True Allegiance is a Posture Not A Pledge
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”[Jesus] got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid?...
Read MoreAll Things New
[Jesus] said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and...
Read MoreDiscovering The Forgotten God
[Jesus said], “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:25–27 When I say “Holy Spirit” you say “____________.” What word or phrase comes to mind? If someone asked you to describe God, what would you say? Is there a “person” of the Trinity that you would mention most? How about least? I’m...
Read MorePraying Jesus’ Prayer
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17:11–12 In John 17, Jesus prays to his father as his earthly ministry comes to a close, as his assertion to the father comes ever closer. He prayer for and blesses his friends, his disciples, his Church...
Read MoreRejoicing and Mourning in Motherhood
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Romans 12:15–16 This past Sunday was Mother’s Day. At staff meeting this morning we wondered aloud how differently the Church would integrate special days such as mother’s day and father’s day if they did not occur on a Sunday. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day present challenges to pastoring a community that is diverse in their parental experience, from their family of origin to their present reality, hopes and dreams. At Creekside we seek to be real, not phony. By that we mean that we want to smash...
Read MoreA Fruitful Prayer Exercise
“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be...
Read MoreThe Good Life
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went...
Read MoreSlow down, Easter Will Get Here In It’s Time
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Luke 13:34–35 It’s Holy Week. In our rear view mirror is the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday. Before us lies Jesus time with the disciples in the upper room, his torment in the garden, his arrest and abandonment, rigged trials, torture, and...
Read MoreIntegration and Alignment
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. John 12:23–26 It is a mistake to segment the Bible and the seasons of the Church calendar as if they were stand alone times or messages. The gospel of...
Read MoreSaved for What? Saved to What?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life . . . . Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17; 17:3 John 3:16 is one of the most familiar verses in the Bible. Familiarity, the saying goes, often breeds contempt. In this case, maybe not contempt, but simple assumption. We assume what the verse means, we assume the narrative that has...
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