The city is burning

As I write this today, the city of Baltimore is the newest target of thuggery.  I don't know the facts of what has happened that is supposed to have generated this but it is wrong on so many fronts.

Our constitution state we have the right peaceful protest.  This is not peaceful protest, much of what is being done is criminal at best and savage and barbaric at worst.  How does a civil society unravel to this place; looting, destruction of property, mugging.  How does this further the cause?  It doesn't!  It reveals the heart of a people.

I am so sick of hearing people who are supposed to know the victim, are friends or family of victim talking about how good and nice they were but in the next action throwing fire bombs, rock, beating people, looting stores, set cars and buildings on fire.  If we are known by the company that we keep how can this speak of the good of the victims or anyone else in this situations when their acquaintances are nothing more than criminals and rebels?

"Its the cops fault" is the cry of the mob.  And truly, I have seen some despicable things done by law enforcement in these incidents but there is no justification for anarchy, bedlam, rioting etc.  Again it demonstrates the heart of these masses is criminal.  Though faining outrage, they are rebellious, selfish individuals looking for an excuse to rob, steal, kill and destroy.

Please don't come back and talk to me about oppression, profiling, racism and the like.  That is a whole lot of garbage.  Its a ridiculous excuse that has been over used to the point it means little.  Racism isn't anything new.  It has been around forever; since the first time two people groups squared off and one was conquered by the other.  No one group has had it worse than any other group.  Racism is basically bullying based on our place of origin and we all hate bullying, don't we? Because we have all fallen prey to bullying, right?

So do the incidents of recent days, Fergusson MO, New York, and now Baltimore, reflect a racist culture or are they a reflection of misplaced values and misapplication of power on the part of the police and law enforcement?  Probably the latter and not the former.  But, you must answer the question of given the same set to circumstances; what would you have done in the same situation?  It's easy to judge when you don't have to walk in someone else's shoes.

What this shows me is we have a heart problem in America.  We are heart sick; sick at the heart.  Our life is tied into trying to satisfy the American dream and to get all of it we can so we step across our fellow men and women, sometimes stepping on them, in order to try to satisfy our hunger for happiness and pleasure.

Thankfulness

I woke this morning with a thankful heart.

This weekend is revelation of the great grace and mercy of our God. Jesus took what should have been mine and gave me what was His.  He took my punishment, my destiny and gave me a brand new destiny. This is the state of all human kind, "He paid a debt He didn't owe, I owed a debt I couldn't pay."

I am thankful for His great grace and mercy. Jeremiah wrote of this in Lamentations 3:22-24 (NLT),
²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. ²³ Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. ²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” 

Each and everyday His mercies are new, they special and individual for the day in which we live.  

Good Friday

Good Friday, a day Christians to refer to as when Jesus was crucified.  This is western thinking if we hold it to the actual day time day.

In all actuality, Jesus crucifixion took place on Thursday with His actual death taking place at the beginning of the Jewish Friday which was Thursday evening.

You might say, where did I come up with this?

Remember Genesis?  "it was evening and morning the first day" and so on.  The day of Jews begins at evening and ends at the evening following.  The scripture bears this out as the Jewish leaders came to Pilate and requested they hasten the deaths of the condemned as Passover was at hand and it would have been defiling for the bodies to have remained on the crosses during the holiday.  So it isn't really about "Good Friday" but about His death occurring at the beginning of Friday, the evening of the previous day.

Yes Jesus did raise from the dead on the Sunday, which is the first day of the week and He was definitely in the tomb for 3 days.

This time is an incredible time of God revealing His pointing to this time in history through the feast of Passover.  Tonight at our church, we will celebrate the feast in a Seder.  It is such a powerful time of seeing God's foretelling of His provision for all mankind that relationship between ourselves and Him could be restored.

Shalom

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

For a moment set aside all of what you have heard about this day called Palm Sunday.  You know the day Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

In the American church, we have heard that Jerusalem responded to Jesus riding into it's streets with shouts of adoration and excitement.  In fact you may have heard, "they were sang His praises on Sunday and cried for His death on Thursday." This is so far from the truth it is unbelievable how we could have held such a thought.

The truth is this is the day the Passover lamb was chosen and a special lamb for Israel was paraded through the streets.  It had a tag tied around it's neck which identified it as such.  The lamb was headed through the streets of the city on it's way to the Temple where it would be on display for the next four days for everyone to look at and examine it to ensure it was "without spot or blemish".  This is what the city was cheering about.

O there were those who were part of Jesus entourage who were praising Him as they believed He was to be king.  But the masses were not praising Him.  Jesus came into the city as the procession was heading toward the headed for the temple which is where He was headed as well.  Isn't it interesting that for the next 4 days He was on display at the temple for all to test, examine and ensure that He was without fault, sin or blemish.  The Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, scribes, Herod, Pilate, Counsel and all of those who were there daily to hear His teaching had to say, "they could find no fault in Him."

So the stage was set for Jesus to be the Passover Lamb for all of human kind.

This is week is referred to by many as "passion" week or "holy week" as it is the week leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and culminates in His resurrection.  The events of this week are rich with application and symbolism for followers of Christ.  And it marks an event that has influenced time and much of history.  You can try ignore it as another seven days out of the year but it is so much more than that.  Please lend me the opportunity to share with you some insights into this time.  I trust it will help you see things in a whole different light.