When we are confronted with wickedness, we don’t have many choices as to how we respond.  When we are confronted with destructive speech and behaviors, we cannot let it slide.  We cannot suffer bullies, and cruelty is always unacceptable. 

Christ is our Exemplar.  

We cannot claim the full and  abundant life of Jesus for ourselves while withholding it from others.  

Any system or people that endorse meanness, brutality, or hatefulness,  is inconsistent with the religion of Jesus. 

Any system or peoples that actively marginalize or betray the image of God in every human being are inconsistent with the character of a loving and compassionate Creator.  

Any system or peoples that subscribe to systems that prioritize property over people – wealth over the wellness of others, and the witness of Jesus, this is wickedness.

This wickedness must be rejected whenever it appears.

This wickedness must be resisted when it rises within us.

This wickedness must be repented from when we are found guilty.

When confronted with wickedness, we don’t have many choices as to how we respond.  

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:20

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam

On this Easter Monday after a very long Holy Week, I am relying on the Spirit’s power to get up and get moving. Work awaits!  

I am tired for sure, but I am grateful.  

In times like these, we need to be reminded that Jesus’ Resurrection is not just something that occurred two thousand years ago.  But the Resurrection occurs within us over and over again!  

The Spirit of Christ lives and dwells within us! It is the power of His resurrection that lifts and energizes us. So while you reach for your morning cup of coffee or tea – that eye opener- pause for a moment and sense the Spirit that is yet at work within you.

Remember…

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 8:11

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam

I must admit that from my young adulthood when I first became a Christian up to now, I have always wondered why the day that Jesus died is called Good Friday.

Did someone have a strong sense of irony?  Were they as sarcastic as my youngest daughter?  What’s up with this?  

I’m sure I could do some research or just google it, but I’d rather just sit with the paradox.  Hmm.

I remember the story of Joseph.  Joseph was Jacob’s favorite but hated by his brothers!  They conspired to kill him but quickly determined that selling him as a slave was more palatable.  

Years later and in the middle of a famine, these brothers would have to rely on the same brother they betrayed for their daily bread.  When Jacob later died, the brothers feared retribution.  Joseph refused retaliation and offered grace that foreshadows Jesus’ grace from the cross. This is what Joseph said:

Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. 

Genesis 50:20 NRSV

What makes this Friday good? Only God – only grace to save many lives.

Good morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam

It’s ‘Maundy Thursday. The term ‘maundy’ comes from the Latin mandatum –  where we derive the term mandate or commandment.

Maundy Thursday is a time to remember and reflect on what Jesus did with His disciples in the Upper Room on the night He was betrayed.

There at the table, Jesus broke bread and shared the cup with His disciples, but in the middle of the meal, Jesus got up, set aside His robes, grabbed a towel, and washed their feet.

As He washed their feet, He commanded them to do the same

for one another.

Jesus embodied the words He preached. The greatest among them – the Master –  in God’s kingdom must be the servant! (Matt. 20:25-28)

So He washed their feet.  Despite momentary protests from Peter, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, and then commanded them to do the same for one another.

¹² When he had washed their feet and  put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet

John 13:12-14

Disciples of Jesus, serve one another.  It is Jesus’ example we follow – His commandment we obey! We seek to serve and not simply to be served!

It’s Holy Week!

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam

Today is what is known as Spy Wednesday. It gained its name from when Judas betrayed Jesus to the chief priest for thirty pieces of silver.

Thirty pieces of silver in today’s economy is somewhere between $350 and $600.  That’s what it took to lure Judas away from Jesus.  Some think Judas had other motives beyond money for his betrayal.  Some think Judas was instigating a confrontation so that Jesus would reveal His power and identity.  So in a twisted way He thought He was helping Jesus out.   

Whatever the case or cause, however, Judas betrayed Jesus.  Whether for greed or some other twisted hope for glory – Judas stopped trusting Jesus.  Judas stopped trusting Jesus’ ways.

What are the things that we find most difficult to trust God with? How often are we tempted to take matters into our own hands? What are your thirty pieces of silver?

On this Holy Wednesday, let’s pray that we do not enter into temptation!

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. ¹¹ And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.  

Mark 14:10–11

It’s Holy Week.

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam

The day after entering Jerusalem, Jesus approached a fig tree because He was hungry. It was full of leaves so it was reasonable to expect some fruit.

But when Jesus got close to the tree, He realized that there was no fruit on it.  Jesus cursed the fig tree and His disciples heard it.

On the next day, as they passed by – the fig tree withered away to its roots.

This fig tree is a symbol of a fruitless faith, a spirituality without roots that presents signs of life – leaves – but is ultimately barren.  

The fig tree is a warning and a witness. Faith without works is dead.  Not that works precede faith, but faith, living and active, is productive. 

When Jesus cursed the fig tree, He did so as admonition to His disciples – to reject the religious hypocrisy they encounter at the temple, and to resist the temptation to appear faithful while bearing no fruit!

…But the fruit of the Spirit is love…

Galatians 5:22-23

It’s Holy Week!

²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.

Mark 11:20 (ESV)

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam

After Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He headed to the temple. When He arrived, He confronted and cast out those who had crowded the courts with corrupt commerce.

He overturned the money-changers tables, and flipped the seats of those selling animals for sacrifice. 

No one should go to a religious service expecting to be robbed, coerced, or manipulated. Sadly this has become the stereotype that stains the perception of what the Church is.  While many of these suspicions are unfounded, there are far too many cases where they are true. 

Shame on us if we ever lose sight of why we gather.  Shame on us if our sacred spaces become places that grieve the very Spirit that we invoke.

Jesus is coming. I pray that His visitation does not culminate in vexation.

¹² And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”  

Matthew 21:12–13

It’s Holy Week!

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam

When we are trying to figure out which way to go, it behooves us to ask God, obey His word, and yield to the guidance of the Spirit.

God will always point us in the right direction!  

But our progress toward becoming who we were created to be is also directly related to our perspective, our proximity to the Creator, and our persistence when problems arise.

How do we go forward?

We must be looking, leaning, and laboring in the right direction!  Get it?

Paul said it like this:

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13–14

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam