not going to back down in the face of “overwhelming opposition”. It would seem the foundations are being destroyed. The nations are falling into the quagmire of  bad-politics, bad economies and even worse moralities.

Oh I hear the cry as well as you do…”Run! Hide! Protect Yourself! Flee to the mountains! Withdraw! Christianity is a lost cause!”

Christianity may leave the face of the Earth but that will be via the rapture not because it is a dying religion. The foundations might be destroyed but to that event I give the same answers my forbears gave when the Roman Empire collapsed..”It is on Christ the solid rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.”

In the end we have a better reason to hope than anyone  else on earth has. Our hope is in Jesus and as the old song goes “Jesus never fails”. So, Warrior Christian don’t flee to the mountains. God sees you from Heaven! He has your cause and He has your back. Run towards the burning building and see who you can rescue from it!

Turbo Follow Week 9

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This is our final Turbo Follow blog! As you know  Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week  9 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff has been preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation has read the daily devotions and participated weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.

 

The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other.  

As I said, this is our  last post for the Turbo-Follow group. I hope you  had fun. Please let me know this week what you have been learning as you have FOLLOWED!

Last week we had our discussions on Learning to manage our lives through Christ’s power.  Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:

 

Day 1: God wants you to learn to manage your thought life.

Day 2: God wants you to learn to manage your money.

Day 3: God wants you to learn to manage your body.

Day 4: God wants you to learn to manage your words.

Day 5: God wants you to learn to manage your time.

Day 6: God wants you to learn to manage your gifts and talents.

Here are the questions we asked of one another in our group:

  1. Of the “Managing devotions” which one stood out to you the most?

 

 

  1. What made that particular devotion stand out to you?

 

 

  1. What area of management does God want you to cooperate with Him on?

 

 

  1. How are you going to practically cooperate with Him?

 

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 46

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The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

Hey class! We are continuing on with the formation of the early church through the book of Acts. When we left Paul he had just raised Eutychus from the dead. If you want to put your two cents in on that discussion of any of our others just go to the House On Fire page below and check in!

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Here is today’s discussion topic:

17 But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.

18 When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now 19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. 21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit  to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. 26 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. 31 Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.

32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

33 “I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. 34 You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. 35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

36 When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. 37 They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye. 38 They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.

In this passage Paul calls the elders of the Ephesian church to his side. He knows from the Lord that he will never see them again.

There is not a whole lot of good news in this meeting. If you were an elder how would you have received it? What emotions would this have created? How do you encourage yourself in the face of bad news like this?

Turbo-Follow Week 8

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Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week  8 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff is preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation reads the daily devotions and participates weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.

 

The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other. This week we will be discussing: Learning to manage our lives with Jesus help. 

This is our next to the last post for the Turbo-Follow group. I hope you have been having fun. Please let me know this week what you have been learning as you have FOLLOWED!

Last week we had our discussions on Learning to Pray  Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:

 

Day 1- What prayer is not

Day 2- Prayer is about: relationship, respect and reign

Day 3- Prayer is about: food (daily bread) , forgiveness and freedom

Day 4- We must learn to pray through the pain by 1. Pouring out our souls to God 2. Letting God comfort us 3. Confessing any sin we have let in in our pain 4. Asking God to restore our souls 5. Identifying any lies we have come to believe in our pain 5. Replacing those lies with truth

Day 5- We must learn to do spiritual warfare

Here are the questions we asked of each other this week:

Turbo Follow Questions Week 7- Learn To Pray

 

  1. What was the Highlight of your week this week?

 

  1. What stood out to you as you worked through this week’s attribute?

 

  1. On Step 2 there was a discussion about areas where we have difficulty giving up control. Have you discovered anything that helps you with giving control of things over to God?

 

  1. What did you think of the process of praying through pain on day four? What stood out to you?

 

  1. Is there any area of pain we could pray with you about right now?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Anger In Not Knowing: Ese’s Shoot & Quote Challenge- Mysterious

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This post was created for Ese’s Shoot & Quote Photo Challenge: MYSTERIOUS

You can find other mysterious things here:

http://esengasvoice.wordpress.com/2014/03/22/ese-s-weekly-shootquote-challenge-mysterious/

God endorses the confusion and even outrage that we feel when mysterious things happen. Philip Yancey More Philip Yancey

God endorses the confusion and even outrage that we feel when mysterious things happen.
Philip Yancey
More Philip Yancey

 

God is OK with our questions even the heated ones. We have to become OK with waiting for His answers.- JE

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 45

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

We are coming into the home stretch of the Book Of Acts! We have now covered far more territory than we have to go and I hope you have been learning a whole bunch about the early church, the church of today and how you fit into it.

Today we continue our discussion through the Book of Acts chapter 20. If you want to go back and review any of the lessons you may have missed feel free to check them out here:

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Now on to today’s discussion: Acts 20:1-12

When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia. 2 While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece, 3 where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.

4 Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6 After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week.

Paul’s Final Visit to Troas

7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper.Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. 8 The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. 9 As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. 10 Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” 11 Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left.12 Meanwhile, the young man was taken home unhurt, and everyone was greatly relieved.

So tell me why do you think God did this miracle?

Turbo Follow- Week 7

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week  7 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff is preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation reads the daily devotions and participates weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.

 

The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other. This week we will be discussing: Learning to Pray

Last week we had our discussions on Learning to love and to look at ourselves through the lens of God’s love  Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:

 

Day 1: Learning to trust God and His forgiveness.

Day 2: Learning, receiving and walking in God’s approval.

Day 3:  Learning to enjoy God’s acceptance.

Day 4: Learning that God and you can change you if you will work together.

Day 5: Learning to enjoy God’s peace

Here are the questions we asked of each other this week. I look forward to your responses!

  1. What was your goal last week. How well did you accomplish it?

 

 

  1. Put the five subjects from this week’s study in order for yourself from “best” to “needs the most work”.
    1. Trusting God’s forgiveness
    2. Receiving God’s approval
    3. Enjoying God’s acceptance
    4. Partnering with God to change
    5. Enjoying God’s peace

 

 

  1. What made you put number 1 as number 1?

 

 

  1. What made you put number 5 as number 5 ?

 

 

  1. What is God telling you to do to work on number 5 or is He telling you to work on another item and if so how?

 

Before I sign off I just wanted to point out a follow-up discussion several of us participated in on the subject of healing. If you want to add your voice to the mix you can find it here:

The Simple Complexity of Healing-    http://wp.me/p39vIx-Ze