RUMINATIONS OF A REVEREND

Last night was the start of Passover. We celebrated with a Messianic Passover meal at Ebenezer Lutheran church. Passover is one of three festivals that God Himself instituted for His people and required all the males to go to Jerusalem to celebrate. I love the history of the celebration, dating back to over 3000 years. I also enjoy the picture of God's redemption and the Messianic symbolism in the service. The meal ends with a Messianic expectation. You open the door in anticipation of Elijah to come as the forerunner of the Messiah, then you drink the fourth cup. As believers, we recognize that Elijah has already come in the person of John the Baptist. And Jesus the Messiah also has already come once to earth. We wait instead for Jesus the Messiah's second coming. When Jesus celebrated His last Passover with His disciples, He said He would not drink the Passover wine again until He drank it anew with them in His kingdom. He had finished drinking the third cup (the cup of redem...

So what is the deal with politicians and obscenity? The latest media buzz concerns vice-president Joseph Biden's uncensored comments made after his introduction of the president. He had just finished introducing the president at yesterday's health care reform signing ceremony, and as the president stepped up to the podium Biden leaned over and said to him, "This is a big (expletive) deal." The microphones picked up every word of his comments. Sadly, the White House secretary, Rober Gibbs, tweeted about the comment in an affirmitive way by writing, "And yes Mr. Vice President, you're right..." Why does such obscenity seem necessary to politicians or to anyone? I know when I was a teen I thought it was cool (that term may date me, but oh well) to swear and use obscenities. I thought it made me sound tough. However, my 'toughness' quickly morphed into meekness when I accidently slipped up and used Biden's expletive to my mom. I turned from a tou...

Have you heard about the gentleman who filed a religious discrimination complaint against an employment office in England? The staff of the office asked Chris Jarvin to remove the hood over his head while he was in the building. He refused based on religious reasons and the management had security escort him out of the facility. He immediately filed a complaint against the local office and three days later received an apology from the manager of the office. You see, Chris is a member of the international church of Jediism (yes, 'jedi' as in the Star Wars movies), and they believe that you should be able to wear hoods wherever you choose to. (source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/03/17/uk-job-office-apologizes-anti-jedi-discrimination/ ) Believe it or not, the church of Jediism is actually growing; however, most countries don't recognize the Jedi as an official religion yet. In a recent New Zealand census over 20,000 individuals marked their religion as Jedi. That was...

...what we will be in much. What on earth does that mean? Well, Jesus said something similar in Luke 16:10, " He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much .” (NAS) In other words, how we handle situations on a small scale will be how we handle situations on a large scale. Sometimes people feel if they just had more money they would be able to give to God. However, if you are not giving to God with the money He gives you now, you won’t give to Him if you get more. It’s like a number of lottery winners who end up filing for bankruptcy after a few years. Many experts estimate that approximately one third of all lottery winners eventually declare bankruptcy. One group of financial advisers estimated that about seventy percent of all lottery winners will squander away their wealth in a few years. They may not file for bankruptcy but the wealth will be gone. Why is that? Since these peopl...

No, this isn't actually 'part 2' to my previous post. However, I did like the connection in the titles and it does deal with something lost and my wife. But before I divulge any more information, I need to mention that my wife has given me consent to share the information that follows. Any and all such uses of this information by others are solely the responsibility of the user. I can not be held liable for any such use that may bring her embarassment. Remember, she has consented to my use of this information. Frankly, I think the story that follows is a fitting ironic balance to my extolation of her ability to find items in the previous blog. So without further adieu, here's what happened. Tuesday evening Christy asked me if I knew where her cell phone was. I knew exactly where it was, but I rebuked her for having lost something in the first place and needing to ask me where it was instead of finding it herself. No, I didn't actually do that (and if you read my pre...

"Christy, do you know where my keys are?" I rummaged around the bedroom and scurried to the living room in a frantic search. "They're on your dresser," Christy replied in a calm and assuring way. I scuttled back to the bedroom to look on the dresser again, growing more agitated with every lapsing second. "They're not here," I hastily asserted. "I've looked here already." Christy entered the room, with a sense of calm but also an expression that says, "When will he learn?" She headed straight to the dresser, moved a pair of shorts that I had left there, and 'Ta-da,' my keys appeared. Now I know I looked thoroughly for my keys, but somehow I missed them. Let me just mention something here as a side note. Wives, don't get upset when your husband asks you where something is before he has even looked for it. He is merely trying to be as efficient as he can with his time and energy. He knows that even if he looks for a...

I think there should be a warning label on some of A.W. Tozer's writings. Something like the following: WARNING! The reading of this material can be harmful to those satisfied with the spiritual status quo. Those that proceed with reading this material may exhibit conviction and spiritual hunger pains. Read at your own risk. I'm reading a compilation of Tozer's writings called The Best of A.W. Tozer , compiled by Warren Wiersbe. In the chapter "Born after Midnight," Tozer wrote, "It may be said without qualification that every man is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. He may not be as full as he wishes he were, but he is most certainly as full as he wants to be." Chew on that for a while. Many believers long for spiritual power and significant experiences with God, but few are willing to accept the sacrifices that may involve. As American Christians we treat our spiritual maturity like we treat the American dream. We may wish for it, bu...