Category Archives: Pastor John’s Thoughts

The Knots of Love – A Valentine’s Day Reflection

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“With everlasting loving-kindness I will have compassion on you,”
Says the LORD your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8

Knots have been a subject of interest for thousands of years. Although reading illustrations help, the best way to learn to tie a knot is from example. Mostly all of us know how to tie a shoe lace knot. This skill was learned by all of us at a very early age.

Knots are used in many areas of life: surgeons use knots, fishermen use knots, scouts and service people use various knots. Climbers’ success depends on successful tying of knots. Some knots are decorative. Some of us might have done macramé’ in years past. The art involved tying knots. There is even an area of mathematics called knot theory.

The word ‘knot’ does not appear in the Bible. However, the word ‘cord’ does.

Cords bound Samson in Judges 15:13-14
Job had cords of affliction in Job 36:8
The wicked have cords in Psalm 129:4
There are cords of sins in Proverbs 5:22
There are cords of vanity in Isaiah 5:22

Cords were used when Yeshua Jesus scourged the Temple in John 2:15

In Joshua 2:18, life or death for Rehab and her family hung by a scarlet cord, mostly likely tied by a knot “unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household.”

There is even a true love knot. Many knots have this name. These are interlocked overhand knots made with two parallel cords. It is said that if a couple wanted to know if their love would last, that they were to take a tree limb, tie a lover’s knot in it and if the knot held for approximately a year, then this was true love.

We are a blessed people as we do not need a true love knot to know God’s love. Did you realize that in the 13th chapter of I Corinthians that there are eight ‘knots’ of love?

Love is not jealous. There is no one-up-man ship, no jealousy, and no envy (vs. 4)
Love does not brag, it does not boast. Love is not puffed up or proud (vs. 4)
Love is not arrogant or uppity (vs. 4)
Love does not act unbecomingly. Love is note rude or discourteous (vs. 5)
Love does not seek its own; it is not resentful, selfish but cares for others (vs. 5)
Love does not provoke, is not easily irritated or bothered (vs. 5)
Love does not take into account a wrong suffered, love bears all, love endures (vs. 5)
Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness or evil, or iniquity (vs. 6)

God’s most beautiful symbol of love to us is the Cross. Even though the Cross appears to be painful and hurtful and at times, torture, it is God’s instrument of love. It is life. Only as we yield to Him, to God, do we sense His presence and enduring love.

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.”(Romans 5:8)

If this was all that the LORD did for us, it would have been enough. But there is so much more. There will be so much more. The best is yet to come!

“ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son Yeshua, to be the propitiation for our sins. “(1 Jon 4:10)
“But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.” (Psalm 86:15)

For God so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son, that you who believe in Him, will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Attributed to Barri Cae
www.barricae@comcast.net

Thanksgiving

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In this season of Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for:

-For the freedom to worship God.
-For our family and friends who share their lives and love.
-For the provision of food and shelter that comes from Almighty God.
-For the men and women of the armed forces.
-For the police and firefighters.
-For our teachers.
-For those who volunteer their services to help those in need.

Show those you love and care for that you are thankful for them by:

-Spending time with them this season letting them know how thankful you are to them for being a part of your life. Tell them how much you love them and how much their love means to you.

-Start a family tradition. If you haven’t started a tradition, start one now. We live in a disconnected society and traditions can be anchors for us that build stability in our families.

-Reach out to someone who may be alone and may need a kind word or gesture to let them know that someone cares.

-Invite someone to share in your family meal on Thanksgiving. Breaking bread together is a way to show hospitality.

These are ways we can acknowledge that all that we have and all that we are comes from the Hand of God and we give thanks to Him for His love and care.

A Prayer of General Thanksgiving

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

Build up the Highway, Remove the Stones

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The theme of the 10th Annual Winter Conference of the Anglican Mission in the Americas was “Build up the Highway,” encouraging all of us to join the journey.  The reference is from Isaiah 62:10 that includes ‘clearing the debris’ from the roadway.  This was brought home clear to me on the final day of the conference when Bishop Philip Jones from St. Andrew’s Church in Little Rock, Arkansas exhorted us to ‘remove the stones’ that hinder our mission.

His message was an exhortation concerning the stones that need to be removed to carry out our mission.  The first stone, the stone of the resurrection, has already been removed.  This is the most important stone because without it being removed our reason for being Christian would be rendered irrelevant and powerless.   Through many witnesses who encountered Jesus in the Scriptures, we know that the stone has been removed and Jesus is alive and empowering his Church.

The second stone to be removed is the stone of a hard heart.  God promises His people a new land, calling them from among the many countries where they have gone.  Speaking through the prophet Ezekiel he says, ” . . . and when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.  And I will give them one heart and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

The third stone to be removed is the stone of silence. When Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the religious leaders wanted Jesus to quiet the crowd that were worshiping him.  Jesus said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

The fourth stone to be removed is the stone of maintaining the status quo. Jesus didn’t preach his greatest messages in the synagogue.  Rather, he encountered people on the road, at the marketplace, by the lake.  Zacchaeus was in a tree, not a church, when he met Jesus.

The fifth stone to be removed is the stone of hypocrisy. What is hypocrisy?  A form of godliness without the power.  This is one of the main reasons why non-churchgoers stay away from church and church people.  The good news doesn’t necessarily result in good behavior or good actions.

The sixth stone to be removed is the stone of isolation. There are no solitary Christians.  Christianity is community and those who isolate themselves are not growing in the common unity that is the Church.  It is impossible to be connected to Jesus and disconnected from his body.

The seventh stone to be removed is the stone of perplexity and confusion. Many people are perplexed and confused because they have a limited understanding of God’s desire to have a relationship with them.  They do not have a clear understanding of God’s grace toward them.  Philip Yancey states it like this:  You can do nothing to make God love you any more; you can do nothing to make Him love you any less.  God’s grace and mercy goes beyond what we can comprehend.  Bishop Jones said, “We are worse off than we can ever dare to hope; we are better off than we can ever dare to imagine.”

The eighth stone to be removed is the stone of small thinking. God wants us to see beyond what we can think or imagine.  Isaiah writes (49:6b), “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”  (49:7b) “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The ninth stone to be removed is the stone of condescension and condemnation. This stone must be removed if we are to reach those who are different from us.  James says (2:8), “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”  We are not to be ‘casting stones’ at those who fail but rather removing stones that separate us.

The tenth stone to be removed is the stone of complacency. When we ‘go through the motions’ we have become complacent.  We remove complacency when we ‘rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.’  This requires a radical commitment to each other and the call Jesus has put on our lives.

More to come…

Morning Coffee With Dr. J. I. Packer

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At the 10th Annual Anglican Mission in the Americas Winter Conference I had the privilege each morning to sit and listen to one of the greatest theologians of our era, Dr. James Packer.  Lest you be deceived, I did not sit with him for morning coffee – he taught and I sat with everyone else in a large ballroom sipping my morning cup of coffee.  I also got my morning exercise in by putting my cup on the floor and writing in my journal the many nuggets of wisdom that Dr. Packer extracted from the Scripture.  So it was, take a sip, put on floor, enter nugget of wisdom, take a sip, put on floor, enter nugget of wisdom . . . for one hour each day.

For three days Dr. Packer walked us through through three chapters in John, opening the Scripture to our hearts and ears.  Day one was John 15, day two John 17, day three John 21.

John 15 is a directive to Jesus’ disciples that he (Jesus) is to be their sustainer, that he is the vine and they are the branches.  He invites them to abide in him and he will sustain them.  The vine picture is a picture of faithfulness that leads to fruitfulness.  We are ‘in’ Christ and he is ‘in’ us.  This points to relationship which is the true picture of discipleship.  When we are ‘in’ him, he feeds us and grows us and he is ‘in’ us.  The basic definition of discipleship is abiding in Christ and abiding ‘in’ him is focused effort.  As we abide in him he expects us to bear fruit.  The Father prunes the branches for more fruit (growth).  Pruning is deprivation – loss for growth.  God removes those things in our lives that take up space that prevent more growth.

John 17 gives us a picture of Jesus as the intercessor.  Jesus prays for us and he models this for his disciples by praying to the Father for them and on their behalf.  What is true prayer?  Conversation with God – there is communion because there is conversation.  What is intercession?  Petition intercession, asking for needs to be met, help to be given, support where we are limited.  In this prayer we hear Jesus’ heart. Who does Jesus pray for?  Jesus prays for himself, his glorification that he had before the foundation of the world.  He prays for his disciples, the eleven faithful ones.  He prays for protection from the evil one, who, as Martin Luther puts it, ‘doth seek to work us woe.’  He prays for the Church that is to be – that is us!  Jesus prays for us! And he is still praying for us.

John 21 gives us the picture of Jesus as the Restorer.  Jesus knew that Peter no doubt felt like a failure.  He had denied Jesus at a crucial moment and in his failure he ran back to the familiar – fishing.  This is what he knew.  Perhaps it was pride that prompted Peter to plan something he was familiar with.  Jesus appears and shows Peter that he wants to restore him to the ‘rock-steadiness’ that he knew was in Peter all along.  Self-reliance can creep back into our lives and we will become self-centered rather than Christ-centered.  Jesus wants to restore us to the purpose and calling for which we have been called and get on about his work.  Further, in this chapter, we see that there is more to show loyalty to Jesus than just saying it.  Jesus says to Peter, ‘Show me that you love me by feeding my lambs.’  After the three stage affirmation of Peter, Jesus alludes to Peter’s manner of death and then gives the real hammer blow.  ‘Follow me.’  You (emphatic pronoun) follow me.  Everyday, as long as you are in the world, your pattern of behavior, the light you show the world, becoming Christ-like.  Keep your eyes on me.  Peter’s ministry proved to be one of boldness, courage, humility, turning his back on pride.  Jesus brought ‘rock-steadiness’ to Peter.  That’s what he wants from us.

More musings from the Winter Conference to come . . .

Athanasian Creed

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This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday, the Sunday following Pentecost and is the last Sunday, from Easter to Pentecost, before we enter the propers, which constitute ordinary time in the Christian calendar. Trinity Sunday is an important day for Christians because we focus on the Triune nature of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In liturgical Churches this is typically centered around the affirmation of the creed known as the “Athanasian Creed.” This is a statement of Christian belief that focuses on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. It has been used by Christian Churches since the sixth century and centers around ‘orthodox’ Christian doctrine. These statements come largely from the defense of Athanasius, who at the age of 27 accompanied his bishop, Alexander of Alexandria to Nicaea in 325 AD, to refute the doctrine of Arius, whose belief was that Jesus was not of the same essence of the Father and that he did not exist with the Father at creation. Arius’ famous statement was, ‘there was a time when the Son was not.’ The implications of accepting this belief would have a huge impact on Christian doctrine but Athanasius fought for and won the distinct doctrine and belief in the Trinity and the work of Christ who became a ‘full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.’ (Holy Communion, Rite I) Athanasius countered Arius’ statement by saying, ‘there was not a time when the Son was not.’
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