Marathon Tragedy and Maranatha–Come Lord Jesus

I have been overwhelmed this week with  amazement over the amount of violence, hurt, hate and tragedy that exists in our world.  It started on Monday with the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, then the report of an earthquake in Iran, series of bombings in Iraq and then last night with the massive explosion in Texas. 

Life is full of tragedy, and while some would use this information to say there is no God, I would state that it is a sign of the world choosing to live as if there were no God.  Choice of self over God has led to a world that consistently reflects life outside of God’s will. 

I have done a number of funerals over the last few months and many of them have been due to tragic situations.  At each of these funerals I needed to address those in the room who would question as to where God was in all of this tragedy.  The answer is that these things were not God’s will and that his heart breaks as ours do at times like this.  I have stated that “due to sin in the world there are many terrible things in this world that are not God’s will.”

We, those of us who but our full trust and hope in Jesus, know that we belong to a different kingdom that will only be fully realized when Christ returns.  Until then we wait and try to make the world reflect this coming, perfect Kingdom in any way we can in the here and now. 

I have a coffee mug that has on it the word Maranatha.  It is from a youth conference that I attended many years ago in Portland.  I looked at it this week and was struck by the word.  I then read a blog post by Ed Stetzer that stated:

There is just one use in the New Testament of the Aramaic word phrase, “Marana tha. Paul writes, “Marana tha
that is, Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Most translate it as a cry
for King Jesus to come soon. Yet, that one word has become a cry for
Christians in pain, persecution, and much more.

This marathon tragedy drives us again to our Maranatha cry– “come quickly, Lord” and set things right.

Let us continue to pray for those caught up in these tragedies, but let us also pray for those in our neighbourhoods and workplaces, on our streets and on our sports teams,  that walk in the darkness of this world with no real hope. 

The Joy Of Life Together–The Spiritual Act of Community

I have been reminded over these last few months of the joy of doing life together.  I often struggle to make time for community.  I struggle for two primary reasons.  The first is due to the fact that life is very busy and it is just difficult to find time to be with others or to have people in our home.  The second reason is that I am introverted by nature.

Through the years it has been my introversion that has kept me from enjoying community, but over time I have learned to appreciate the need for others in my life.   A few days ago we enjoyed the fun of having our Community Group meeting in our home and sharing a meal together.  We were spread across the house eating, but over time all of the adults ended up around the table in the dinning room.  We simply all wanted to be in the same room together.  What a joy this was.

It is easy to over strive to make time together spiritual and miss the idea that just being together in community and sharing life together is in itself a spiritual act.  Trust me, being together is not enough.  We need to pray for one another and encourage each other in the Word.  We need to pull each other along toward Christ, but we must not miss the fact that the Lord has created community not as a structure but a spiritual act.

Now I do not fight my introversion as much as I fight the busyness of life to make sure that I do not miss out on the privilege of experiencing the spiritual gift of community.

A Good Read on the Resurrection

In preparation for Easter this year I have been doing a lot of reading and studying about the incarnation of Christ and specifically about his resurrection.  This is such a profound and foundational teaching for the Church, I thought I would post a good article I read on this topic.

Here is an extended quote from an article Tim Keller wrote titled “A Case for the Resurrection” in the magazine Relevant. It was subtitled: “Author and pastor Tim Keller on why Christ’s Resurrection is more than just a story.

The resurrection was as inconceivable for the first
disciples, as impossible for them to believe, as it is for many of us
today. Granted, their reasons would have been different from ours. The
Greeks did not believe in resurrection; in the Greek worldview, the
afterlife was liberation of the soul from the body. For them,
resurrection would never be part of life after death. As for the Jews,
some of them believed in a future general resurrection when the entire
world would be renewed, but they had no concept of an individual rising
from the dead. The people of Jesus’ day were not predisposed to
believe in resurrection any more than we are.

Celsus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the second century A.D., was
highly antagonistic to Christianity and wrote a number of works listing
arguments against it. One of the arguments he believed most telling
went like this: Christianity can’t be true, because the written accounts
of the resurrection are based on the testimony of women—and we all
know women are hysterical. And many of Celsus’ readers agreed: For
them, that was a major problem. In ancient societies, as you know,
women were marginalized, and the testimony of women was never given
much credence.

Do you see what that means? If Mark and the Christians were making up
these stories to get their movement off the ground, they would never
have written women into the story as the first eyewitnesses to Jesus’
empty tomb. The only possible reason for the presence of women in these
accounts is that they really were present and reported what they saw.
The stone has been rolled away, the tomb is empty and an angel declares
that Jesus is risen.

Please check out the Relevant website to read more.

In Him,

Pastor Dennis

Farther Along

It is always interesting to me how the theme we are studying at Fellowship ties to the stuff that is happening in our community.  This last month or so has been a stretching one for me and for our community as many tough things have happened among us and among those tied to us relationally.

At the same time we are studying the Kenosis, the voluntary emptying taken on by Christ in the incarnation.  The “emptying” is actually summed up the taking on of the additional nature of humanity and along with it the giving up of the independent and continuous use of all that his deity would afford Him.  Only by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to accomplish the will of the Father would He rely on his divine nature.

All of this was put into place that He might be the humble servant, redeemer and mediator that we so desperately needed, and for all this we are told that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and tongue confess Jesus as Lord to the glory of the Father.

With all that has happened over the last few months I have to rest in the fact that this perfect God-man has the world in His hands and I can trust Him.

One of my favorite songs over the last year or so has been “Farther Along” by Josh Garrels a good old Portland boy.  The song says that Life does not make sense but “farther along” the journey we shall see more clearly, but for now we trust in the Lord and trust that all things will bring glory to God the Father through Jesus Christ.   Here video of the song and  the words from the song are below.  I hope you enjoy.

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
So, cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves ’em both
We’re all cast-aways in need of rope
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
Wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
So, cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by
Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on
Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all

And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levees and my bluffs
Let the flood wash me
And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
‘Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the Son of God is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
So, cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Theology, Context and Life Primer

As I have been preparing for our new teaching series for Easter I have been stretched in my understanding and application of the doctrine of the Incarnation.  I have always been intrigued by the meaning and implications of the Incarnation. 

In the Incarnation we find a solid theological foundation for the Gospel and the hope the Gospel brings.   Our study of the Incarnation will bring us to the understanding of the amazing sacrifice that Jesus made in taking on our form and becoming like us.  In this move He became our perfect High Priest who could understand our frailty and He became the one that would accomplish what we could not do for ourselves. 

Jesus also set the pace for what it means to contextualize the truth of the Gospel into the lives of those that He walked among,  Through this He shows us how we need to live life as His representatives.  We must look at the life of Christ as an example of how to live and the Gospels become our primer on how to live life well.

New Fellowship Church Blog

Hey Fellowship community.  Welcome to our new Blog.  We will use this as a place to share additional content for our journey together.  We will be kicking this blog off with our new Easter series entitled “Kenosis: An Emptied Easter Celebration.”

How Long Must We Wait? By Dustin Strauss

Waiting is hard.  No
one likes it.  We get anxious…we get
antsy and we get agitated.  We get
frustrated and even sometimes angry when we have to wait.  It is not fun, and yet it is a standard part
of life. 

One of the things that stands out to me as I read the Bible
is just how much time passes in the stories – particularly in the Old
Testament.  We read these stories, many
times with a certain familiarity, and even if we don’t know how they end, they
are so condensed that within a page or two a problem has been resolved, or God
has spoken further encouragement, or victory has been won.  When you know the end as you read the
beginning the problems faced by the characters become far less…real.  Oh we can engage and get some sense of the
character’s stress or fear or hurt, but we know it all turns out in the end, so
there’s nothing to worry about!  But real
life doesn’t work that way, and it didn’t for the characters in our Bibles
either.  We read the story and gloss over
weeks or years or decades or sometimes even CENTURIES all in a verse or two.

This week we read the story of Joseph, a man who honored God
all through his life and got nothing for his devotion but pain and
hardship.  He was betrayed and almost murdered
by his own brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, and at
each turn he still honored God and sought to obey him.  Sure, we know in the end he became the Second
to Pharaoh, rich and powerful and saving everyone, but that came literally
DECADES after his brothers first betrayed him. 
Year after year he must have wondered what he did to make God so angry
with him…why again and again as he did good he found only evil and hurt.

The Bible tells us that God was with him and blessed him at
each turn, but it must have been hard to see those blessings on the slavers
caravan or in the Egyptian dungeon.  Head
of the prisoners is still a prisoner, and Joseph did not know if his situation
would ever change.

It did, and God brought him out into an incredible position
and saved many people through him, but Joseph did not know this, and had no way
of counting down the days to his freedom. 
He was trapped, and as far as he knew always would be.

Which makes the final aspect all the more amazing and
important – he STILL honored God.  Even
when Pharaoh asks him to come interpret his dream there is no promise of
freedom.  Joseph could have said, “What
has God ever done for me…I’m going to save myself!” and tried to take the
credit for interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. 
But no, he says, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer
he desires.”  Joseph, facing perhaps his
only shot at freedom if he makes himself look like a magical dream interpreter,
gives God the glory.  Unbelievable.

Does our relationship with God rely on good gifts from
him?  Or can we give him praise and glory
and honor even when things are hard…and even if we can’t see the light at the
end of the tunnel.  Joseph did…I hope I
can too.

Joseph
saw that God is all that matters, no matter what was happening in his
life.  I pray that God would help me to
see that truth too.