Jesus On The Cross

They put Jesus on the cross. His cry six hours later when he died shows that the cross was a time of anguish for him in his humanity. Some like to picture Jesus as calm, cool, and collected on the cross. John's presentation leans in that direction, with Jesus giving instructions about his mother to the beloved disciple from the cross. But each gospel has its special features, and one of John's is a minimizing of Jesus' human struggle. In Mark, Jesus asks for this cup to pass (14:36). In John, Jesus dismisses the very idea (12:27). John gives us Jesus in hindsight, the spiritual understanding of Jesus. In Mark we get a little more literal picture. So I believe the cross was a time of anguish. John does not give us the cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" but the confident, "It is finished." Mark gives us the pain of the moment, the intense suffering. Jesus is so in anguish that he dies hours before a crucified person normally would have. The physical struggle was not the worst possible death, but his anguish was spectacular. There's no evidence that God turned away because of him taking on our sin--that's just a fun story driven by a particular theology. I fully believe God the Father was there with him on the cross. But I also suspect that Jesus himself wasn't feeling it at the time.

Wisdom From Age

Reading through the Old Testament it seems that many of God's choicest servants began some of their best ministry in their later years. It seems a shame that some of our churches fail to see the value in the experience and wisdom that many of our older pastors could bring them. These ministers who have seen and heard it all could be the non-anxious presence that some of our churches need to be able to move forward.

Make It As Sure As You Can.

The Lord Jesus Christ was wonderful in His resurrection. When His body was laid in the grave, Pilate gave orders at the request of the Pharisees to seal the sepulchre. “Make it as sure as ye can” (Matthew 27:65), and they did! Nature made it as sure as she could, for a large stone was before the sepulchre, but “up from the grave He arose,” the angel of the Lord rolled the stone away and sat upon it! The Roman government made it as sure as it could and placed its seal upon the grave; but “up from the grave He arose” and now He carries the keys of death and hell. The world, the flesh, and the devil conspired to keep Him in the grave, but “up from the grave He arose” that “death might be swallowed up in victory.”

Great day at Burton-Richland Center Church!

Got to meet and worship with some wonderful folks this morning at the church. Good Sunday School lesson and great preaching by Pastor Don. The music was inspiring and glad to see so many little ones. Palm Sunday was a great start to passion week.

Study The Word.

Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul. Packer, J. I. (2011-09-26). Knowing God (p. 17). Intervarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Bi-Vocational Ministry

Many of us in ministry, especially those of us who are bivocational, are in constant motion. We go from church to job to family activity to a dozen other things. What often suffers in all that activity is our own personal walk with God. We are so busy doing things for God that we fail to spend time with God. We spend so much time with people that we can never really be with any of them.

"Pastor's Peeps": Fear

"Pastor's Peeps": Fear

Work To Do

“The Barna Group reveals that one-third of the adult population (34 percent) has not attended any type of church service or activity, other than a special event such as a funeral or wedding, during the past six months. Citing past research that discovered most unchurched adults were formerly churched, the new study indicates that six out of ten unchurched people (62 percent) consider themselves to be Christian, four percent say they are Jewish, four percent are associated with an Eastern religion, and 24 percent say they are atheist.” • The most recent research studies by the Barna Group “reveals that one out of every three adults (33percent) is classified as unchurched—meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months. When these statistics are projected across the aggregate adult population, the numbers are staggering. An estimated 73 million adults are presently unchurched. When teens and children are added, the total swells to roughly 100 million Americans.” “Since 1991, the adult population in the United States has grown by 15 percent. During that same period the number of adults who do not attend church has nearly doubled, rising from 39 million to 75 million—a 92 percent increase.”4 “Roughly half of all churches in America did not add one new person through conversion growth last year.” In America, it takes the combined effort of eighty-five Christians working over an entire year to produce one convert. Smay, Matt; Hugh Halter (2008-11-03). The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community (Leadership Network Publication) (pp. 11-12). John Wiley and Sons. Kindle Edition. Smay, Matt; Hugh Halter (2008-11-03). The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community (Leadership Network Publication) (p. 11). John Wiley and Sons. Kindle Edition.

Two Come Together!

The two became one when Burton UMC and Richland Center UMC decided to meet together and worship God. It will be honor to serve this family of believers as their pastor beginning April 1, 2013. A wonderful pastor; Don Nunemaker, will be retiring after the Resurrection celebration this Sunday. Please keep he and his family in your prayers. Please pray for the church and the this servant.