God's Garden Party

I love watching God at work. I've been fortunate to be a witness to an organization that has done such good in the name of Jesus. Matthew's Hope ministers on the property of my home congregation. This is where I obtained the Homeless Interviews. Recently, there was talk bouncing around among the board, volunteers, and supporters of making a community garden. The land was available, but who would fund it? Who would build and maintain it? Again, who would fund it? 

Matthew's Hope

Well, long story short, God made it happen. The call went out for a need and it was met. Water lines dug, equipment provided...

Growing Together

Today, we celebrated the garden project.  This is a community garden for the neighborhood, for the homeless, for anyone willing to work a plot of land.  The plan is for the homeless to grow their own food, for Matthew's Hope to grow food to feed their guests and for the guests to sell at a farmer's market.  There will also be an incentive program for the guests to work the garden to earn items in need. 

The Garden

Family plot

Shed in progress

Here's a cool God story.  This shed is currently being built by a former Aryan Brotherhood member, now a Christian, and a black man working side by side.

A teaching moment.

WE PLANT THEM, GOD GROWS THEM.

Shonna, Karen, Scott

Please join me and Matthew's Hope in growing God's kingdom.

The Not So Glorious Cross

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus? As a mother, I don't know if I could have handled it.  Jesus' mother was there from start to finish.  I have been with my kids through broken femurs, tonsillectomies, oral surgery, and the obligatory cuts and scrapes.  It breaks my heart to see them in pain.  


Personally, I don't think the accounts in the Bible are graphic enough. Or, perhaps it's the fact that we have been desensitized to blood in gore with movies and video games. We see blood and gore, read about blood and gore, however, we, I, do not really associated it with pain.  In the case of Jesus, when I read the account of the crucifixion for the first time I did not understand the magnitude of the event.  


It was painful. Very painful. Jesus not only died for me and you, willingly, he suffered a brutal death, willingly - for me (and you).  


Read these verses:
Matthew 27: ⁸ They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,²⁹ and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. ....³⁰ They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.  ³² As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.


Mark 15: ⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him..... ²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.


http://www.biblegateway.com/
Doesn't sound all that bad at first glance does it?  (These are only a few passages, please read the entire Chapters of Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19).  Okay, now read the below medical accounts of the crucifixion. 




medical account #1
medical account #2
medical account #3

The cross is often depicted like this.

Sometimes the crucifixion is depicted as this.

The crucifixion probably looked more like this.

Most likely, at the crucifixion Jesus looked much worse than this. 

Would you die like this for anyone? I don't think I would. Jesus did. How can we respond to his love for us? Yes, He did this because he loves you, because he wants a personal relationship with you. Jesus died to take away your sins so that you can be with him in heaven forever.  


Now that you know, what will you do?


The title is "The Not So Glorious Cross" because the image of the cross we see all around has been glorified, glamorized, completely desensitized.  Would you wear a guillotine around your neck, hang a nose on your wall over your fireplace?  No.  The cross was not pretty.  The act, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was a glorious event for you and I for what it means for us, not for what it looked like.  

The Glorious Light

Being in the light is belonging to God, having received his Mercy. Freedom from Sin. 

If you have not read the previous two posts, please stop here and scroll down. As you can see, I'm letting the Word do all the talking, however, if you have any questions, please ask. 

John3:1-7 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

Acts 2:22-24 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,^[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

To be in the light (saved) one must believe Jesus is from God, is God, Jesus was raised physically from the dead, and Everyone is responsible for the crucifixion of Christ.  

Romans 3:23

³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

All, including me. That's important.

Acts 2:36-41 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Romans 6:1-10 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

So, get out of the dark and LIVE in the light.

              DARK                                       LIGHT - Acts 2:38

Sin separates from God.                         Sin is forgiven.

Born again of water and spirit                  Acts 2:38 Water = Baptism

       John 3:5                                          Spirit = Received at Baptism

Faith in the blood of Jesus saves us           Jesus shed his blood when he died. 

          Romans 3:25                                We contact his blood in baptism =

                                                            forgiven of sins/Saved.

Into the Light

In my last post I shared verses that talked about the Bible and belief, rules made by man versus following God.  I was taught many years ago not to take man's word at face value - yes even "religious" men.  Always search the scripture for yourself and ask "What does the Bible say?"  Read the entire chapter or book, not just one scripture here and there which can be taken out of context.  It's a thing called "proof-texting".  So-called religious people very often pull as scripture to back up their point regardless of what the original, God-breathed, intent is.  


Which brings me to dark versus light. 


"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9,10 


"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 
 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." Isaiah 59:1,2

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished." Romans 3:23-25

"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21

"If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." James 4:17  OUCH!

Most people think of the 10 commandments when the word 'sin' is brought up.  Have you thought about these?

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Matthew 15:9

“What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23

"They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." Romans 1:29-32

I don't know about you, but I'm guilty.  Praise be to God it doesn't end there. I'm not burdened by the guilt of sin.  You don't have to be either!  There is more to the story! Sin is being in the dark.  Jesus wants us to be in the light, His glorious light!!!  

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

" Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter." 2 Corinthians 7:8-11

Do you know him? Do you want to KNOW Him?

Are you looking for something, something but you just cannot put your finger on it?  Are you dissatisfied with your life?  Do you find yourself wondering, "Is this all there is?" Is your heart aching for more, for love, for acceptance, for purpose? I do not claim to have all the answers, but I know who does.


*"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."


"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."


"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”"


"Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

  Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’  they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

    “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are merely human rules.’”

"There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day."

"As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men."

I believe life on this planet is temporary, fleeting, a speck in time. I believe in a heaven and a hell.  I believe that my problems, my worries, my fears, my pain is temporary.  I believe because Jesus willingly left Heaven, died on a cross, came back to life, then returned to heaven that I, and you, have the opportunity to go and be with God forever!  Forever where there is no pain, no sorrow, no weeping. Only joy. 

* 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12-13, John 8:31-32, Matthew 15:1-9, John 12:48, Acts 17:10-12 http://www.biblegateway.com/