Gird Up Now Thy Loins

Thunderstorms have been in the forecast here lately.To be clear by thunderstorms I mean actual thunderstorms, I am not being poetic. It`s been raining a lot, and we have had a chance of thunderstorms for the past three days.

For some reason when I heard yesterday's prediction of a possible thundershower I started to think of Job. More specifically I started to think of God questioning Job. The take home message of God questioning Job is, if you cannot understand or control the natural world around you, how can you possibly hope to understand or control God?

We've come a long way since God and Job had this little chat. And it almost seems  like we have taken God up on his challenge; we are trying our best to understand and control the entire natural world.

The question is, where does this leave us?

That's Not Funny, But It Just Might Be True

A little more than a week ago I was sent a link to the Christian Post. It was something I knew I wanted to interact with but I was just about to launch a Holy Week set of blogs so I had to wait until today. The article was about comedian/atheist Ricky Gervais giving a message just before Easter saying that he was 'a good Christian'. What was this startling claim about? Did Ricky convert? No. But he did compare his life to the 10 Commandments to see how he was doing. His self evaluation, a 10/10 he passed with flying colours.

What was his point in this you may ask; he believes that he is a better Christian than many Christians. The sad truth is he is very likely right.

Holy Week Collection

During Holy week 2011 I tried to capture a little each day of what Jesus did and said for us to reflect on. This blog is simply a catch all for those 8 posts. If you click on the date it will take you to the blog reflection on each individual day of Holy Week and if you click on the bible pass it will take you to a webpage where you can read the passages themselves.

Holy Week- Easter Sunday- Are You Living In A BC World or an AC World?

***This Blog is Adapted From An Easter Sermon I Gave April 13th 2009. It Is A Little Longer Then My Average Blog Post. Being Easter I Hope You Don't Mind Granting Me Some Extra Space.***

Do to some recent changes in my life, resulting is some altered sleep patterns I have had, let’s call it the opportunity to watch some late night TV. And I have found a few things, first there is nothing good on, and second infomercials can be entertaining. Because of infomercials I have seen a lot of before and after moments. I have watched men exclaim with joy about their new found hair, I have heard testimonials of satisfied customers talking about various products meant to give you more energy for the day, and of course the ever popular before and after our amazing weight loss program. And all of these things made me think about Easter. And while I know that sounds strange at first, after all what does the “mega ab buster” have to do with the most important day on the Christian Calendar?

Holy Week-Saturday-A Very Long Day

Holy Saturday. Is there such a thing? Good Friday has come and gone. Jesus was arrested, tired, crucified, has died and is buried. Easter Sunday is a whole day away. So where does that leave us on the Saturday of Holy week? Is there such a thing as Holy Saturday? Or should we just skip over this day entirely and go about our normal lives until Sunday?

Many would do so. I am sure many people go to a Good Friday service and are reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus. Likewise I am sure many people attend a Easter service to celebrate Jesus' defeat of death. But what about Saturday? There are few services to attend, and no obvious action of Jesus to mediate on; is today just a day to ignore?

You could, but if do you'll miss a lot.

Holy Week- Good Friday- Whats So Good About It?

Today we have reached Good Friday. A dark and hard day to be sure. A day of suffering, a day of pain, a day of death. Justice is abused. Goodness disregarded. Courage evaporates. Friendship fails. Tears and blood are shed. It seems like sin, sadness and death have won. The light of the world was snuffed out.

Given all of this, have you ever wondered why we call today 'Good Friday'?

Holy Week- Maundy Thursday- What's For Supper?

We have now reached Thursday of Holy Week, or as some know it by Maundy Thursday. Today is the day that Jesus shared his Last Supper with his disciples. You know the story right; the night Jesus was to face betrayal, torture, and death he wanted to have supper with his disciples.

Jesus was the host, he made the arrangements, and he had a lot to do any say in a very short window of time. The last supper may well be the most important dinner party the world has ever known. Today we are going to ask with a childlike wonderment, what's for supper?

Holy Week- Wednesday- It's Quiet Too Quiet

For the last few days I have noticed that people have found their way to my little corner of the Internet by asking questions to Google. Something like 'What did Jesus do during holy week Monday/Tuesday?' So you may have found you way here today asking; 'What did Jesus do during Holy Week Wednesday?' I can sum up Jesus' activities in one word.

Nothing.

That's right all is quiet in the Gospels about the Wednesday of Holy week. It seems that Jesus took the day off.

And when we consider the week Jesus was having, and about to have, isn't that interesting.

Holy Week- Tuesday- The Battle Of Words

After Jesus received a kings welcome to town, and created a prophets scene at the temple you can rest assured that the ruling religious leaders were unhappy. They were in charge of one of the greatest temples, in one of the greatest cities, during the most important celebration of the Jewish calendar. But who was getting all the attention; some back woods preacher who didn't seem to have enough sense to know whom he was messing with.

But Jesus wasn't in Galilee anymore he was in their play ground now, and the time had come for them to show Jesus who really ran the religious show in Israel.

Holy Week-Monday Table Flipping Redux

The parade is over. The crowd has dispersed. What will one day be known as Palm Sunday has come to a close. The evening is setting in, and Jesus stops by the Temple before heading back to Bethany for the evening.

Evidently Jesus did not like what he saw.

Holy Week- Palm Sunday

I get the donkey.


By that I mean I understand the symbol. I understand that the kings of Jerusalem road in on donkeys in peace times and in on horses in times of war. So I get that Jesus is declaring both his kingship, and that he is coming in peace.

An Undesired Learning Opportunity-Redux

I have been told, and I have taught others that all hardships, all struggles and all conflict should be seen as God ordained opportunities to grow. It is always much easier to say that when things are going well. Right now I am 'enjoying' an unscheduled and rather undesired opportunity to learn, and grow.

The Joy of Children

On Sunday I had the joy of doing my first child dedication. I really to love these ceremonial moments. Some time ago the church I grew up at gave me their standard child dedication service which I modified some. Below is the service given on Sunday;

Gleeful

Last night I watched my first ever episode of the hit TV series Glee. I did not set out to do so. Meghan was watching survivor while I was doing some chores. Her show ended, the phone rang and the TV remained on. Once one character made the statement that churches didn't like him, woman or science I knew I needed to keep watching.

Well that and there was another character praying to a Grilled Cheesus.

Drive Or Devotion

A few things have been on my mind of late. I have been thinking about goal setting, and what projects I want to tackle both in the short and long term. I have even pondered putting together a 101 in 1001 goal list, something my unofficial blog coach has done.

As I pondered what my list might hold, some items came easily to mind. Some were health related, some were family related, and some were finance related. But than I started to consider other more substantial goals. I started to think about my career, some further education, and a few other dreams. I thought about what steps I would take to try and achieve some of these goals. but the more I thought about it, the more I delved deeper into my own ambitions I became conflicted.