Author Archives: Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

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About Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

I am the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Chestertown, Md. I pray that you will come and worship with us, worship is 10 am Sundays. We are a renewal church and we are lifting God up in classical worship, and being faithful disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. 101 Greenwood Av, Chestertown. Plenty of parking behind the church.

Sirviendo y Fe Lucas 7: 1-10 First St John 28 de de mayo de, el año 2016

[for the audio of this sermon click on the above icon]

Hacemos nuestro comienzo en el Nombre de Dios el Padre y en el nombre de Dios el Hijo y en el nombre de Dios el Espíritu Santo. Amén.

La observación del Memorial Day se trata de aquellos que han servido en el ejército de los Estados Unidos y que han muerto como resultado de ese servicio. Yo tenía ancestros que lucharon en la Guerra Civil. Una volvieron a casa después de sufrir una lesión grave, vivió unos cuantos años más, pero su vida se acorta definitivamente por heridas en el servicio militar, por lo tanto, alguien que debe ser recordado y honrado en el Memorial Day.

el más alto honor militar de Estados Unidos es la Medalla de Honor del Congreso. No es un requisito, pero la medalla de honor se presenta generalmente después de su muerte, que es el destinatario murió como resultado de la acción que tomaron para adjudicarse la medalla de honor. Según Wikipedia la medalla de honor ha sido concedido a 3.471 miembros de nuestras fuerzas armadas. “La primera medalla del Ejército de honor fue otorgado a Jacob Parrott privada durante la Guerra Civil Americana por su papel en la gran locomotora Chase. El primer receptor afroamericano fue William Harvey Carney que, a pesar de recibir un disparo en la cara, los hombros, los brazos y las piernas, se negó a que la bandera americana toque el suelo. La única medalla del recipiente del honor de la mujer es Maria Edwards Walker, un cirujano de la guerra civil. “Del número otorgan sólo hay 76 beneficiarios que viven.

La medalla de honor se otorga a cualquier miembro de las fuerzas armadas que posea dicha cualificación. El siguiente nivel son las cruces de servicios; la Cruz de Servicio Distinguido del Ejército, la Cruz de la Marina de la Armada, los Marines y los Guardacostas, la Cruz de la Fuerza Aérea. Es interesante cómo nuestros segundos más altos honores militares son cruces. La tasa póstumo por los cruces no es tan alta como la medalla de honor, pero sigue siendo significativamente más alta. Qué apropiado es que para muchos que se sacrificaron para rescatar a menudo o proteger a los demás, que deben concederse una cruz, el símbolo del sacrificio de Jesús para todos nosotros.

Una misión particular en Afganistán a principios de la Guerra contra el Terror resultó en unas pocas personas están concediendo la Cruz de la Marina. Probablemente más que nunca en la historia militar de las Fuerzas Especiales de los Estados Unidos, se requiere que todas las ramas de las fuerzas armadas para tener una unidad de fuerzas especiales, se han utilizado en la Guerra del Terror para rescatar a las personas civiles y militares, y para llevar a cabo también encubierta de EE.UU. operaciones y para ayudar a los países de acogida en diversas operaciones militares. Hay una oración de las fuerzas especiales que se cita en el libro de Teniente Coronel Oliver North American Heroes “en operaciones especiales”. La oración es: “Dios Todopoderoso, que eres el autor de la Libertad y el campeón de los oprimidos, escucha nuestra oración. Nosotros, los hombres de las fuerzas especiales, reconocemos nuestra dependencia de Ti en la preservación de la libertad humana. Ven con nosotros a medida que tratamos de defender a los indefensos y para liberar a los esclavos. Recordemos siempre que nuestro país, que tiene como lema “In God We Trust”, espera que vamos a absolver a nosotros mismos con honor, que es posible que nunca una vergüenza para nuestra fe, nuestras familias, o nuestros semejantes. Concédenos la sabiduría de tu mente, el valor de tu corazón, la fuerza de tu brazo y la protección de tu mano. Es por Ti lo que hacemos y batalla a Ti pertenece la corona del vencedor. Porque tuyo es el reino, el poder y la gloria para siempre. AMÉN”

En una de las primeras acciones en Afganistán, Navy SEAL contramaestre Neal Roberts, era parte de una unidad que se insertará en helicóptero en una zona de la parte superior de la montaña conocida como Takur Ghar para participar talibanes. Durante la aproximación del helicóptero fue alcanzado por el fuego de tierra, fluidos del motor comenzó a verter sobre el interior del helicóptero. Suboficial Roberts perdió pie y salió por la parte trasera del helicóptero: “. … Sus colegas lo vieron caer unos diez pies para el afloramiento de nieve a continuación” A medida que el Chinook ruedas lejos de la montaña, el resto del equipo vio impotente Roberts cayó bajo fuego enemigo. El último que vimos de él, estaba respondiendo al fuego con su arma automática del pelotón, atacando a una fuerza superior y va todo solo … ”

“Un avión no tripulado fue enviado a observar y enviado de nuevo video de suboficial Roberts luchando contra el enemigo durante casi una hora, primero con su arma automática y luego su arma hasta que se gasta toda su munición y granadas. Finalmente fue invadido y matado, convirtiéndose en el primer SEAL de la Armada a morir en la guerra contra el terrorismo … ”

He interactuado con mucha seguridad pública militares y también civiles. Se dan cuenta de que ellos no trabajan un 9-5, puñetazo en / potencia sin trabajo. Ellos han visto y tuvo que hacer frente a situaciones de la vida y la muerte y actos inhumanos cometidos veces contra las personas. La muerte es una realidad para la mayoría de ellos ya diferencia de la mayoría de la gente, son muy conscientes de su propia mortalidad. Con demasiada frecuencia, su actitud hacia Dios, es a menudo, como la mayoría de la gente hoy en día, piensan que están haciendo buenas obras y que van a perforar su boleto al cielo. Muchos, aunque a querer saber acerca de Dios, he tenido muchos encuentros que eleva con los militares y de seguridad pública. A menudo quieren saber cómo Dios puede permitir este tipo de violencia y lesiones. Esto me ha dado la oportunidad de hablar con ellos sobre el pecado. Dios nos dio libre albedrío, lo que significa que somos libres de pecado y lo hacemos, con bastante frecuencia. Para aquellos que no son cristianos que están muertos en sus pecados, ellos no saben que no sea el pecado nada. Ellos pueden negociar con Dios y tratar de hacer las obras piensan que va a ganar su camino. Mi respuesta es que no podemos hacer un trato con Dios. Proporcionó una manera, Jesús! Eso es una gran cosa. Demasiado a menudo veo gente forcejeo alrededor tratando de hacer su propio camino a Dios y saben en su corazón que no funciona. Tenemos que estar en relación con Dios a través del bautismo y en Jesús. Todo lo demás es nuestras propias obras y termina en un fracaso en el intento de llegar hasta Dios. Pero no hay ningún misterio en ello, Jesús, el Hijo de Dios, nos dijo muy claramente: “Yo soy el camino la verdad y la vida, nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.” Nuestra manera de Dios es obvio, es no una lucha para salvarse. Al ser almacenada podría ser una lucha, pero en Jesús se nos ayuda a través de nuestras luchas y ayudó a mantener nuestra fe por medio de su gracia, que estamos viviendo en Su voluntad.

En el mismo sentido, un centurión romano no es fácil de convencer a su variedad de jardín. Tenía un enorme poder y la autoridad. Desde luego, podría haber sido EE.UU. fuerzas especiales de hoy. Un centurión romano podía prácticamente actúan como él lo considera necesario, en su mayor parte era de confianza para hacer lo que era necesario y su palabra tendría mucha más influencia que otros. El centurión en esta lectura habría sido clasificado como un “temeroso de Dios”, alguien que no era judía, pero reconoció que el Dios de Israel como el supremo Creador, sustentador del universo. El nombre hebreo era yirei Hashem. Ellos no se convirtieron, por diversas razones, pero reconocieron el monoteísmo del Dios judío. Un romano no llegó al nivel de centurión al involucrarse con charlatanes. Sin duda un punto importante de esta perícopa era mostrar que el poder y la autoridad de Jesús fue reconocido fuera de los círculos judíos y fue un precursor del resto del mundo que reconoce a Jesús como Dios como sus discípulos / apóstoles salieron en el mundo. El centurión vio a Jesús como quien tiene autoridad como lo hizo el romano. Si era la voluntad de Jesús para tener algo hecho Jesús solo tenía que dar la palabra. Crisóstomo escribe: “… la razón por la que no le había traído en [su casa] era en sí mismo un signo de su gran fe, que es mucho mayor que el que se deja al paciente a través del techo. Debido a que el centurión sabía con certeza que incluso un simple comando fue suficiente para elevar el criado, pensó que no era necesario traerlo “Crisóstomo también señala:”. Si bien en ocasiones anteriores [Jesús] había respondido a los deseos de los suplicantes, en este caso, en lugar brota de forma activa hacia ella. “Obviamente los líderes judíos en Cafarnaum vio también su autoridad, que parecía tener ningún problema con Jesús intervenir en nombre del centurión. Para aquellos que tratan con el mundo real de la vida y la muerte, que no necesariamente conocen a Cristo como Salvador, estoy seguro que el centurión tendría su preocupación por que ese nivel de compromiso, pero por lo general saben lo real, su vida a menudo depende de ello. A menudo, a medida que avanzan en la vida son guiados por Dios para conocer la verdadera salvación, de nuevo por fin ver la autenticidad. Honramos a aquellos que han hecho un sacrificio por nosotros, que continuamente mantienen nuestro Salvador Jesús en nuestro corazón y en nuestras oraciones, como aquel que hizo el máximo sacrificio por los que son suyos para conseguir la vida eterna en la resurrección. “Nadie tiene mayor amor que este, que alguien da su vida por sus amigos.” (Juan 15:13)

La paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará vuestros corazones y vuestros pensamientos en Cristo Jesús. Amin y Shalom

Serving and Faith Luke 7: 1-10 First St Johns May 29, 2016

[for the audio of this sermon click on above icon]

We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The observance of Memorial Day is about those who have served in the United States military and have died as a result of that service. I had ancestors who fought in the Civil War. One returned home after suffering serious injury, he lived a few more years, but his life was definitely shortened by wounds in military service, therefore someone who should be remembered and honored on Memorial Day.

The United States’ highest military honor is the Congressional Medal of Honor. It’s not a requirement, but the Medal of Honor is usually presented posthumously, that is the recipient died as a result of the action they took to be awarded the Medal of Honor. According to Wikipedia the Medal of Honor has been awarded to 3,471 members of our military. “The first Army Medal of Honor was awarded to Private Jacob Parrott during the American Civil War for his role in the Great Locomotive Chase. The first African American recipient was William Harvey Carney who, despite being shot in the face, shoulders, arms, and legs, refused to let the American flag touch the ground. The only woman Medal of Honor recipient is Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon.[1]” Of the number awarded there are only 76 living recipients.

The Medal of Honor is awarded to any member of the military who is so qualified. The next level are the service crosses; the Distinguished Service Cross for the Army, the Navy Cross for Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, the Air Force Cross. Interesting how our second highest military honors are crosses. The posthumous rate for the crosses is not as high as the Medal of Honor, but is still significantly high. How appropriate is it that for many who sacrificed themselves to often rescue or protect others, that they should be awarded a cross, the symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice for all of us.

One particular mission in Afghanistan early in the War on Terror resulted in a few people being awarded the Navy Cross. Probably more than any time in the military history of the United States Special Forces, all branches of the military are required to have a Special Forces unit, have been utilized in the War of Terror to rescue civilian and military persons and to also perform covert U.S. operations and  to assist host countries in various military operations. There is a Special Forces prayer that is quoted in Lt Col Oliver North’s book “American Heroes in Special Operations”. The prayer is: “Almighty God, Who art the Author of Liberty and the champion of the oppressed, hear our prayer. We, the men of Special Forces, acknowledge our dependence upon Thee in the preservation of Human freedom. Go with us as we seek to defend the defenseless and to free the enslaved. May we ever remember that our nation, whose motto is “In God We Trust”, expects that we shall acquit ourselves with honor, that we may never bring shame upon our faith, our families, or our fellow men. Grant us wisdom from Thy mind, courage from Thine heart, strength from Thine arm and protection by Thine hand. It is for Thee that we do battle and to Thee belongs the victor’s crown. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN”[2]

In one of the first actions in Afghanistan, Navy SEAL Petty Officer Neal Roberts, was part of a unit to be inserted by helicopter into a mountain top area known as Takur Ghar to engage Taliban. During the approach the helicopter was hit by ground fire, engine fluids started pouring over the inside of the helicopter. Petty Officer Roberts lost his footing and went out the back of the helo: “…His buddies watched him fall about ten feet to the snowy outcropping below.” As the Chinook wheeled away from the mountain, the rest of the team watched helplessly as Roberts came under heavy enemy fire. The last they saw of him, was returning fire with his squad automatic weapon, attacking a superior force and going it all alone…”

“A drone was sent to observe and sent back video of Petty Officer Roberts fighting off the enemy for nearly an hour, first with his automatic weapon and then his sidearm until he expended all his ammunition and grenades. He was finally overrun and killed, becoming the first Navy SEAL to die in the war on terror …”[3]

I have interacted with a lot of military and also civilian public safety. They realize that they don’t work a 9-5, punch in/punch out job. They’ve seen and had to deal with situations of life and death and sometimes inhuman acts done against people. Death is a reality to most of them and unlike most people, they are very aware of their own mortality. Too often their attitude towards God, is often, like most people today, think that they’re doing good works and that will punch their ticket to heaven. Many though want to know about God, I’ve had many uplifting encounters with military and public safety people. Often they want to know how God can permit such violence and injury. This has given me the chance to talk to them about sin. God gave us free will, which means that we are free to sin and we do, quite often. For those who are not Christians they are dead in their sins, they don’t know anything other than sin. They might bargain with God and try to do works they think will earn their way. My answer is that we can’t make a bargain with God. He provided one way, Jesus! That’s a great thing. Too often I see people floundering around trying to make their own way to God and they know in their heart that it doesn’t work. We need to be in relation to God through baptism and in Jesus. Anything else is our own works and ends in failure in trying to reach up to God. But there is no mystery about it, Jesus, God the Son, told us very plainly: “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Our way to God is obvious, it is not a struggle to be saved. Being saved might be a struggle, but in Jesus we are helped through our struggles and helped to maintain our faith through His grace, that we are living in His will.

In the same sense a Roman centurion is not your garden variety pushover. He had enormous power and authority. He certainly could have been U.S. special forces today. A Roman centurion could pretty much act as he felt necessary, for the most part was trusted to do what was necessary and his word would have much more influence than others. The centurion in this pericope would have been classified as a “God-fearer”, someone who was not Jewish, but who acknowledged the God of Israel as the supreme Creator, Sustainer of the universe. The Hebrew name was yirei Hashem[4]. They did not convert for various reasons, but they recognized the monotheism of the Jewish God. A Roman did not reach the level of centurion by getting involved with charlatans. Certainly an important point of this pericope was to show that Jesus’ power and authority was recognized outside of Jewish circles and was a precursor of the rest of the world recognizing Jesus as God as His disciples/apostles went out into the world. The centurion saw Jesus as having authority as the Roman did. If it was Jesus’ will to have something done Jesus had only to give the word. Chrysostom writes: “…the reason he had not brought him in [his house] was itself a sign of his great faith, even much greater than those who let the patient down through the roof. Because the centurion knew for certain that even a mere command was enough for raising the servant up, he thought it unnecessary to bring him.”[5] Chrysostom also notes: “While on previous occasions he [Jesus] had responded to the wish of supplicants, in this case he rather springs actively toward it.”[6] Obviously the Jewish leaders in Capernaum saw His authority also, they seemed to have no problem intervening with Jesus on behalf of the centurion. For those who deal with the very real world of life and death, they don’t necessarily know Christ as Savior, I’m sure the centurion would have reservations about making that level of commitment, but they usually know the real thing, their life often depends on it. Often as they go along in life they are led by God to know true salvation, again they finally see the authenticity. We honor those who have made a sacrifice for us, we continually hold our Savior Jesus in our heart and in our prayers as He who made the ultimate sacrifice for those who are His to have eternal life in the resurrection. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Medal_of_Honor_recipients

[2] Lt Colonel Oliver North USMC (r) “American Heroes in Special Operations” p 8

[3] Lt Colonel Oliver North USMC (r) “American Heroes in Special Operations” pp 44-45

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God-fearer

[5] Chrysostom “The Gospel of Matthew Homily” quoted in “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Matthew 1-13” Manlio Simonetti p 161

[6] Ibid

Let’s step up and really live our Christian life in the workplace and in church

OK, now I’m a little spun up.

Innocently watching the Red Sox, enjoying a rare day, as a Pastor, of no actual work to do. Yea, I spent 20 years in corporate finance, I actually had three day weekends, OK, not often then either, but a lot more than as a pastor. Trying to catch up on the 90 books on my Kindle and then I read this.

The following is from Bill Diehl, a Lutheran layperson who was an executive with Bethlehem Steel. I am a Lutheran pastor, don’t know if the same “Lutheran” as Mr Diehl and yes this was written well before I became a pastor. Furthermore I will stipulate that too many of my fellow pastors I have known have only been students or pastors. Too many have no meaningful experience in anything else and yes I’m a little unusual. But still, this got under my skin:

“Bill Diehl, as noted earlier, is a former sales manager with Bethlehem Steel, active Lutheran layperson, author, and leader in the FAW movement. Diehl has been sharply critical of what the church professes about lay ministry and Christian vocation versus what it actually does to affirm and equip those called to live out their vocation in the marketplace. In a comment that could easily have come from a typical FAW participant of today, in 1976 Diehl expressed his sense of abandonment from the church (note that a careful reading of his words also reveals concern about all of the Four E’s of ethics, evangelism, experience, and enrichment):In the almost 30 years of my professional career, my church has never once suggested that there be any type of accounting of my on-the-job ministry to oth…”

“In the almost 30 years of my professional career, my church has never once suggested that there be any type of accounting of my on-the-job ministry to others. My church has never offered to improve those skills which could make me a better minister, nor has it ever asked if I needed any kind of support in what I was doing. There has never been an inquiry into the types of ethical decisions I must face, or whether I seek to communicate the faith to my co-workers. I have never been in a congregation where there was any type of public affirmation of a ministry in my career[as a sales manager]. In short, I must conclude that my church really doesn’t have the least interest in whether or how I minister in my daily work.14” Maybe Mr Diehl if you were going to a serious church, which I bet you’re not, you would be living a serious Christian life. I get the distinct feeling that Mr Diehl might think he knows about Christian discipleship, but I doubt that he really has the discernment and understanding of what genuine Christian discipleship is, because he went to a church that was all about a patronizing Christianity himself. A little discernment to a lot of know-it all types of all stripes would go a long way.

I have been busting my crank to reach out to people in the corporate world since I started in ministry. I now have over 5 years of ministry experience added to my 20 years of corporate experience and 29 years of military experience. Add to that a Masters of Divinity degree (many of these people don’t have more than an undergraduate degree in anything) Whenever I try to reach out to someone in the corporate world I usually get this patronizing pat on the head that I somehow don’t know what I’m talking about. Hmmm, my bachelors is in business administration  from Lesley University (a over 100 year old private college in Cambridge, Ma.) I started my corporate work life at 21 years old, working for Chase Manhattan Commercial Corp., then went to Motorola, Fleet National Bank, a year working for the Massachusetts State Treasurer, Robert Half International, Town and Country Fine Jewelry. In my corporate finance position, I was responsible for handling monthly seven-figure balances, dealing with some of the largest corporations in the United States. In addition 29 years in the Coast Guard reserve being involved in serious search and rescue cases, law enforcement and military operations. I served in a deployable unit in Naval Coastal Warfare being deployed to do security in Vieques and force protection in Spain. Carried a gun on a regular basis, yes even as a reservist, served four years active duty in War on Terror. When I returned to my corporate job my very large corporate employer, was less than, well let’s just say cordial or receptive. Soooo you can spare me patronizing little pats, I will compare my resume and life experience with Mr Diehl or anyone else for that matter.

I have made repeated attempts in various ways to get a ministry that Mr Diehl might have found helpful. This does not include “The Christian Businessman’s we’re calling to tell everyone what they’re supposed to do, because we’ve just got it altogether group”. There’s way too much of that too. I was part of a group back in Boston that was a rather high-level group and they were there to genuinely live their life in the workplace. I believe very much in this.

Having said all this, I am  wholeheartedly inviting you to take on this challenge. No I’m not an expert in this area. I would love to write a book, because frankly I think there are very few books that have as much perspective on this subject as I do. There are a lot of books out there on the subject, I think I can add a lot to that discussion, maybe for my PhD dissertation. In the meantime, if you are serious, I double-dawg dare you to take me up on this challenge. Is it going to be perfect or a whiz-bang production already pre-packaged? No. I am a parish pastor, believe me I have plenty to do. I also serve as a York City, Pa. police chaplain. I will compare my challenges to you anytime. Let me know the next time you get called out of bed at 2am for an accounting emergency. I’ve gotten called out to tell someone their child was killed, to provide comfort to a victim of a crime and a suicide, (a lot of less dramatic, although compelling times also)

I want to do this very badly. Yes, I do want this to be part of growing the congregation I’ve been called to. And before you get all hoidy-toidy about; “you probably just have an elderly congregation, no one with any real substance.” It’s not big, nowhere as big as it should. But it serves an inner-city constituency with a number of people with meaningful corporate experience. Maybe it’s time to leave your nice, pretty, big-box church and do some actual Christian discipleship and get over the idea you should have some nice pretty church and go to one that was built to the glory of God. A church that is a genuine growth opportunity to make a meaningful impact in a difficult environment. But frankly, you won’t. People who work in offices are used to and expect the amenities and they’re not really interested in stretching themselves for the Lord. “Hey I show up every other Sunday and put my $5 in the plate.” Oh yeah, isn’t that just special of you, a real put it on the line Christian! (Yea I can be patronizing too.)

One of our accomplishments has been to start and operate a 100 watt FM radio station, 106.1 in case you want to listen,

Home

take a listen if you have time to drag yourself away from your big dinner. (I did go to some pretty nice places in my corporate life)  Add in a Grief Share group, an employment support group, food bank, fitness center, all this we’ve done on a shoe string in the last five years. So think about that Mr “I’m a big-time corporate type”. If you feel that you should be living your life as a Christian in the workplace, you are right. I did my best, and yes I will admit with little pastoral help. But think twice before you give me a patronizing little pat just because I have a clerical collar on. I’ll compare my life experience to yours any time.

So, you going to take me up on this? A re-start challenge that will be a bigger challenge you’ve ever faced and for the Lord, Creator, Sustainer of the Universe our Savior Jesus Christ. How cool would that be to get a real group of Christian men and women together to put a real group (sans the pretentiousness, I’ve seen it done) to rebuild a grand old ministry, based on genuine Christian discipleship, to take back with you on Monday morning to live your life as a Christian 24/7.

I shouldn’t have asked, no one will take it on. Big corporate tough guys, talk a good game but you will just go back to your pretty, big-box churches where you can talk a good game, but mostly just sit back and be entertained. Yea…I tried, at least I’m back on the ground again and I’m living my life out according to God’s leading and not according to what makes me feel good.

We have an, albeit, small group that meets Wednesday mornings at 10am at the coffee shop at the corner of King and Beaver Sts in downtown York, Pa. You’re all welcome, and if you have better ideas; breakfasts, special evening events, weekends, I’m all ears let’s do it, seriously, let’s do something.

Una pelea con Jesús Juan 8: 48-59 de mayo de 22 de, el año 2016 Primera Saint Johns

[for the audio of this click on the above icon]

Hacemos nuestro comienzo en el Nombre de Dios el Padre y en el nombre de Dios el Hijo y en el nombre de Dios el Espíritu Santo y todos los que conocen y son creaciones de, salvado por, sostenido por e inspirado por el todopoderoso eterno Dios-cabeza dijo, … AMEN !!

“¿No estamos razón al decir que eres un samaritano y que tienes un demonio?” Al menos para los chicos, hubo cosas que se podría decir en el patio, o donde sea, para el caso, que si estás buscando para comenzar una pelea que diría esto. Directo al grano, estos son palabras de lucha en Israel del primer siglo. Mismo tipo de principio en el patio, o en un vestuario o en un bar. Un poco en la misma línea con alguien que dice algo acerca de su novia / esposa, madre. Las personas que se enfrentaban a Jesús en este punto estaban buscando una pelea. Tenían a gente en su tiempo, como ahora, que no tenía nada mejor que hacer a continuación, salir y buscar peleas, y muchas de las personas que se enfrentaron a Jesús eran simplemente ese tipo de personas. Sólo estaban buscando una pelea y que vieron a Jesús entonces, de la misma manera que muchas personas lo ven hoy en día, una especie de bollo de crema, un rabino lo tanto, debe ser un Poindexter / intelectual, porque los agresores como objetivos blandos agradables y eso es lo que estas personas eran, matones y eso es lo que Jesús encontró tantas veces en su encarnación.

Ahora abusadores esperan que sus objetivos para prácticamente sólo la vuelta y correr, este tipo de mentalidad realmente no puede hacer frente a la realidad, no están a punto de entrar en una discusión profunda. Ellos son los que hoy en día que se sientan alrededor y fumar marihuana, beber demasiado alcohol, y sólo quiere diversión barata. Esa es una gran parte del mundo. No tenían idea de lo que estaban hablando, probablemente ni siquiera sabía que era realmente un samaritano, o un demonio para el caso. Pero samaritanos en ese momento eran, en opinión popular, la más despreciable, sucio, inferior, cualquier tipo de peyorativa que podría etiquetarlos con, que era el samaritano de la Judio.

Samaritanos son parte de la Escritura en algunos casos y siempre marcados con una connotación negativa, o se sienten de alguna manera son de bajo grado. Recordemos la mujer en el pozo. Samaritanos realmente no tienen el tipo de animosidad hacia los Judios que los Judios tenían hacia ellos. Por lo que la mujer en el pozo, Juan 4, se sorprendió de que Jesús sería incluso reconocer su existencia, y mucho menos hablar con ella o, horror !!, tocar Su agua con sus manos. Jesús, obviamente, no se sentía ese tipo de animosidad hacia ella, y ella se convirtió en uno de los primeros evangelistas de Jesús.

Estos chicos una pelea con Jesús y sentirse justificado porque, obviamente, Jesús no es uno de ellos, otro signo seguro de los agresores, y que no pueden tolerar a nadie que fuera tan obviamente diferente. Ya, al igual que el mundo de hoy. Habla un buen juego, no saben lo que están hablando, tratando de buscar pelea con el fin de quedar bien con su pequeña banda, pero no tiene la intención de quedar atrapados en cualquier tipo de discusión profunda / intelectual. No pueden funcionar en esa base y simplemente no van a.

Esta es la Trinidad, el día en que, si no está claro todavía, hacemos muy claro quién es Jesús. Jesús es Dios, Dios el Hijo. Él es uno de los tres del infinito, trascendente, inmutable, omnisciente, omnipresente, omnipotente, eterno cabeza de Dios, Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. Todos ellos Dios, todos iguales e individual y todos en la unidad en la Trinidad, un solo Dios. No hay nada más poderoso del universo, entonces nuestro Dios Todopoderoso! Por eso, cuando Jesús está de pie delante de los bufones de la ciudad o cuando estamos leyendo sus palabras 2.000 años más tarde, el Creador de toda la creación nos dice lo que necesitamos saber. Si tratamos a él con condescendencia y sólo un poco de jugar alrededor de sus palabras, estamos jugando con fuego y movemos nosotros lejos de aquel que es todo poderoso, alejándose de relación con él y se mueve hacia el dar al mundo el mismo poder que él, el gran yO SOY, realmente tiene. Cuando confiamos en el poder del mundo ya sea en los negocios, educación, gobierno, entretenimiento, estamos confiando en algo que no sólo nos fallar, pero nos llevará a la destrucción. Usted puede hacer eso, pero es simplemente la vía rápida al infierno. Cuando, si no, el mundo se produce un error, se le dejará amargo, enojado, y perdido, por la conexión con el Dios verdadero.

Tendrá conversaciones con la gente en el sentido de que Jesús nunca dijo que era Dios. Eso no tiene sentido, es una negación completamente falso de lo que Jesús dijo. Para ese tipo de discusiones, este es uno de los pasajes que se puede hacer referencia a.

Los hombres que estaban a la mesa para negociar el Credo de Atanasio tuvieron que lidiar con la misma falsedad que nos ocupamos hoy. La diferencia es que ellos escribieron esto en el año 325 dC, la iglesia cristiana se había hecho más que ser la iglesia oficial del imperio, pero aún había un montón de gente alrededor de los que habían creído en todas las clases de diversos dioses / ídolos y había incluso todo tipo de personas que se llamaban a sí mismos “cristianos” que estaban por todo el mapa como para que Jesús era / es.

Había un montón de ideas excéntricos, incluso para los cristianos. Por ejemplo, no debería haber un gráfico en su boletín, que se encuentra en América, pero todo lo que dice es que Pater / Padre, Filius / Hijo y Spiritus Sanctus Espíritu / Santo, son / est, en el medio, Dios. Son no est, no la otra persona de la cabeza de Dios. Hay algunas personas por ahí hoy en día que tratan de hacer el caso que cada persona de la Trinidad es su propia trinidad individuo, por lo que es en un twelvinty, supongo.

En este punto, el 325 dC, algo que hablaba de en el desayuno Red de Hombres ayer, Constantino había reunificado el Imperio Romano y se hizo del cristianismo la religión oficial del imperio, esto era sobre todos los otros sistemas de creencias de la época y había una mucho. Constantino era un agradable, todo a bordo hombre cristiano? Ehh probablemente no, fue, finalmente bautizado, su estilo de vida no era la de la cristiana ejemplar. Muchos dirían que era una, incluso movimiento cínico pragmático de su parte para hacer que el imperio unificado en el cristianismo. Su madre, Helen, era una mujer devota cristiana y muchos afirmaría que lo mantiene en línea. El punto es, que, tal vez, pensando que podría hacer que el imperio más unificado, se encuentra con que hay todo tipo de sabores de los cristianos que son tan polémico entre sí como con otras creencias. Desde Constantino es, efectivamente, la cabeza de la iglesia del imperio, él decide que no quiere que el conflicto y obliga a los verdaderos cristianos de sentarse juntos y negociar los tenents de sus creencias con el fin de unificar los cristianos. Esa clase / sorta trabajaron para sus propósitos, pero lo más importante es que motivaba a los cristianos de ese tiempo para trabajar realmente a cabo lo que significa ser un cristiano era y, más concretamente, sobre la base de la Escritura, articular quién es Jesús, que Él es verdadero Dios junto con el padre y el Espíritu Santo. Se encuentra otro inserto que le da todo el Credo de Atanasio. Usted verá lo mucho que trataron de definir, lo finito tratar de definir el infinito, el único Dios, Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo.

La razón por la que tenemos este pasaje para el Domingo de la Trinidad es, de nuevo, que apunta a uno de los muchos pasajes en los que Jesús sí declara ser Dios. Mientras Él no directamente decir “bueno yo soy Dios y ustedes necesitan conseguir con ella”, él no hace mención de que al primer siglo Judios dicen, sin lugar a dudas, “escucho, soy Dios.”

Cualquier buen Judio parte del tiempo sería, sin más precisión, decir que él era un hijo de Abraham. Ok, está bien cristianos dicen que están en la línea espiritual de Abraham también. Jesús, sin embargo, dice seguro de Abraham es grande, pero Abraham fue sólo un hombre. De hecho, “Abraham vuestro padre se gozó de que había de ver mi día. Y lo vio y se alegró. “Ay, espera un minuto Abraham vivió cerca de dos mil años antes de Jesús, ¿cómo podría saber acerca de Abraham Jesús y ¿por qué Jesús se atreven a presumir a afirmar que Abraham se regocijó sobre los tiempos de Jesús? Sólo hay una manera que podría suceder y es que si Jesús hubiera estado allí con Abraham, le dijo a Abraham lo que iba a pasar y sabía que su reacción. El único ser que era capaz de hacer eso era …? ¡Dios! Pero para hacer más especial asegurarse de que los Judios que estaba hablando, sabía exactamente lo que estaba hablando Jesús dijo: “”. En verdad, en verdad os digo: Antes que Abraham fuese, yo soy “el Dr. Paul Arand da una buena explicación : “Pero, ¿qué significa que Dios diga” yO SOY “? A menudo esto se traduce como Señor. Y con razón. Él es el que gobierna, que es el que gobierna sobre todas las cosas. No hay nadie que sea como él. Pero ¿por qué hay otro como él? ¿Y por qué gobernar sobre todas las cosas? … Es porque él es un dios más poderoso que todos los demás? ”

“Aquí es donde tenemos que conectar los puntos de la narrativa. Por qué Dios es Señor? ¿Por qué es el “yo soy”? Porque él es el Creador! Aquí haríamos bien en recordar que en la Escritura, el título “Dios” no es una referencia a una deidad abstracta o un concepto filosófico de ser último ni nada de eso. Siempre tiene sus raíces en una narrativa. … Para decirlo sin rodeos si ha creado todo … eres Dios. “… Así que confesar que Jesús es Dios es confesar que él es el creador de todas las cosas. Y por eso Él gobierna todas las cosas “.

Usted tiene que entender lo que se dice entre Jesús y sus antagonistas en términos de siglo, Israel judío. No en el contexto del siglo 21 Inglés hablando estadounidenses. Las personas que Jesús estaba hablando sabía exactamente lo que estaba diciendo, la pena por blasfemia se lapidación y que es lo que empezaron a hacer, piedra Jesús. Jesús dejó perfectamente claro para ellos que Él estaba diciendo que Él es Dios, sin ninguna duda. Yo vivía antes de Abraham, Abraham sabe quién soy, y yo estoy llamando a mí mismo por el nombre que Dios le dijo a Moisés. ¡Yo soy Dios! Jesús es Dios, la Trinidad es la Trinidad, Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. Creador, sustentador y salvador de toda la creación. En este Domingo de Trinidad volver a esos diarios, mirar a través del Evangelio de Juan, Jesús hace otras referencias como esta. Recuerda esas referencias, porque alguien va a venir a usted y le dirá que Jesús no es realmente Dios, ¿cómo va a responder a esa persona?

La paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará vuestros corazones y vuestros pensamientos en Cristo Jesús. Amin y Shalom

Picking a Fight with Jesus John 8: 48-59 First St Johns

[for the audio version click the above link]

We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who know and are creations of, saved by, sustained by and inspired by the all-powerful eternal God-head said, … AMEN!!

“Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” At least for the guys, there were things that you could say on the playground, or wherever for that matter, that if you were looking to pick a fight you would say this. Straight to the point, these are fighting words in first century Israel. Same kind of principle on the playground, or in a locker room or in a bar. Kind of in the same vein with someone saying something about your girlfriend/wife, mother. The people who were confronting Jesus at this point were looking for a fight. They had people in His time, as now, who had nothing better to do then go out and look for fights, and many of the people who confronted Jesus were just those kind of people. They were just looking for a fight and they saw Jesus then, the same way many people see Him today, sort of a cream puff, a Rabbi therefore He must be a Poindexter/intellectual, because bullies like nice soft targets and that’s what these people were, bullies and that is what Jesus encountered so many times in His incarnation.

Now bullies expect their targets to pretty much just turn and run, this kind of mentality really can’t cope with reality, they’re not about to get into a deep discussion. They are the ones who today who sit around and smoke marijuana, drink too much alcohol, and just want cheap amusement. That is a lot of the world. They had no idea what they were talking about, probably didn’t even know who a Samaritan really was, or a demon for that matter. But Samaritans at that time were, in popular opinion, the most contemptible, dirty, inferior, any kind of pejorative you could label them with, that was the Samaritan to the Jew.

Samaritans are part of Scripture in a few instances and always labeled with a negative connotation, or they feel themselves are somehow low-grade. Recall the woman at the well. Samaritans really did not have the kind of animosity towards the Jews that the Jews had toward them. So the woman at the well, John 4, was surprised that Jesus would even acknowledge her existence, let alone talk to her or, horrors!!, touch His water with her hands. Jesus, obviously, didn’t feel that kind of animosity toward her, and she became one of the earliest evangelists for Jesus.

These guys picking a fight with Jesus and they feel justified because obviously Jesus is not one of them, another sure sign of bullies, and they can’t tolerate anyone who would be so obviously different. Ya, much like the world today. Talks a good game, doesn’t know what they’re talking about, just trying to pick fights in order to look good with their little gang, but has no intention of getting caught up in any kind of deep/intellectual discussion. They can’t function at that basis and they’re just not going to.

This is Trinity Sunday, the day when, if it’s not clear yet, we make exceedingly clear just who Jesus is. Jesus is God, God the Son. He is one of three of the infinite, transcendent, immutable, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal God head, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All of them God, all equal and individual and all in unity in the Godhead, one God. There is nothing more powerful in the universe, then our almighty God! So when Jesus is standing in front of the town buffoons or when we are reading His words 2,000 years later, the Creator of all creation is telling us what we need to know. If we treat Him patronizingly and just kind of play around His words, we are playing with fire and moving ourselves away from Him who is all powerful, moving away from relationship with Him and moving toward giving the world the same power that He, the Great I AM, really has. When we trust the world’s power be it in business, education, government, entertainment, we are trusting in something that will not only fail us, but will lead us to destruction. You can do that, but it’s simply the fast track to Hell. When, not if, the world fails you, it will leave you bitter, angry, and lost, out of connection with the real God.

You will have discussions with people to the effect that Jesus never said that He was God. That is nonsense, it is a completely disingenuous denial of what Jesus said. For those kinds of discussions, this is one of the passages that you can refer to.

The men who sat down to hammer out the Athanasian Creed had to contend with the same disingenuousness that we deal with today. The difference is that they wrote this in 325 AD, the Christian church had only just become the official church of the empire, but there were still plenty of people around who believed in all sorts of different gods/idols and there were even all sorts of people who called themselves “Christians” who were all over the map as to who Jesus was/is.

There were a lot of oddball ideas even for Christians. For example there should be a chart in your bulletin, it’s in Latin, but all it says is that Pater/Father, Filius/Son and Spiritus Sanctus/Holy Spirit, are/est, in the middle, God. They are non-est, not the other person of the God head. There are some people out there today who try to make the case that each person of the Godhead is their own individual trinity, making it into a twelvinty, I guess.

At this point, 325 AD, something we talked about at the Men’s Network breakfast yesterday, Constantine had reunified the Roman Empire and had made Christianity the official religion of the empire, this was over all the other belief systems of the time and there were a lot. Was Constantine a nice, all-on board Christian man? Ehh probably not, he was, eventually baptized, his lifestyle was not that of the exemplar Christian. Many would say that it was a pragmatic, even cynical move on his part to make the empire unified in Christianity. His mother, Helen, was a devout Christian woman and many would claim that she kept him in line. Point is, that, perhaps, thinking he could make the empire more unified, he finds that there are all sorts of flavors of Christians who are just as contentious with each other as with other beliefs. Since Constantine is, effectively, the head of the empire’s church, he decides he doesn’t want the conflict and forces the real Christians to sit down together and hammer out the tenents of their beliefs in order to unify Christians. That kinda/sorta worked to his purposes, but more importantly it did motivate the Christians of that time to really work out what being a Christian was and more specifically, based on Scripture, articulate who Jesus is, that He is true God along with the Father and Holy Spirit. You will find another insert that gives you the entire Athanasian Creed. You will see how much they tried to define, the finite trying to define the infinite, the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The reason we have this passage for Trinity Sunday is to, again, point you to one of many passages where Jesus does declare Himself to be God. While He doesn’t straight out say “hey I’m God and you guys need to get with it”, He does make references that to first-century Jews say, without question, “listen, I’m God.”

Any good Jew of the time would, without qualification, say that he was a child of Abraham. Ok, that’s fine Christians would say that they are in the spiritual line of Abraham too. Jesus, however, says sure Abraham is great, but Abraham was only a man. In fact, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” Woe, wait a minute Abraham lived about two thousand years before Jesus, how could Abraham know about Jesus and why would Jesus dare to presume to claim that Abraham rejoiced about Jesus’ day? There’s only one way that could happen and that is if Jesus had been there with Abraham, told Abraham what was going to happen and knew his reaction. The only being that was capable of doing that was …? God! But to make extra special sure that the Jews He was talking to, knew exactly what He was talking about Jesus said: “”Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Dr Paul Arand gives a good explanation: “But what does it mean for God to say ‘I AM’? Often this is translated as Lord. And rightly so. He is the one who rules, He is the one who rules over all things. There is none who is like him. But why is there none like him? And why does he rule over all things?… It is because he is a more powerful god than all the others?”

“Here is where we need to connect the dots of the narrative. Why is God Lord? Why is he the ‘I Am’? Because he is the Creator! Here we would do well to remember that in Scripture, the title ‘God’ is not a reference to an abstract deity or a philosophical concept of ultimate being or anything like that. It is always rooted in a narrative. … To put it bluntly if you created everything … you are God.’ … So to confess that Jesus is God is to confess that he is the Creator of all things. And for that reason He rules all things.”[1]

You have to understand what is being said between Jesus and His antagonists in terms of first century, Jewish Israel. Not in the context of 21st century English speaking Americans. The people Jesus was talking to knew exactly what He was saying, the penalty for blasphemy was stoning and that is what they started to do, stone Jesus. Jesus made it perfectly clear to them that He was saying He is God, without any doubt. I lived before Abraham, Abraham knows who I AM, and I am calling myself by the name that God told Moses. I AM God! Jesus is God, the Trinity is the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Creator, sustainer and savior of all creation. On this Trinity Sunday go back to those journals, look through John’s Gospel, Jesus makes other references like this. Remember those references, because someone will come to you and tell you that Jesus isn’t really God, how will you answer that person?

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] Dr Charles Arand   “Concordia Journal   Spring 2016 p 139

I’m going to do it God’s way, by His Word in Scripture

A lot of feedback I get is to the extent, “sound really strict”, “not very loving”, “why are you always quoting the Bible?”. There is a lot of pretty superficial Christianity out there. As a Lutheran pastor I’ve always been taught, to be faithful to what the Bible says, it’s God’s Word that matters. It’s your job to help people understand it, grow in it, live their life in accordance with the Bible, not to make things up. Imagine if we all lived according to the Bible and not just the way we think things should be, the world would be a much better place. Fact is, we are all sinners, even in our best intentions we do things that are messed up and hurt people and hurt our relationship with God. We can turn back to Him for His forgiveness and blessing, or we can keep messing things up, even unintentionally and keep driving each other away. We live so isolated from each other today, we have our superficial relationships, heck we really think we’re friends with someone because they accepted us on FaceBook. No it’s really time to build relationships the right way and not the way the world tells us that we all know inevitably hurts us and other people.

For example, “it’s all about love”. It’s not about “love” in terms of doing what’s right, of being a blessing to others by helping them to really focusing on God, His Word and your neighbor. (I do find it interesting that people will always quote “Love they neighbor”. They seem to forget that Jesus said first, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength.”) You can’t really love your neighbor until your relationship of love with God is firm and established. Until you know how to “love” as God wants you to “love”, then you’re really just kind of playing with people.

To many people “love” means, “you make me happy, you do things for me”. (Often those things are give me sex, booze, drugs or just cash, make it easier on us.) Love means what’s doing the best for that person, helping that person be the best they can be and not just an enabler for whatever sin that they’ve become chained to, that’s supposed to make them “happy”. Come on, let’s face it, let’s take a, somewhat, benign sin like ice cream. It costs money, good ice cream gets a little pricey after awhile. It puts on weight, with very little nutritional benefit. It causes much more serious health issues. I know plenty of people with diabetes, yet we’re so consumed with smoking. Smoking is sin too, but get a grip. Too much junk and diabetes will kill you. There’s people all around getting constant medication for diabetes, going blind, losing limbs, dying. Don’t know anyone with lung cancer.

Let’s really love and start holding people accountable to what they should be doing. Being “happy” today, is just a fast track to poor health  and early death. Throw in drugs, booze, lack of exercise. Poor health in general is everywhere, do we really love when we see someone tooting another joint, or doing another in a long line of “16 ounce curls”?

There is so much “me” today and so little in terms of God’s will. We make God to be an agent of our “happiness”  and we really aren’t interested in what God has for us. People would look at my life and think that it might be pretty goofy. Picking up and moving from a place I had grown up in, raised children in, then moved to an unfamiliar place (actually two), far away from family and friends. But I do have peace that this is where God wants me and I am doing what He wants me to do. Way too many people today do what they think makes them happy, but have very little peace, hmmm, how do you think that happens? Telling God to go take a hike in order for me to do what makes me “happy”, then finding out what makes you “happy”, just messes you up. What God wanted for you would make you “happy”, but you just decided “don’t confuse me with the facts” if God wants it, then it’s probably boring or lame, I don’t want to do that.

But yes, in God’s will I do have peace. Doesn’t mean things are easy, we see with the disciples, many people down through history. Things weren’t easy, read what Paul wrote about 2 Corinthians 11: 16-33, he went through more in a few years, then most of us will in a lifetime. He knew God was guiding him and strengthening him, making him a better man and certainly a more godly man, and certainly not a messed up man.

So I do what God guides me to, yea sometimes it’s not very pleasant, there are plenty of times I take shots for what I preach, teach or write. Doesn’t mean what I’m doing is wrong, just means someone thinks it’s ok to take shots at me, even if they don’t have a good reason to, don’t know what they’re talking about. Being faithful in God is not settling for just a “feel good” Gospel, something that makes everyone happy for the moment. Sorry just doesn’t work. The trials and tragedies of life pop up all to quick and then we don’t feel good anymore and it’s all God’s fault. My job is to equip those who are in Jesus in order for them to deal with all the good times, tough times, and mundane, maybe even boring times in order for them to grow closer to God and to glorify Him who provides so much for us. That includes eternal, perfect life in the resurrection, it’s only through Jesus. This also includes being strong and being a Christian example for others. The next time you need to be encouraged and strengthened, you think your local drug pusher is going to help you? No! In the end he’s only going to make it worse. What really works is a strong /mature Christian man or woman (and yes that excludes the “feel good” Christians out there too). Too often we want to be made “happy”, placated like a child. We know that leaves us worse off then we were.

God sacrificed greatly for me in His Son Jesus. I have to step up and live a true life in Jesus, not a life of go-along to get-along. I have to be that example of a mature faithful Christian man. That is what God expects from me, to be faithful in continuing to grow, in following where He leads and not in what I think is “happy”, or what I “like”. Lots of other people look to me for that too, imagine what a great place the world would be if everyone were living that way. But that’s not going to happen because in this day and age it’s all about me and what makes me, what I think, happy. We can’t just continue to “hang” where we are and to be pacified, You aren’t going to find any example of that in the Bible. The Bible is what God wanted us to know about Him. He inspired men to write the Bible and show what is the truth. You don’t see people just coasting along in life, sitting around getting snookered and honoring God. Only those who are strong and faithful honor Him. What you find over and over again is men and women who are pushed to step out of their comfort zone in order to live up to God’s will and not their own. Why on earth do we think we should be different today? Is it because we know we can’t handle it and need to be babied?

You will think what you will, but Jesus made it very clear that many will be deluded, fooled, by wrong messages. That His true disciples will have to deal with the trials and antagonisms of the world. We are seeing Christians being martyred right now, all around the world. Not for “feel good”, but because they know who Jesus is and that they need to serve Him and others even in extremely difficult circumstances. There were more Christians martyred in the 20th century, then in all of history, combined! There’s no “feel good” Christianity there, yet it is only through Jesus that we are saved, some of us do have to suffer to the extreme in order to be saved. It dishonors them and Jesus when we make being a a Christian about “what makes us happy”.

What does honor Jesus, the millions who have lived in Jesus through the centuries, the millions who live around the world? It is being true, faithful disciples of His. Doing what He teaches us in His Word the Bible, and not what other people try to make Him out to be. To follow where He leads us and to what He leads us to do through His Holy Spirit. Jesus said He will tell many to be gone because “I never knew you”. Many who thought that what someone told them to “tickle their ear”, was actually genuinely in Jesus. Someone who tried to make Jesus into what they wanted instead of what Scripture truly says about Him. I know my responsibility as a teacher will be greater and I will be held much more responsible for what I teach. I intend to do all that I can to truly teach God’s Word in the Bible. I seriously fear for those who have to answer to God who ignored God’s Word and made up what they thought would make people feel good, it will be very scary for them.

Nuestro Poder como discípulos de Jesús en el Espíritu Santo Hechos 2: 1-21 Primera Saint Johns 15 de de mayo de, el año 2016

[para el audio de esto haga clic en el icono de arriba]

Hacemos nuestro comienzo en el Nombre de Dios el Padre y en el nombre de Dios el Hijo y en el nombre de Dios el Espíritu Santo y los que rezan Espíritu Santo Ven, ven, dijeron … AMEN !!!

La gracia es lo más importante que separa al cristianismo de las otras religiones del mundo. Todas las otras “religiones” imponen requisitos que deben alcanzar sus creyentes a tener, no la seguridad de la salvación, pero la oportunidad de ser salvados. Gracia para un cristiano es que Dios ha hecho todo lo necesario para que seamos salvados. Mientras que siguen fielmente a Cristo, al ser bautizado, asistir a la adoración, teniendo su cuerpo y sangre, escuchar su Palabra predicada de la Escritura, usted es salvo, únicamente en Jesús, y por lo que Él ha hecho por nosotros. No hay nada de lo que podemos hacer con el fin de “ganar” la gracia, recibir el regalo de la salvación en Jesús.

Otra cosa que distingue al cristianismo de otras religiones del mundo es que Dios, el único y verdadero Dios, ha estado realmente en el mundo. Dios Padre y el Hijo son ahora en el cielo. Jesús está sentado a la diestra del Padre en la gloria como nuestro gran sumo sacerdote que oren por nosotros e intervenir para nosotros. Pero Jesús era muy notoria en el mundo, todos Sus principales actos, sus milagros y enseñanzas, su crucifixión, su resurrección, su ascensión, todos los eventos que se realizaron en público para que todos lo vean. De nuevo a diferencia de las otras grandes religiones del mundo.

Dios el Espíritu Santo permanece en el mundo, con los que han recibido la salvación en Jesús: ESV 1 Corintios 6:19 ¿O no saben que su cuerpo es templo del Espíritu Santo dentro de vosotros, el cual tenéis de Dios? Usted no es su propia, ESV 1 Corintios 6:20 Porque habéis sido comprados por un precio. Así que a Dios en vuestro cuerpo.

El Espíritu Santo es parte de nosotros para que nos guíe, con el fin de señalarnos a Cristo continuamente. En este día que recordamos como el Día de Pentecostés, a menudo nos referimos a él como el nacimiento de la iglesia de Jesucristo, el lugar donde los discípulos crecen y llegan al mundo. La palabra Pentecostés es del griego, “hemera pentokoste”, que significa el quincuagésimo día, que es el quincuagésimo día después de la Pascua. Fue una fiesta judía antigua conocida como la fiesta de las semanas. Sin duda, sería razonable interpretar que la Trinidad (Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo), escogió de forma conjunta este día para, una vez más, llamar la atención del público, un importante movimiento de Dios. En este día de fiesta no habría Judios de todo el mundo conocido en Jerusalén para observar el día de fiesta. Como se ha leído esta mañana; Medos, elamitas, Mesopotamia, Judea, Capadocia, el Ponto, Asia, Frigia, Panfilia, Egipto, Libia, Roma, cretenses, árabes. Como lo es hoy, todas estas personas continúan hablando mucho diferentes idiomas. Vemos en nuestra primera lectura de la razón por la que hablaban diferentes idiomas. Entonces, como ahora, había un montón de gente tipo inteligente que decidieron que deberían ponerse al mismo nivel que Dios. Sólo hace relativamente poco tiempo el mundo había sido destruido debido a la presunción de hombre. Ahora el hombre sería separado el uno del otro por idiomas con el fin de evitar que se conspirar juntos para tratar de hacer lo que Satanás trató, de usurpar o ponerse en pie de igualdad con Dios. Sí, lo sé, que no podría haber logrado este fin. Pero el punto es que ni Led Zeppelin en nuestro tiempo, o esta gente antigua podían construir una torre o una escalera al cielo, pero la arrogancia del hombre a menudo iniciar una acción rápida y directa de Dios. En algún momento Dios decide dejar que el hombre simplemente se revuelcan en su pecado y se deja arrastrar hacia abajo el hombre a la muerte. Ciertamente, Dios podría haber dejado a construir la torre y entonces se derrumbará inevitablemente, debido a su ignorancia, y matar a muchas personas. Misericordiosamente Dios escogió salvar muchas vidas, pero también para separar aquellas personas presuntuosas llenos de pecado y es de esperar guardarlos de colaborar en los actos más presuntuosos y arrogantes que también terminan en la muerte física o, peor aún, espiritual, de cualquier manera la creación de la separación entre Dios y el hombre. La gente continuó al pecado y actuar con arrogancia. Ciertamente vemos sus actos cuando Dios mismo viene al mundo para darles la oportunidad de dirigirlos de su mal camino, autodestructivas. Dios el Hijo vino al mundo para anunciar tan visiblemente como sea posible quién es Él y que Él es el único camino a la vida y la salvación eterna en Él. Como sabemos, la gente eligió a rechazar este motivo.

Eso no quiere decir que la Divinidad se retiró al cielo y dejó al hombre para tratar de averiguar por sí mismos. Sí, vemos un montón de actitud por parte de la gente, pero Dios sigue haciendo lo que sea necesario para llevarnos a Él. Y siempre lo hace todas esas cosas de una manera muy pública, muy evidente.

Jesús da a sus discípulos, entonces y ahora, tales palabras conmovedoras y convincentes de aliento en nuestra lectura del Evangelio. Los está dejando, Él sabe que, no lo hacen. “ESV Juan 14:25” Estas cosas os he hablado para que mientras todavía estoy con ustedes. Pero el Consolador, el Espíritu Santo, que el Padre enviará en mi nombre, os lo enseñará todo y os recordará todo lo que yo he dicho ESV Juan 14:27 la paz os dejo,.. mi paz os doy: no como el mundo la da, yo os la doy no deje que sus corazones se preocupen, ni tenga miedo. “.

La palabra griega que se usa aquí para “Espíritu Santo” está en posición para, klhtoj (en traducciones antiguas de la Biblia verá que el Espíritu Santo se hace referencia como el Paráclito, el griego significa “ayudante, intercesor”. Juan es el único que se refiere al Espíritu Santo de esta manera, no se utiliza en el libro de Actas. en la misma oración que Jesús se refiere al Espíritu Santo directamente, pneu / ma a. un [región (mientras que le damos lo que parece significar bastante benigna ” espíritu “, la palabra griega que significa soplado / respiración, y también el viento. Esto puede sonar bastante encantador, que es mucho la intención de ser muy potente, en términos de la respiración de la vida, sí, dando vida. Dime lo que la palabra” pneuma ” dice en Inglés, aquí va una pista, tiene que ver con las herramientas, … herramientas neumáticas. Si alguna vez has usado herramientas neumáticas, sabes bombas dura un compresor para construir una gran presión para que la herramienta, que está conectado al compresor , se pueden realizar diversas tareas, han sido alguna vez cerca de un martillo neumático de trabajo? Estamos conectados al Espíritu Santo.

Los discípulos no tienen una gran cantidad de contexto para lo que Jesús les está diciendo. Probablemente están pensando, “no son aquellos agradable, palabras reconfortantes”, pero en el mejor tienen una vaga idea de quién / Lo que el Espíritu Santo es, pero en el día de Pentecostés, que tendrían una manifestación muy poderosa / dador de vida de quién el Espíritu Santo es ya sólo una ligera idea de la clase de poder del Espíritu Santo es capaz de hacer.

Raniero Cantalamessa escribe: “Orígenes nos informa de que los paganos de su época utilizarse para impugnar los cristianos diciendo: ¿cómo puede un hombre, que por si acaso vivía en una localidad oscura en Judea, llenar el mundo con el perfume del conocimiento de Dios, a medida que los cristianos dice, refiriéndose a 2 Corintios 2:14? La respuesta de Orígenes fue que Jesús puede hacer esto porque él ha consagrado un gran número de discípulos con el Espíritu Santo y los envió a través del mundo, y éstas se dedican a salvar a la raza humana por vivir en la pureza y la rectitud y mediante la enseñanza de la misma doctrina que Jesús. Gracias a ellos, ‘el preciado aceite salpicado en la cabeza’ de la verdadera Aaron, que es Cristo, corre hacia abajo “en el cuello de la bata ‘, en referencia al Salmo 133: 2, es decir, que se extiende por todo el cuerpo de la Iglesia y, a través de él, a todo el mundo “.

“Somos los discípulos enviados en todo el mundo para difundir el” olor dulce ‘de Cristo! Para tener éxito, nosotros también debemos ‘romper’ el vaso de alabastro de nuestra naturaleza humana: hay que morir las obras de la carne, el viejo Adán que actúa como una barrera interior de los rayos del Espíritu … ”

Tenemos mini-Pentecosteses hoy! Ok, no disponemos de 3.000 personas que están siendo bautizados a la vez. Pero en cada bautismo que se hace aquí, vemos el poder del Espíritu Santo que se demostró, que alguien es nacer de nuevo en Cristo. Cuando aceptamos a alguien como miembro de la iglesia como lo hacemos hoy, añadimos una nueva persona para el Cuerpo de Cristo, su iglesia. Es el poder del Espíritu Santo descendiendo sobre esa persona, esa persona, después de haber sido habitado por el Espíritu Santo en el bautismo, ahora es un ejemplo vivo del Espíritu Santo. Son un recipiente del inmenso poder del Espíritu, somos todos como miembros confirmados de la iglesia de Cristo. Como poseedores de tal poder, la pregunta es ¿qué hacemos con eso? ¿Cómo discipulamos aquellos que son nuevos en el que el poder, por lo que tanto usted como van a vivir esa vida de poder en el mundo. Tenemos también muchos hoy en día frío y tímido “cristianos”, tenemos que ser renovados en el pneumous, el inmenso poder del Espíritu Santo que se destacan como discípulos fuertes y equipados que señalan al mundo a Jesucristo.

La paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará vuestros corazones y vuestros pensamientos en Cristo Jesús. Amin y Shalom

Our Power as Jesus’ disciples in the Holy Spirit Acts 2: 1-21 May 15, 2016 First St Johns

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We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and those who pray come Holy Spirit, come, they said … AMEN!!!

Grace is the most important thing that separates Christianity from the other world religions. All other “religions” impose requirements that their believers must achieve to have, not the assurance of salvation, but the chance to be saved. Grace for a Christian is that God has done everything necessary for us to be saved. As long as we faithfully follow Christ, by being baptized, attending worship, taking His Body and Blood, hearing His preached Word from Scripture, you are saved, solely in Jesus and by what He has done for us. There is nothing we can ever do in order to “earn” grace, receive the free gift of salvation in Jesus.

Another thing that distinguishes Christianity from other world religions is that God, the one and true God, has actually been in the world. God Father and Son are now in heaven. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in glory as our great high priest to pray for us and intervene for us. But Jesus was very publicly in the world, all His major acts, His miracles and teachings, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension, all events that were done in public for all to see. Again unlike the other major religions of the world.

God the Holy Spirit remains in the world, with those who have received salvation in Jesus: ESV 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ESV 1 Corinthians 6:20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The Holy Spirit is part of us in order to guide us, in order to continually point us to Christ. On this day that we remember as the Day of Pentecost, we often refer to it as the birthday of the church of Jesus Christ, the place where His disciples grow and reach into the world. The word Pentecost is from Greek, “pentokoste hemera” meaning the fiftieth day, which is the fiftieth day after Passover. It was an ancient Jewish holiday known as the festival of weeks. It would certainly be reasonable to construe that the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), jointly chose this day to, again, bring to public attention, a major move of God. On this holiday there would be Jews from all over the known world in Jerusalem to observe the holiday. As was read this morning; Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Cretans, Arabians. As it is today, all these people continue to speak much different languages. We see in our first reading the reason why they spoke different languages. Then, as now, there were a bunch of smart guy people who decided they should put themselves at the same level as God. Just relatively recently the world had been destroyed because of the presumption of man. Now man would be separated from each other by language in order to keep them from conspiring together to try to do what Satan tried, to usurp or put themselves on an equal footing with God. Yes, I know, they could not possibly have achieved this end. But the point is that neither Led Zepplin in our time, or these ancient people could build a tower, or a stairway to heaven, but the arrogance of man will often bring quick and direct action from God. At some point God decides to let man just wallow in his sin and let it drag man down to death. Certainly God could have let them build the tower and then it would inevitably collapse, due to their ignorance, and kill many people. Mercifully God chose to save a lot of lives, but to also separate those sin-filled presumptuous people and hopefully keep them from collaborating on more presumptuous, arrogant acts that would also end up in physical or, worse, spiritual death, either way creating separation between God and man. The people continued to sin and act arrogantly. Certainly we see their acts when God Himself comes into the world to give them an opportunity to direct them from their evil, self-destructive ways. God the Son came into the world in order to proclaim as visibly as possible who He is and that He is the only way to life and eternal salvation in Him. As we know, people chose to reject that plea.

That does not mean that the Godhead retreated into heaven and left man to try to figure it out for themselves. Yea, we see a lot of attitude from people, but God continues to do whatever it takes to bring us to Him. And He always does all those things in a very public, very obvious way.

Jesus gives His disciples, then and now, such touching and compelling words of encouragement in our Gospel reading. He’s leaving them, He knows that, they don’t. “ESV John 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ESV John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

The Greek word that is used here for “Holy Spirit” is para,klhtoj( in older translations of the Bible you will see the Holy Spirit referred to as paraclete, the Greek means “helper, intercessor”. John is the only one who refers to the Holy Spirit in this way, it’s not used in the Book of Acts. In the same sentence Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit directly, pneu/ma to. a[gion( while we give it what seems a rather benign meaning, “spirit” the Greek word meaning blowing/breathing, and also wind. This may sound rather charming, it’s very much intended to be very powerful, in terms of the breath of life, yes, life giving. Tell me what the word “pneuma” says in English, here’s a hint, has to do with tools, … pneumatic tools. If you’ve ever used pneumatic tools, you know a compressor pumps hard to build up a lot of pressure so that the tool, that’s connected to the compressor, can perform various tasks, ever been near a jack-hammer working? We’re connected to the Holy Spirit.

The disciples don’t have a lot of context for what Jesus is telling them. They are probably thinking, “aren’t those nice, comforting words”, but at best have a vague idea of Who/What the Holy Spirit is, but on the Day of Pentecost, they would have a very powerful/lifegiving demonstration of Who the Holy Spirit is and just a slight idea of the kind of power the Holy Spirit is capable of.

Raniero Cantalamessa writes: “Origen informs us that the pagans of his day used to challenge Christians by saying: how can one man, who for good measure lived in an obscure township in Judea, fill the world with the perfume of the knowledge of God, as you Christians say, referring to 2 Corinthians 2:14? Origen’s answer was that Jesus can do this because he has consecrated a large number of disciples with the Holy Spirit and sent them through the world, and these devote themselves to saving the human race by living in purity and righteousness and by teaching the same doctrine as Jesus. Thanks to them, ‘the precious oil sprinkled on the head’ of the true Aaron, who is Christ, runs down ‘onto the collar of his robe’, referring to Psalm 133:2, that is, it spreads throughout the body of the Church and, through it, to the whole world.”

“We are those disciples sent throughout the world to spread the ‘sweet smell’ of Christ! To succeed, we too must ‘shatter’ the alabaster vessel of our human nature: we must mortify the works of the flesh, the old Adam which acts as an inner barrier to the rays of the Spirit…”[1]

We have mini-Pentecosts today! Ok, we don’t have 3,000 people being baptized at once. But in each baptism that is done here, we see the power of the Holy Spirit being demonstrated, that someone is being born again in Christ. When we accept someone into membership of the church as we do today, we add a new person to the Body of Christ, His church. It is the power of the Holy Spirit descending on that person, that person, having been indwelt by the Holy Spirit at baptism, is now a living example of the Holy Spirit. They are a container of the immense power of the Spirit, we all are as confirmed members of Christ’s church. As possessors of such power, the question becomes what do we do with that? How do we disciple those who are new in that power, so that both you and they will live that life of power in the world. We have too many cold and timid “Christians” today, we need to be renewed in the pneumous, the immense power of the Holy Spirit to stand as strong and equipped disciples who point the world to Jesus Christ.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] Raniero Cantalamessa  The Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus p 18

Jesus the Bread of life, His flesh saves and sustains us.

John 6:5 we have all these people and Jesus has told us we have to find food to feed them. 5,000 men, plus women, children! Where do we come up with all that?

Everyone gets fed, we pick up what’s left, hey food’s too precious, we can’t leave anything behind. Interestingly there are twelve baskets left, one for each of us disciples. That night we’re rowing across the Sea of Galilee and there’s food under our seats, giving us enough energy to keep going. He provides, even when we have no idea what we’re going to be dealing with. Who can do that? Yes, Jesus and He is God the Son.

Jesus is the Bread of Life. He told the Jews who were hounding Him that He was the Living Bread that came down from heaven, the manna that kept their ancestors alive in the desert. But now the Bread of Life is His flesh. The flesh that He sacrificed on the Cross, His true flesh for our spiritual and physical sustenance. His disciples knew exactly what He was saying, and He didn’t try to convince them otherwise. Most of them picked up and left, probably a little freaked out.

“Do you take offense at this?” Why would they be offended by what’s supposed to be a figure of speech? Sure a metaphor might bother you, but what would really bother you is hearing someone say that you have to eat His flesh in order to have eternal life.

It will be a little longer, but Jesus solemnizes, makes a new covenant, based on the eating of His flesh and drinking His Blood. No metaphor intended, hey read the Greek. He is the Bread of Life, He gave His Body, shed His Blood on the Cross for the atonement of our sins. He continues to give His Body and His Blood for our sustenance to eternity, to nourish our eternal life. For those who have been born again and are the eternal sons and daughters of God, we need divine sustenance for our born again body. That can only be through the miraculous sustenance provided by His Body and Blood we receive from His undershepherds, your pastors to sustain us to eternal life.