Blog 05-31-2011

Tuesday

PRaP 05-31-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 193

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Religious Leaders Question Jesus About Paying Taxes”

Matthew 22:15-22

Mark 12:13-17

Luke 20:20-26

 

Matthew:

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[a] to Caesar or not?”

 ¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

 ²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

   Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

 ²² When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

 

The Pharisees were a religious group and the Herodians were a political party.  Normally these two groups were enemies but in this case they teamed up against Jesus to see if they could make Him slip up and say the wrong thing.  They thought they had a foolproof plan to corner Him, together their representatives asked Jesus about paying Roman taxes.  If Jesus had agreed that it was right to pay taxes to Ceaser, the Pharisees would say He was opposed to God, the only King they recognized.  If Jesus said the taxes should not be paid, the Herodians would have Him arrested and sent to Herod on the charge of rebellion.  Jesus answer exposed their evil motives and embarrassed them and showed that we have dual citizenship.  Our citizenship in the nation that requires us to pay money for services and benefits we receive and our citizenship in the Kingdom of God which requires us to pledge to God our primary obedience and commitment.  Where do you stand?  Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and Give to God what is God’s.

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-27-2011

Friday

PRaP 05-27-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 192

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Tells The Parable Of The Wedding Feast”

Matthew 22:1-14       

 

¹ Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

   ⁴ “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

   ⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

   ⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

   ¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

   ¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

   ¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

 

Have you accepted the invitation?  But have you really accepted the invitation?  Got your wedding clothes?  We love to walk around and say we are but when you look at the way we live and the way we are in “private” it sometimes looks a little different.  At church all prim proper Christians and when away from the church totally different people.  Would your church friends cringe at what they see and hear when you aren’t at the church?  Many are invited but few are chosen.  Have a great weekend and keep it clean and glorifying to God that it will go well with you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-26-2011

Thursday

PRaP 05-26-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 191

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Tells The Parable Of The Wicked Tenants”

Matthew 21:33-46

Mark 12:1-12

Luke 20:9-19

 

³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

   ³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

   ³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

   ⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

 ⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

 ⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

   “‘The stone the builders rejected 
   has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this, 
   and it is marvelous in our eyes’^[a]?

   ⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^[b]

 ⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

 

Jesus is the cornerstone and the building block of Salvation.  For those of us who choose Him now will find a place of peace eternally with Him those who do not are God’s enemies and they will be crushed by this same Block .  The Cornerstone will be the stone of God’s church His house of prayer His eternal mansion of life that we will live in forever.  You will either be with us or you wont.  There is no grey area.  The line is set and it is a fine line indeed.  There is no standing on one side and the other at the same time.  As long as we have a breath of life within us there is hope but when that last breath is gone it will be too late to jump back over to the other side.  Choose life eternal and do not go back and forth over that line because you never know when your last breath will be taken from you and you could be on the wrong side when it happens.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-25-2011

Wednesday

PRaP 05-25-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 190

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Tells The Parable Of The Two Sons”

Matthew 21:28-32

 

²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

   ²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

   ³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

   ³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

   “The first,” they answered.

   Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

 

The son who said he would obey and didn’t was representative of Israel in Jesus day.  They said they want to do God’s will yet they constantly disobey Him. They were just going through the motions.  I tell you the Truth that is a dangerous game to play.  God knows a phony when He sees one.  You can have an outward appearance of being Godly and yet your heart is black as coal on the inside.

Father in the name of Jesus we ask that you clean the inside of the cup that the outside be clean as well.  Lord take away the desire to act like Christians so that we can be Christians as Christ wants us to be.  Take away the hearts of coal and replace them with Your heart and Your desires to be all that God’s will is for our lives as long as we live here in waiting upon Your triumphant return.  In Jesus Holy Name Amen!

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-24-2011

Tuesday

PRaP 05-24-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 189

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Religious Leaders Challenge Jesus Authority”

Matthew 21:23-27

Mark 11:27-33

Luke 20:1-8

 

Matthew:

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

 ²⁴ Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

   They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

 ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

   Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

 

The Pharisees demanded to know where Jesus got His authority.  If Jesus said his authority came from God, they would accuse Him of blasphemy.  If He said that He was acting on His own authority, the crowds would be convinced that the Pharisees had the greater authority.  But Jesus exposed their real motives  by asking them a seemingly unrelated question that they really didn’t want to answer because all they anted to do is trap Jesus in His words.  Jesus showed that the Pharisees would only believe if it supported their own views.  In Jesus’ world, as in our world, people looked for the outward sign of authority be it education, title, position, or connections.  But Jesus authority came from who He is, not from any outward and superficial worldly thing.  As followers of Christ, God has given us authority that we can confidently speak and act on His behalf because He has authorized us.  Are you exercising your authority?

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-23-2011

Monday

PRaP 05-23-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 188

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Says The Disciples Can Pray About Anything”

Matthew 21:18-22     

Mark 11:20-26

 

Matthew:

¹⁸ Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

 ²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

 ²¹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

 

Mark:

²⁰ In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

   ²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly^[a] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

 

Many have wondered about Jesus’ statement that if we have faith and don’t doubt, we can move mountains.  Jesus, of course, was not suggesting that His followers use prayer as “magic” and perform unrealistic “mountain moving” acts, instead He was making a strong point about the disciples and our own lack of faith.  Also this isn’t a blank check and no guarantee that we can get anything we want by simply asking Jesus and believing.  God does not grant us requests that will hurt us or others or that would violate His own nature or will.  To be fulfilled, our requests must be in harmony with the principles of God’s kingdom.  The stronger our belief, the more likely our prayers will be in line with God’s will for our life and then God will be happy to grant them.  What kinds of mountains do you face in your life?  Have you talked to God about them?  How strong is your faith?

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-20-2011

Friday

PRaP 05-20-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 187

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Summarizes His Message”

John 12:44-50

 

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

   ⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ⁵⁰ I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

 

By these words we do not need to judge others for they judge themselves with their actions.  How they speak and how they live their lives speaks volumes and we need not say a word for The Word has judged them completely.  We need to judge ourselves for how we choose to live our lives that on the day of judgment we can come in with clean conscience knowing we have loved Christ and His plan for our lives will be fulfilled and we will have a genuine joy free of guilt.  Now that’s something for you to chew on this weekend!

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-19-2011

Thursday

PRaP 05-19-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 186

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Most Of The People Don’t Believe In Jesus”

John 12:37-43

 

³⁷ Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

   “Lord, who has believed our message
   and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”^[a]

 ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

 ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes
   and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
   nor understand with their hearts,
   nor turn—and I would heal them.”^[b]

 ⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

 ⁴² Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

 

Doesn’t this sound like the people of today?  Especially that last verse OUCHY!  Many believe yet do not share for fear of ridicule and the loss of their position in their high worldly places.  God’s praise is much better than that of the world but our human nature is to strive for that praise given us from everywhere.  We even look for it at church.  How many of you volunteer for something because you want the attention of the other people in the church?  I’m guilty as charged.  I even laid out a bunch of money at one point to get someone’s attention.  In my mind I was yelling, “Look at me!  Notice Me!  Look at what “my” hands are doing!”  Father in the name of Jesus help us to seek Your praise and not that of men and Lord we repent of our sins of flesh and our selfishness in thinking that doing something would bring us recognition.  Lord I only want You to tell me “Well done!”, not anyone else.  Lord I am here to serve You and You alone.  Bring me peace in knowing that You are pleased.  In Jesus Holy name Amen.

Our place is to serve God without expecting anything in return.  Not even recognition of that work for our work is supposed to be the condition of our heart and not our selfish desire to be recognized.  Take praise from men and turn it into praise TO God alone and it will go well with you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-18-2011

Wednesday

PRaP 05-18-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 185

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Explains Why He Must Die”

John 12:20-36

 

²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

 ²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

   ²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

   Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

 ³⁰ Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up^[a] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

 ³⁴ The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

 ³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. ³⁶ Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

 

This is a beautiful picture of the necessary sacrifice of Jesus.  Unless a kernel of wheat is buried in the ground, it will not become a blade of wheat producing many more seeds.  Jesus had to die to pay the penalty for our sin, but also to show His power over death.  His resurrection proves He has eternal life.  Because Jesus is God, Jesus can give this same eternal life to all who believe in Him and we must be committed to living for Christ that we “hate” our lives by comparison.  This doesn’t mean that we long to die or that we are careless or destructive with the life God has given, but that we are willing to die if doing so will glorify Christ.  We must disown the tyrannical rule of our own self-centeredness.  By laying aside our striving for advantage, security, and pleasure, we can serve God lovingly and freely.  Releasing control of our lives and transferring control to Christ brings eternal life and genuine joy.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 05-13-2011

Friday

PRaP 05-13-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 184

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Clears The Temple Again”

Matthew 21:12-17

Mark 11:12-19

Luke 19:45-48

 

Matthew:

¹² Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’^[a] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’^[b]”

 ¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

 ¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

   “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

   “‘From the lips of children and infants
   you, Lord, have called forth your praise (Psalm 8:2)’^[c]?”

 ¹⁷ And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

 

Today in your church is there a store to buy things?  Does your church on occasion have a bazaar to where you can come and sell your wares?  When you have these events are they inside the walls of your church?  Does this go on in the courts of your church?  I say unto you change those stores into prayer rooms and FREE libraries full of God’s word.  If you feel the need for a storefront then you better take it to the street and keep it completely separate from your House of Prayer.  Change those rooms into places where people can have prayer meetings and small groups can meet and fellowship and counsel.  Do not make your temple court a den of robbers.  Pastor why do I have to pay $9.99 to get a recording of your sermon?  Why do I have to pay $21.95 for the DVD series?  Is not the Word of God given freely?  Will God not bless those who bless others?  I don’t understand people who want to get rich off speaking God’s word.  If your not making enough money to support your family with what the church is paying you then you might want to get a job.  I know I just made a bunch of people mad but is it because I speak the Truth that you hate me?  PRaP all three of these passages today and see what God lays upon your heart don’t take my word for it I am merely a man that freely shares God’s word.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve