Tag Archives: Jesus

THINKING THROUGH THE THIRD PATHWAY PT. 1

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In a post, last week, I mentioned that the Lord had been impressing on me that it was time to find another pathway of life ( a third pathway) through the increasingly complicated maze of our culture here in America. I sensed, during that time, that if Christians were to remain Christian, in the days ahead, we were going to have to withdraw from the world’s way of doing things and embrace a new way…which I guess is really an old way we have neglected for a bit.

you may remember we started here: FULL POST HERE

So let’s begin at the beginning. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO STAND WITH SOMEBODY?

Well, here is what AI suggested as a definition of “stand with”- To “stand with” somebody means to publicly support, align with, or show solidarity with a person, group, or cause, often during times of conflict, difficulty, or in a shared, unified effort.

We’ll get to what it means to be underserved tomorrow but let’s talk about:

Public support– For me this means to love people unashamedly and to publicly build relationships with people… By love I mean….Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.  1 Cor. 13:4-8

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Align with- To me this means finding the spaces of community cooperation with people I do not see eye to eye with. Alignment is not, in my mind, perfect agreement but cooperation on values we do agree with.

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Show solidarity– I had to look up a definition here. Solidarity is unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

Again this is not about perfect agreement but about finding those things we can agree on to build our communities together. I hate to keep talking about the absence of perfect agreement, but I realize that in our Christian communities we have embraced an unwillingness to work with people unless they agree with every one of our doctrines and ideals of personal holiness. This has to change if we are to become effective parts of our communities again and if we are to gain a voice at the community table. This is not about compromising what we believe or our identity in Christ. It is about us learning how to live out our identities peacefully in a world that does not understand or agree with them.

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This does not mean I am going to join in every project our community puts forth. It means I am going to be an active part of my diverse community and work with the underserved just like Jesus did. He wasn’t in perfect agreement with the people of his community. He still worked within the community. He attended weddings and parties and synagogues. He went to the Temple as required. He walked among the underserved of His day with love. He conversed with zealots and tax collectors and Pharisees and Saducees and Essenes and Centurions and prostitutes alike. He helped. He healed. He argued sometimes. He taught gently at others. Sometimes he flipped tables, but he stayed. He worked.

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That’s at least a part of the Third Pathway.

WHAT ELSE COMES TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU HERE THE WORDS STAND WITH.

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER 2026 MEDITATION 17

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Here is the afternoon devotion for Day 20 of the 21 days of fasting and prayer.

1 John 4:13-21

his is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

1 John 4:13-21 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: Living in God’s Love
1. You know that you abide in Him and He in you because He has given you of His Spirit.
2. Perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment; you can have confidence on the day of judgment.
3. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; you cannot love God without loving His people.

THINKING TIME:

  1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HEV THE HOLY SPIRIT?
  2. HOW DOES PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT FEAR?
  3. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO LOVE YOUR BROTHER?

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER 2026 MEDITATION 13

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Here is our 13th meditation for the 21 days of fasting and prayer this year. We are brining the fast to a close in a few days and so we will be finishing up these meditations by posting several a day.

1 John 3:11-18

11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[b] if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1 John 3:11-18 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: Love in Action
1. You should not be surprised if the world hates you; you have passed from death to life because you love your brothers and sisters.
2. Love is not just words, but actions in truth; share your resources with those in need.
3. You know love by this: that Jesus laid down His life for you, calling you to do the same for others.

THINKING TIME:

  1. WHAT IS YOUR EMOTIONAL REACTION WHEN THE WORLD HATES YOUR CHRISTIANITY?
  2. WHEN THE WORLD REACTS BADLY TO YOUR CHRISTIANITY HOW DO YOU STAND IN LOVE?
  3. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO BE WILLING TO LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE LIKE JESUS?

PRACTICE WRITING 3-12-2025

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From my childhood I was spiritually sensitive. I know that in our “modern” world saying something like that has the potential of offending our culture’s deep bias toward a skeptical humanism, but there is no better way to explain the road I walked from my earliest memories.

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I was deeply interested in the supernatural and by the time I was 12 I was intentionally seeking a deeper spiritual experience that would awaken something inside I knew was there but did not remotely understand. I read about the new age. For a while I actively sought out the power it purported to have.

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Then I met a young lady in my class who was a Jehovah’s Witness. She began sharing her faith with me. It was the first time I had ever heard about Jesus as a Savior (previously he had been introduced to me through my reading as a powerful seer or psychic). It was also the first time I had ever come close to any kind of biblical explanation of existence.

I didn’t understand it then but I was being guided by the Hand of Divine Providence. I can look back on it now and see how God moved the pieces around the chess board of my life, but then it was just questions and realizations coming in real time.

I ended up hearing the full gospel message first from my eighth grade social studies teacher and then through another twist, my father who was most definitely not a believer called my “crazy uncle” and asked him to take me to church. I ended up attending church with at a little Assemblies of God in my hometown (where I am now the pastor). I sat in that little church for six months before I made a true personal commitment to Jesus Christ as my God.

I have learned that there are many bends in the metaphorical road of faith. The way is narrow and it winds precariously up a very high mountain. I have also learned that on this journey of faith, truth is not so much discovered as it is revealed.

Stream Of Consciousness At the Vicarage

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One of the things I have missed about the blogging community is the group challenges. I used to participate in a lot of weekly challenges. I discovered that it helped me grow as a writer and as a person. So, as I come back to the blogosphere by bits and pieces I am going to try to join at least one challenge a week. This week’s challenge is called, STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS SATURDAY HOSTED BY LINDA G HILL. When you have finished here click the link and check out Linda’s other subscribers.

Linda has given us this to work with this week. Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 27th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “make the call.” Use it as an idiom or use it literally. Have fun!

I get a lot of calls every week: family, parishioners, robocalls calls, ministry connections. I get even more e-mails (ugg my inbox ). But I think the most important call I get or make daily is the call to prayer.

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We used to sing a song in church way back in the 1980’s entitled, JESUS ON THE MAINLINE. Here are the lyrics.

Jesus on the mainline, tell Him what you want.
Jesus on the mainline, tell Him what you want.
Jesus on the mainline, tell Him what you want,
Just call Him up and tell Him what you want.

2 If you want your body healed, tell Him what you want.
If you want your body healed, tell Him what you want.
If you want your body healed, tell Him what you want,
Just call Him up and tell Him what you want.

3 If you want your soul revived, tell Him what you want.
If you want your soul revived, tell Him what you want.
If you want your soul revived, tell Him what you want,
Just call Him up and tell Him what you want.

4 Call Him up, call Him up, tell Him what you want.
Call Him up, call Him up, tell Him what you want.
Call Him up, call Him up, tell Him what you want,
Just call Him up and tell Him what you want.

But the call of prayer is more than just telling Jesus what I want. The older I get the more I understand that the call of prayer is a call to LISTEN.

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These days I have to admit I mostly don’t know what to pray for. It seems, everything has gotten so complicated. Half the time feel like the things I am asking for are far less than what God wants; so these days I find myself sitting in the prayer space and listening for the voice of God until I get some inspiration about how and what to pray.

IF YOU PRAY WHAT DOES PRAYER LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

The Road Through Romans: What We Have Received Pt. 2

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100_5431Yesterday we began talking about what it is that Christians receive from their Christianity. We receive grace but there is something else too.

Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. Ro. 1:5

We receive “apostleship”…a commission…a send off…a release or permission to go and do the things Jesus did.

Did you get that?!?

We don’t need permission to do the things Jesus did. We don’t have to beg Him to do miracles in and through us. We don’t have to pray unceasingly for supernatural power or ability to be better witnesses.

We can fully expect miracles to take place in and around us. We can expect that people around us will start coming to Christ and becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus… because we have been sent off to be miraculous people so the gospel will be proven when we speak.

The only reason this doesn’t happen is because we don’t expect it to. We don’t take hold of it intentionally (which as we said in an earlier post is what receiving really is. If you missed that post find it HERE) . Apostleship is the natural position of every Christian (not being an apostle but being apostle-like).

So have you taken hold of your apostleship? What does that look like?

The Road Through Romans: What We Have Received

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100_5431

Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. Ro. 1:5

Yesterday we talked about “receiving” as “intentionally taking hold of something”. If you missed the convo you can find it on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Today I want to begin a dialogue about what it is we have actually “taken hold of.”

We have received or taken hold of grace. In other words we have intentionally taken hold of or come into possession of the charis of God, the unmerited good will, loving-kindness,  and favor of God.

What does grace accomplish in our lives?

  1. Grace exerts God’s holy influence upon our souls. It causes God to become the primary decision maker in our lives. Without the application of God’s grace we continue to be our own boss and make the same bad decisions which got us in trouble in the first place.
  2.  Grace keeps us from going back to the world and it keeps us close to Jesus. Without it we are like wild dogs off leash running back to the wilds.
  3. Grace strengthens us and causes us to become truly powerful people. Without it we remain weak and helpless in a world at war.
  4. Grace increases faith in God, knowledge of God and affection towards God. As it operates in our lives we trust Him more, understand Him better and love Him more fervently. Grace keeps our relationship with God from growing stale.
  5. Grace empowers us to practice Christian virtue.
In short we cannot do anything truly “Christian” without God’s grace operating daily in our lives. Further with grace in daily operation in our lives we cannot help but becoming more and more “Christian” in our living.
It does beg the question, how many of us do you think have shut down the application of grace in our daily lives? Have you ever done it?

The Road Through Romans: The Takers

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100_5431Romans 1:5 reads,”Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.”

You know so many people view Christianity as an inherited religion. They believe they are Christians because their mother or their father was a Christian, or because their “Gramma was Catholic”.

THAT IS SO WRONG!

Christianity is not an inherited trait! It is a conscious decision. You don’t catch Christianity by being in close proximity to other Christians, like you catch a cold. You don’t get Christianity from your parents like you got your blue eyes or curly hair. Christianity is a personal decision to  receive the promises of God through Jesus Christ’s work on the cross and in the resurrection.

Paul says “Through him we received”.  Now that translation may be a little deceiving, because in our culture we consider receiving something as a passive activity. We receive the mail and we receive gifts. We don’t do anything to earn the mail. It just shows up in our mailbox. We don’t do anything to receive a Christmas present. We wake up Christmas morning and it is under the tree.

Well in one sense that is what Paul meant when he said “we received”, but the word in the Greek has a deeper meaning. Receiving as Paul meant it was an active verb not a passive word. The word is “lambanō” and it means, “to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it”.

Jerry Harris, one of the elders in our church likes to teach it this way, “You can receive a gift but before it really becomes yours you have to open it up.”

I would go a step further and say if a gift is really to become yours you have to use it for its intended purpose. It’s like this. Let’s say you get a new shirt at Christmas. Even if you unwrap it, and  then take it out of the box, if you then hang it in your closet never to be worn is that shirt really yours?

This is what many people are doing with their Christianity. They were there when it was offered. They accepted the gift. But then they took it and hid it away never to be seen except on special occasions. They are like the servant who received one talent in the parable Jesus told.

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Ma. 25:24-30

Can I encourage you, if your Christianity is in the closet today take it out, dust it off and start living it in real time. Anything else is a big waste of faith.

If you have missed any of our discussions on the Book of Romans they can be found on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

 

The Road Through Romans: The Son Of God In Power Pt. 2

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100_5431We have been studying the Book of Romans bit by little bit over the last several weeks. Currently we are in verse four of chapter 1. If you have missed any of our discussions you can catch up on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Last time we were discussing the work of the Spirit in revealing Jesus to be the Son of God. Romans 1:4 says,

and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

The NIV says Jesus was appointed the Son Of God by the Holy Spirit, the KJV says Jesus was declared the Son Of God by the Holy Spirit. The actual verb used is “ὁρίζω horizō”, which can also be translated as “defined”. Jesus was defined as the Son of God by the Holy Spirit. I love that!

How did the Holy Spirit define Jesus as the Son of God? It wasn’t through Jesus’ baptism; It wasn’t through His teaching; It wasn’t through His miracles; It wasn’t even through His death on the cross; The Holy Spirit proved Jesus was the Son Of God by Jesus’ resurrection.

The Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead and in that moment all the other defining prophecies for Messiah became secondary. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, not just because he is the Son of David, not just because He fulfilled the prophecies of Abraham, Balaam, Moses and Isaiah, but because He alone has risen from the dead and now can offer that same hope to any who believe on His name.

The symbol of Christianity is not primarily an empty cross but an empty tomb!