This Side of The Cross

Yesterday I said there would be two parts but I guess there will be three. This is a beautiful passage that shows Martha's confidence in Jesus....almost. I love that she is so sure that Jesus can heal the sick. She had seen Him do it. Not a question that He could do it again. Reminds me of an evangelist I saw when I was younger. He had prayed for someone with a shortened leg and God had healed it. Well this evangelist became well know for praying for people with shortened legs. I don't remember seeing him pray for anything else. I guess we are all like that to some extent. We have faith for the things we have seen but not really in the one that did the miracle in the first place. It would be wonderful if this were not the case. It would be wonderful if we just believed the words He spoke. "Yes Martha, you brother will live again" "Yes, Roger, I love you so much. Enough to see you through this crises in your life." From this part of the story ...

My Bible program on my Nook separates the raising of Lazarus into two parts. I thought that was weird until I took a closer look. There are so many key points from part one that are different then the points in part two. I call this The Raising of Lazarus - The Going We can tend to skip some of the detail here because of the huge finish of the story, but don't do it. Jesus says some very key statements here. One of them is found in verse 4  But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." This really speaks of our lives having purpose for God and not just our own life events. Granted, death is a pretty big event in our lives but God has purpose even for that. I remember being a baby Christian and declaring to Jesus that "I would die for Him" "I would go to the ends of the Earth for Him", all he had to do was ask. Now, if I am being p...

This chapter contains one of the most precious promises in the Bible (as far as I am concerned). Joh 10:27-28  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. To think that once we are in Jesus' hands, we cannot be taken out of them. Or at least "snatched". I know a lot of people use this to support their view of "once saved - always saved". I do not fall into that camp. I am not trying to get into the discussion of the points of that doctrine. This scripture is full of promise regardless of which side you align your belief on. Just to know that resting in Jesus is  so secure that not even the enemy can take us away from him. Not life of death, not creatures above or below, not peril, not heartache, not anything. The question for me, then, is can boredom?, can betrayal?, can false teachers?, can temptation?, can hurt? It is so good to k...

This passage of scripture can easily be skimmed over like there is nothing new. We have heard this quoted so many times that it rolls off our minds and our hearts like water. I encourage you to take a look at the reactions of the people hearing this. They were angry, saying Jesus was possessed by a demon. This is not the results of a cute little bedtime story. Perhaps the reason for the anger was the statement the Jesus was the "good shepherd" and "all whom came before were thieves and robbers". Yeah, that would make me mad! I would like to point out two things that struck me from this section. 1. The good shepherd comes by the front door. We all have seen those pastor types that want to minister to the sheep that they have no passion for. Ones that come along actually dividing the flock in the name of revival or awakening or whatever the current buzz word is. They are likened to thieves and robbers. Hired hands that run when the wolves come calling. W...

This is one of my favorite miracles in the Bible. (is it okay to have favorites?) First of all, The religious leaders try so hard to discredit Jesus, dispute the miracle, then attack the man's character. All because it didn't go down like they expected. I feel sorry for the man because he had no idea who healed him, except his name was Jesus. (reminds me of the song "There's something About That Name") As soon as he is healed he gets attacked from the religious leaders. Can you imagine? I would want to run and see all that I could, I would want to party with my friends and family, I would want to do anything else but be verbally attacked for such a blessing. Isn't that a lot like what happens to us? God comes and does a miracle in our life. Then the enemy comes to pick it apart. "No, it wasn't really a miracle" No God doesn't really care" It could have happened all on it's own" Can you hear the voices in your head? I...

Today I went "Home"! Now that may seem like a mundane statement to most of you. But is was significant to me. I had to take Brenda to work this morning up in Salt Lake so I decided to visit the Adventure - Draper for their early service. One of the Pastors greeted me with the "Welcome Home" statement. I had to chuckle because that is exactly what it feels like when I visit there. I started my Christian walk long before The Adventure came to be. I was part of many churches before then but, for now The Adventure feels most like home. If you have moved away from your parents home and gone back to visit you will understand. Providing your home life was a nurturing, caring one. While, doctrinally speaking, I grew up elsewhere the Adventure is where I learned how God really can will, and desires to use me for His kingdom. That is such a monumental thing for this ex-mormon with no self esteem to understand. I just didn't think it could be true. Much t...

John 8:31-33 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him,  "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will  know the truth, and the truth  will set you free." ESV Such an interesting promise. Please scroll down to read the fine print! (not really) I have known several people that were what I would call "Bible scholars". Some of them lived lives that showed freedom. Most did not. So how do I reconcile this promise. We know God, or in this case, Jesus can't lie. Some how we have to come to terms with this statement, and many others made by Jesus. It is way to easy to say "Well this works for the other guy, just not me" So lets take a look at the defining word in this promise "Abide". What does that mean to you. Read 10 hours every day? Memorize 5 verses a day? Study original manuscripts? :  to wait for  :   await 2 a   :  to endure without yielding  :   withstand b   :  t...

What a bold statement! In fact this entire section is filled with bold, statements. Not really the calm, humble, pacified Jesus we sometimes believe He is. Then at the end of this section, Jesus states that He only declares to the world what He heard from His Father. What an awesome thought. Jesus was hearing from His Father "You are the Light of the World". But I guess that makes sense. The Father would speak to us things as well. Perhaps "You are my child and I love you". Maybe, "You can do it if you trust in me." or how about "I am so very proud of you!" Well that is the Fathers heart towards us. We should be declaring that to the world. Christians, He really does love us! The enemy would have us declaring to the world "I am a sinner", "I am worthless". "I am a failure". Would you want your children going around saying things like that to their friends? I think not. God loves us! Let's tell...

This passage seems a bit appropriate considering the events of the past few days. Seems like there is always division in the church. Here some are arguing whether or not Jesus could be Christ because of the area they thought He came from. None were disputing His words. No one denounced Him because of His works (at least in this passage). They were judging Him by what the scriptures said about the Christ. Today we have a well known media evangelist wanting to attack the church because of their liturgy. Yes, he has stronger names for it. He even uses old testament scripture referring to a prophet coming against Israel as his example. I don't think he was claiming to be a prophet but I am not sure on that. For several years, this man was well known for attacking the LDS church and it's leaders. I really didn't approve of his tactics then. Nor do I agree with them now. I would encourage us all to stop and take a second or third look before making judgement. It wou...

John 7:37-39 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  NKJV This is such an amazing promise to us. I know, us old timers have heard this phrase a million time. we have even sung songs about it a million or more times. Sit back and take another look! I cant remember ever hearing this in context. At one point we are talking about one who is thirsty. Another point in time, we are talking about rivers of living water coming out of a persons own heart! What is the world happened to that person? the only thing I see is belief in Jesus. Not holiness, not church attendance, not a bunch of othe...

This is an interesting section of scripture. If you read it without any other perspective, you might agree with the people surrounding Jesus. They knew the prophecies concerning the Messiah. They knew that they said you would not know where the Messiah came from. Clearly, they could track Jesus's life here on earth and tell you where He came from. Obviously Jesus was not the Messiah! What they didn't understand is Jesus did not come in His own name or His own authority or His own will. He came doing what the Father gave Him to do. Just like the ambassadors we have today. When they represent the US in a foreign country, we would not concern ourselves with where they came from. Just who they represent. So how does this apply to me? Funny you should ask. I need to remember that when I reach out to people, in Jesus' name, I do not come from a little town called Springville. I come from heaven with a message and a purpose that is not my own. I also come with an...

It's so funny to me that as I work through the Gospel of John I find parts I swear I never read. I used to read through the New Testament several times a year. So I know I have read this passage at least 30 times. The one takeaway that sticks out to me from this passage is the part where Jesus says If our will is to do God's will then we would know if His teachings are from God or not. When I consider the application of that into modern day living I think of all the false and partial truth teachings and teachers that are out there today. Does that statement hold true today? If that statement holds true then what does it say of my own heart? Can I really discern truth (or untruth) in the messages coming from the church leaders? I know there are many messages out there that give me pause. I find myself listening to less and less of the popular preachers out there and searching for ones that I trust. While they all sound like amazing truths from God and would seem to b...