,

The Pilgrimage Within

Over 3 million people will travel to Israel this year. They’ll walk the beautiful beaches along the Mediterranean coastline, they’ll hike the headwaters of the Jordan in the Upper Galilee, they’ll swim in the Dead Sea, sample the produce of the Jezreel Valley, and climb up through the Judean Mountains to the city of Jerusalem. A small number of these pilgrims will suffer a strange affliction upon entering the Holy City. These otherwise stable, well-adjusted, grounded individuals will descend into a deluded and obsessive psychosis. It’s called the Jerusalem Syndrome and it’s a well-documented concern. Megalomania, hysteria, anxiety, and bizarre outbursts of all kinds are all common signs of the condition. It’s a much written about disorder and psychologists are continually discussing and debating different theories; but all seem to agree that the root of the problem is in the uniqueness of Jerusalem itself. The very air in the city seems to be charged with a religious electricity that often overwhelms the most spiritually sensitive of its visitors. I’ve toured Jerusalem twice and I can testify to the inexplicable, kinetic power of the place. But while I certainly could sense that it was an important place and that it was perhaps singular in its spiritual consequence, I did not feel particularly close to God there.

There was a time when God dwelled in power on that barren mountain. His people of promise dwelled richly in Israel and built a house in Jerusalem for the Lord to dwell in. Yahweh, the God of the universe, was to reside with His people. His presence filled Solomon’s Temple. To make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three thousand years ago was to draw near to the very presence of God. But this is not true today. Both Solomon’s temple and Herod’s have been destroyed, Jesus’ death on Calvary rent the veil in two, His resurrection made possible man’s reconciliation with God, and His ascension heralded the coming of God’s Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of all who believe. To be near to God today, no one need travel anywhere. Your Mount Moriah might be your grandmother’s living room, your Garden of Gethsemane might be your back woods, your Jordan River might be your church’s tub, and your Holy of Holies might very well be your bedroom closet. The holiest places on earth for each of us are not the places where God interacted with Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul; but rather the places where God interacted with you. As we anticipate the solemn remembrances and the cheerful celebrations associated with Passion Week, let us not attempt to live, worship, and experience Christ vicariously through the written histories of those who came before. Instead, let us strive to interact with God ourselves through the freedom afforded to us by the shed blood of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ! Make every pew, cubicle, boulevard, avenue, table, and den a holy site in your spiritual history. “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

/by
,

Inside the Ropes

April 7, 2019

Mark 10:32-34

32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

/by
,

From the Dawning Half-light to the Noonday Bright

March 31, 2019

Matthew 11:7-11

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’

11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

/by
,

Necklaces Don’t Produce Righteousness

March 24, 2019

Haggai 2:10-19

10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

/by
,

The Fabric of Our Lives

Woven fabric is made of many pieces of yarn laid out lengthwise and a single, long piece of yarn running back and forth crosswise; being drawn over and under. Weavers call the lengthwise pieces the warp and the crosswise piece the weft. The warp will never be a fabric without the weft to hold it all together. 

    We often hear the phrase: “the fabric of society” in public discourse and private conversation. Every society, whether it be a city, town, neighborhood, or community is a complex system comprised of many individuals working and living together to create a civil, safe, and prosperous world in which to live. Politicians, preachers, and pundits will often identify threats to this “fabric”, warning that this, that, or the other thing threatens to tear it all up. Now, in the weaver’s work, the warp isn’t nearly as important as the weft. Any number of single threads can fail or tear or be pulled out and it won’t compromise the whole. But if the long, crosswise weft thread is removed, there is no fabric left to speak of. All that remains is a pile of yarn. As we examine the fabric of our society today, we need not worry so much about Hollywood, Washington D.C., or any other of the many individual entities that lay alongside each other across our land. What we need to worry about is whether or not the weft thread of the truth of Scripture, the fear of God, and the Biblical worldview is holding strong; binding us all together. It’s overwhelming to bear the burden of the whole world and the fabric of its construction. But we need not be Atlas. God has called us to make sure that the weft of His Word runs first through our own hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits; making secure the society of our souls. Second, we ensure that reverence for God runs crosswise through every room and relationship in the family home. And finally we work to make sure that God’s will and way holds our church family together by God’s Word being drawn over and under every committee, program, ministry, budget, and member at Emmanuel. What God weaves together this way across an entire land is part of the miracle of the Holy Spirit’s work of revival. The warp and weft of the world has everything to do with the warp and weft of the self.

/by