Thoughts on Holy Week.

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the Sunday Christians traditionally celebrate as the beginning of Holy Week. Palm Sunday recalls the entry of our Lord into Jerusalem. The people greeted our Lord with great enthusiasm as He came riding into the city on a donkey. They cried, "Hosanna!" They welcomed Him as a King, some as the Messiah, some as their earthly deliverer. But later that week many of the same people joined the enraged crowd and cried, "Crucify him! Crucify Him!"

Our emotions can be stirred by this realization and we can even go to a place of judging them for their fickle nature, their lack of loyalty to the one they welcomed as king. But we should consider another picture from Scripture. It's the picture of Jesus on the Cross in the depths of physical and spiritual pain (such as those who are born again will never experience) asking God in the most tender way, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

When I consider this scene, a sense of humility begins to rise in my mind, emotions, and will. I am humbled because I have also cried, "Hosanna" at the beginning of the week but turned on Him, or at least drifted away from Him shortly after. I suspect that all of us can identify with this experience at times. I would encourage us to look to the Cross and witness the grace and love of our God in His Son, Jesus the Christ, as He speaks, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

This confrontation with the love and grace of our Father, in Christ, will convict us and bring us to repentance. Our confession and repentance will bring us sustaining joy as we celebrate the hope and love of God manifested through Jesus during this Holy Week.

Maintaining a warm heart toward God.

Friday was my last day in my present position. I'm now concentrating on preparations and the transition to Munich. As I do so, this concept of abiding in Christ is very much on my mind. Knowing the imperative of maintaining an abiding relationship with our Lord, I have to ask the question as I depart: "Is my heart warm toward God?" This question is important to me because I cannot do anything apart from an abiding relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the vine to which I must be attached to produce fruit. To maintain this imperative relationship, my heart must be warm toward Him. I know from scripture and experience the things which can make my heart cold to God and thus compromise the imperative abiding relationship. Things such as unrepentant or secret sin, bitterness, unforgiveness, resentment, and irreconcilable attitudes cause my heart to be cold toward my Lord. These things quench (stop) the flow of His life into mine, making it impossible for me to enjoy Him and be a branch which produces fruit.

"There is no temptation which has overtaken us except that which is common to all of us" (I Corinthians 10:13). We all run the risk of allowing our hearts to become cold toward our Lord. This is an important time in all of our lives as we continue to be excited about the new thing our Lord is doing at International Baptist Church Munich. Let us allow the Lord to examine our hearts to ensure we maintain our abiding relationship with Him. We can enjoy Him and He can produce much fruit through us as He magnifies His glory. Let us remember the wonderful lovingkindness which our Heavenly Father has toward us as He tends our hearts. Let us be warmed by His loving presence as we maintain warm hearts toward Him and all others.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. It is a good time to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the Holy Week and our Lord's resurrection.

Our preeminent need

As I continue to reflect on John 15:5...

In this verse our Lord describes our preeminent need as His people and as His church. He states, "apart from me, you (meaning any individual follower or any church as a whole) can do nothing." This is a sobering thought for me. The word "nothing" arrests my attention and causes me to ask - Is there anything I can do as a disciple of Christ to be faithful apart from an abiding relationship with Christ? Here we see that Jesus' answer to the question is an imperative no.

Today I write this at a significant time of the year (especially in Minnesota). The snow has melted, the temperature is rising and now we look forward to vines or trees growing leaves and fruit. These are the evidences of new life in nature and Jesus uses these evidences to describe the healthy life of a Christian or church.

This new life is made possible by the warming of the weather, which enables the nutrient-rich sap (saft) and moisture to flow from the roots, through the stalk of the vine and into the branches of the tree. It is significant to realize that this new life is possible only because of the warmth of the season. Symbolically the spirit of life can only flow from the True Vine (Jesus) and produce life and fruit in the branches (his followers & churches) when their hearts are warm toward Him.

Are our hearts warm toward God?
More tomorrow....

We are cared for by a wonderful Vinedresser!

Today, as I continue to reflect on John 15, I am smitten by the wonderful and awesome love of our heavenly Father. In John 15 our Lord declares a most beautiful thought. He identifies himself as the true vine, and the Father (the true, living and ever present God of creation) is the vinedresser. The God who created the world, sustains all things, and gave life to each of us is the one who is caring for the churches He establishes and the individuals who follow the Lord by faith. A vinedresser is concernced about the health of the vines, all of the branches. The vinedresser tends the vines with skillful, tender and loving care.

This is a wonderful reality as I consider growth and fruitfulness in my life as a follower of Christ. This is also a wonderful word of confidence as Kandy and I continue preparation for our exciting transition to join you, the Lord's people, in His ministry to and through each of you and the church as a whole. To know that the Father is intimately caring for us fills us with hope, confidence, joy and peace.

Why should we abide?

The title for the blog comes from the instruction our Lord gives his followers in John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." The importance of this instruction to all who will follow the Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely magnified for us as we realize the Lord Jesus was speaking to them shortly before his arrest and subsequent crucifixion.

He was instructing his followers to continue...

1. in their life as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
2. as faithful members of the churches the Lord would establish through them.
3. as lights in a world that is desperate for redemption.
4. as those granted the privilege of experiencing an abundant life.

We should abide because Jesus instructs us to abide. His ways are true.

Why I am blogging.

As Christians, when we share with one another it provides encouragement and sometimes growth in the lives of our brothers & sisters. As the pastor of our church, I am called to share my heart with you. My hope is that this "blog" will be another way of doing that.

This is my first attempt at blogging but I am excited about doing it! My thought is that I can post reflections, share what is going on with me (& Kandy) and offer additional insights about scripture texts, sermons & teachings. Ultimately, I want this to be an encouragement to you. I'll update this as often as I can so please check in frequently.

My first post will be about the title of the blog and the scriptures that inspired it...

Welcome to my new blog!

Check back, as postings will be coming soon...

Blessings.