Just before Jesus ascended to heaven after His resurrection, Acts 1:6-9 takes place: "Then they gathered around Him and asked Him, 'Lord, are You at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?' He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight." (NIV) So two thousand years later we must ask, did the instructions Jesus gave include fixating on His skyward course and eventual return or rather to obey the words He said regarding the command to be His witnesses throughout the earth? And just what is a witness anyway?

Paul wrote the Church of Philippi from prison and did so with great love and much joy. Not certain of the outcome of his imprisonment, and even though confined, his mind and heart were unrestrained. Christlikeness for himself and for the Churches he loved, were ever his goal no matter what stood in the way. Philippians 3:12-14 are words for us all: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (NIV) So as believers in Christ, even when confined or facing countless obstacles or wrestling with various types of limitations, straining ahead and pressing on is ever our charge. The old saying from back-in-the-day therefore seems for us a simple and yet profoundly apt exhortation: Keep on keeping' on! And by God's Grace we will...

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God declares: "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (ESV) This oft quoted passage is one that many have wrapped the American Flag around. But interpretative care is called for as we must first see these words in their original black & white context and then explore their broader context without necessarily coloring them in red, white, & blue. Besides these words being initially for Israel, we know that through Christ the definition of who God's people are has expanded to believers in every nation, tribe, and tongue, Jews & Gentiles alike. So in the broader sense, God's call for "His people" to humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, still stands. And therefore, healing of the various lands in which "His people" dwell may indeed be experienced, perhaps even expected, and that includes our nation. Make it so Lord!

Out of all of Jesus' parables, The Prodigal Son is right there at the top. One son disgracefully asks for his inheritance even before his dad dies, converts his assets to cash, and squanders it in reckless debauchery. Then after losing it all, he comes to his senses and returns to his merciful father who's been watching for his son's return since the day he left. When the prodigal arrives, his father is overjoyed and orders a celebration. Meanwhile the older son of this same father comes home from work, hears the "welcome home celebration," and becomes furious with his dad, jealous of the attention given his wayward brother, and becomes pathetically drenched in his own self-righteous attitude. But the same father who welcomed home his younger son, entreats his older son with the same lovingkindness and affection which is summarily rejected. While the initial audience for this parable were the Pharisees who openly scoffed at Jesus' outreach to sinners of every stripe, the audience for this profound story has widened to include us all. But the hero of the story is most definitely the father who clearly reflects the heart of our Heavenly Father whose love and mercy and compassion towards the likes of us is humbling to the core…

Romans 12:1 says: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship." (NIV) The next 20 Verses that follow demonstrate what it looks like to be a "living sacrifice" demonstrating love, both vertically and horizontally. When an unknown scribe asked Jesus what was the greatest of all the commandments, we find Jesus' answer in Mark 12:29-31: "Jesus answered, 'The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.'” (ESV) Jesus connects these two commands as though they are inseparable--vertical love unto God and horizontal love one to another. And if we're wondering what this looks like in real life, all we need to do is look at Jesus who always lived up to His own words, perfectly...

John 14:1-6 are Jesus' words, shared with His disciples at the Last Supper: "'Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.' Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" (ESV) You'll notice what Jesus didn't say in that solemn setting; He didn't say, 'I am a way, a truth, or some life. One of the ways people come to the Father is by Me.' Billy Graham famously said, "You can accept the truth, you can reject the truth, but you can't change the truth." Our culture likes to think one person has their "truth" while another has their "truth" even though they don't actually share the same "truth." While that fiction may prevail among some, Jesus said He was THE TRUTH! And He didn't seem to leave other options on the table. Whether or not we embrace THE TRUTH of WHO Jesus was and ALL that He said, makes all the difference in this world. And in the next...

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (ESV) In the next Chapter, the tent-making apostle compares our bodies here on earth to fragile tents, temporary housing for our souls until permanent glorified versions are conferred to us upon resurrection. Paul goes on to say that in this life we groan, groan with the inherent pains that come with this fallen world, but we also groan for our Eternal Home where groaning will be no more. We hope and yearn for this now because Jesus has gone ahead of us, to make a place for all those who are His! Yay and Amen!

Job is arguably the Biblical poster child for suffering in the OT. While the Scriptures are full of accounts of people suffering for doing evil in God's eyes, following a unique exchange between God and Satan, Job is specifically chosen to endure suffering because of his right standing with our Lord. But despite all he suffered, despite errant and unwise counsel from his "friends," not to mention his wife who told her husband to, "curse God and die," Job persevered, passing his painful examination. Even in the midst of it all, Job says of God, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" (Job 13:15) As we read through the book of Job, God's all powerful, all-knowing, all-present nature is on full display. God's character and attributes most certainly cause our hearts to bow in reverence and awe. But with one hand on our hearts and the other over our mouths, we see something else throughout the book of Job and throughout the whole of Scripture: God's mercy, compassion, and love! They are ever present! And where do we see these most vividly and powerfully demonstrated? In Christ Jesus our Lord!

Present at Jesus' crucifixion was one disciple, John, and a group of women--three who were named, Mary, and yet another named, Salome. John 19:25:27 gives the details: "Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, (Mary) and His mother’s sister, (Salome, Mother to James & John) Mary (the wife of Clopas) (and Mother to James the Less), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother standing there beside the disciple He loved, (John) He said to her, 'Dear woman, here is your son.' And He said to this disciple, 'Here is your mother.' And from then on this disciple took her into his home." (NLT) Jesus had fulfilled all the Law and all the prophets foretold of Him, even to His last breath. While bleeding and suffocating on the cross, He said little but all He did say was powerful. And just before He cried out, "It is finished!" He had one more bit of business to attend to--His Mother's ongoing care. The Spinner of galaxies and Maker of atoms & molecules, the Lamb of God while taking away the sins of man, in breathless and bloody suffering, gave charge of His Mother's care to His beloved disciple! How totally amazing the simple yet faithful and profound love Jesus had for His Mother!

Prayer is a multifaceted and, sometimes, complicated practice. While it is normal to think of prayer as a list of requests we make to our Heavenly Father, it is so much more than that. As we grow in our Christian walk and become more like Him (this is called sanctification), our prayer life should develop into a relationship that is not unlike a child going to his or her Father with needs, desires, and expressions of trust and love. Sometimes the Father grants requests, and often he doesn't. In both the Old and New Testaments, the saints who have gone before us have given advice in how to approach God, and what to expect as we pray.