Healing by the Roadside

22nd Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: St. Mark 10:46-52

As Jesus was passing through Jericho on the way out of town with His disciples and a great crowd, things really happened! Jericho was a very special city. The temple that had 20,000 priests. They worked in 26 groups, except at the celebration of the passover, when all 20,000 were on duty because of the great crowds.

At the edge of the city, near its gate, sat a blind beggar asking for alms. His name was Bartimaeus. Hearing the shuffling of many feet, Bartimaeus asked what was going on. He was told that the teacher Jesus was passing by.

He immediately started crying out loud, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Many around him told him to be quiet and not badger the teacher, and Bartimaeus cried out even louder,
“Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”

When he was told that Jesus was calling him, immediately he threw off his coat, jumped up, and headed out to find Jesus. Now this could not have been very easy for him because of his blindness. Would it not be exciting to be a Bartimaeus type of person!

Look briefly with me of the action in this biblical story. There is Bartimaeus’ sheer persistence. He would not allow any one thing to stand in his was to get to Jesus.

He had a desperate desire and that desire in ones life that gets things done. His responded immediately and eagerly when Jesus called him.

Many of us hear and feel the call of Jesus in our lives, yet we don’t immediately respond to his calling. We say, “Not now. Wait until i get this done.”

Soon we forget the calling. But Bartimaeus went to Jesus like a bullet fired from a gun! He had a great need and sensed that this wandering teacher could fulfill it. We often shortchange ourselves of a great blessing when we don’t immediately respond to the nudging of Jesus.

What a blessing Judy and I have had during these last 10 days sharing openly our faith with many who stopped by. In return they shared their faith stories also.

Bartimaeus, while not having an adequate theology of who Jesus was, trusted what he had heard about Him and had faith that He could heal his blindness.

One writer penned these words: “We must ask people the think, but we should not expect them to become theologians before they become Christians.”

Indeed, in Bartimaeus’ situation he trusted his gut feelings about Jesus. When Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do?” he simply said, “I want to see,” and immediately his eyes were open and he followed Jesus.

Our faith response is the key step in walking faithfully with Jesus throughout our lives.
There is no pretraining; we must pick up our pallets and move out! There are no future glimpses of what our future might be if we faithfully respond to Jesus calling; there's only faith and knowledge that if we will follow Him daily, He will faithfully walk daily with us.

In our society today, we have been preprogrammed to want to know the outcome of our actions. In a very short time, we see Jesus on the cross-of calvary, winning eternal life for each one of us that will respond to his love. A faith journey does not tell us what will transpire in our lives, only that Jesus will walk with us regardless of what transpires.

May we all walk in true faith in Jesus love. Amen!

Faith of a Child

19th Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: St. Mark 10:13-16

Who actually "follows Jesus" in Mark’s writings? It is not the disciples. That is for sure. They kept misunderstanding Jesus' ministry and mission for 3 years. They kept getting His theology wrong to boot. Not once in Mark’s writings are they actually described as "following Jesus," but a few situations in the scriptures we discover a few who did.
  • In Mark 15 an anonymous man did follow Jesus.
  • In Mark 14 an anonymous woman understood that Jesus the crucified was marked as the Son of the living God. 
  • In Mark 10 we discover that a blind beggar followed him. 
When Jesus walked among us here on the earth, little children who had no status flocked to Jesus. He blessed them and held some in His arms. When Jesus took them in his arms the disciples saw them as a distraction, a waste of precious time.

We understand that he was on his way to the cross and his death. Jesus' time on earth was short, yet he had one final lesson that he had to get across to his disciples and you and me: The only hope we have to enter his eternal kingdom is to come as a little child, a child who has not been misguided by the ways of the world. We must have the humility of a little child.

While there is the child who is an exhibitionist, such children are rare and almost all are products of misunderstanding. They have not yet learned to think in terms of place pride or prestige, nor have they learned to discover their importance.

They are a child of obedience. While a child often does not obey, their instinct is to obey. They have not yet learned false pride and independence that separates them from others. They are a child of trust. It seems that they accept the authority of all others and have confidence.

An example of trust and confidence is when daddy throws them up in the air as they return to him all fear is gone when they see the smile on his face and the chuckle in his voice. They have not yet learned to expect the worlds dangers and still believe in the best of all people.

And that trust in people can be a dangerous thing, because not all adults are trustworthy.

A blessing of a child is that they have a very short memory. They have not yet learned to hold grudge or harbor bitterness.

Even when a child is playing with another and they have a spat over a toy and come crying saying, “I won’t play with him again!” Before their eyes are clear of tears, they are playing together as if nothing ever happened. Praise God for the little children and their short memory.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we adults could have maintained that childlike attitude when our feelings get hurt and we don’t get our way? Jesus in our text seeks to teach his disciples that we must maintain our childlike understandings when involved with others in our adult world.

Regardless of our age and our knowledge the surest way to enter the kingdom of God is like a little child. We confess and believe in him as youth or adults, but somewhere in life we have lost that childlike understanding. Our world would be a better place if we consciously kept the humility, the trust, and short memory of the wrongs of life. It appears often that we hold onto misunderstandings and misguided remarks while Jesus our lord does not remember our failures when He forgives us.

Can you imagine with me what this world might be like if we all acted as little children act in love, and obedience without and reservation? 

Let us pray!

Two Kinds of Wisdom

17th Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: James 3:12-4:3

We see in our scripture today 2 kinds of wisdom.
  1. A wisdom that guides us in our human nature
  2. The wisdom of God that guides us by his Holy Spirit
The problem is that these 2 kinds of wisdom of personal action are divided by a narrow gap. Human wisdom is one that bears little true evidence of the love of God for one another. While an individual might be a great scholar and think about the great peace he has in his heart, his actions shows a different picture of his reflection in a mirror. His words may be as sharp as any razor blade and louder than a great clap of thunder with much fury within them. His heart is full of bitterness that destroys his actions and responses to the needs of others. He is arrogant and full of self-pride. His actions are 3-fold. His standards are earthly standards. He moves by the characteristics of mortal men's impulses. His heart and actions are those of persons who live in the darkness of reality; his drive for wisdom is completely different from those God desires that we maintain.

On the other hand, true wisdom is a special gift that is given us from God. This wisdom is described as a breath of true wisdom from God that influences our thoughts and actions. In Solomon 7:25 we discover these words: "Give me the wisdom from the glory of the almighty."

True wisdom is pure. Pure evidence that the individual has gone through the right ritual relationship with the Lord.

While their hands are pure, their hearts are not.
True and pure wisdom is the wisdom that produces a right relationship with mankind and with God. It is a relationship that separates mankind from mankind, making a man look for a personal relationship with the almighty. True relationship is full of mercy and produces good fruits for the kingdom of God.

When we see someone in great need we might say:
  • “It’s their own fault.” 
  • “They made the wrong choices that produced this situation.”
  • “ It’s their problem, not mine.”
As Christians we should see the situation but place no judgment on the individual or his needs.

There is a saying: “Only by the grace of God, I might be in that same situation.” As true Christians, we cannot and should not refuse to help that person in need, for Christian wisdom comes to us from God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christians should not pause and say “it’s his fault” and refuse to lift a hand or fingers for the one in need; rather, we should praise God who has blessed us and enables us to respond to the needs of others.

Regardless of who is the fault of the situation, God has reached down and out to help us in times like these. Wherein, we need to reach out and help others in need. The ultimate choices in life are between pleasing ourselves and pleasing others of God's children.

Our battleground can not be just to please us. That is a savage battle that destroys God's image within us. The Lord asks us not to battle for self-needs, but for the needs of others. To see and to feel the pain of others we need to move swiftly to reach out and touch that situation as God has reached down in our lives to intercede in our pain and our need.

True wisdom is having the ability to alleviate the suffering of others. Remember that even a cool glass of water offered to someone who thirsts will be seen and God will bless that simple show of love and it will not go unrewarded.

What is really needed in our world today is less of the wisdom we are taught through modern education and more of the blessings we receive through God's wisdom guiding our lives.

Let us Pray.

Taming the Tongue

Sixteen Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: James 3:1-12

Each one of us has the most dangerous earthly weapon. It has the capability of destroying our character and the ability to be fruitful in our Christian witness.

It is our tongue. The church should be a place where words do not hurt others but build them up as a child of God.

Our tongue should be an instrument of peace, joy, and reconciliation, not a tool of disaster or discourse.

There is no one in the world that has not sinned because of the slip of their tongue. James echoes those words when he shares with us that the tongue can become a deadly weapon. We do not slip up intentionally, but the scriptures are full of situations about this deadly sin. Paul says, “There is none righteous for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of the heavenly father.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” In Ecclesiastics 7:20 we see these words: “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

There is no sin into which easier to slip into that does not have grave consequences when we slip up with our tongues. James 3:7-8 includes these words: “For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”

The psalmist penned these words:
“Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”

Man’s ingenuity has tamed every wild beast, but the tongue alone is beyond taming. To tame means to control, and to render useful and beautiful our exchanges with one another. We all know too well that there is a cleavage in our human nature:

  • something of the ape and something of the angel
  • something of the hero and something of the villain
  • something of the saint and something of the sinner

James is sure this villain is a man’s tongue, for we can change our temperament in a split second when we open our mouth before we bridle the tongue. The weakest person can bridle a large horse, but it takes a giant of a person to bridle their tongue. While our tongues are free to speak praises and adorations, one can destroy their character in the split second if they don't bridle their tongue.

Once it is uttered, one can not take it back, and one must live with the results of that slip of the tongue. Even when we seek to make amends for our actions, we can not forget that action and it is here that the devil takes a molehill and blows it into a mountain.

I heard a preacher on TV say that when the Lord called him to preach, he had not sinned since that day. His tongue proved otherwise!

Lord God, help us not to slip into sin because of a slip of a tongue. All of us have sinned through this small mouthful of tissue when we lose control of our emotions and feelings.  Help us Lord to bridle our tongues. In Jesus' name we make this request. Amen!

Rich People

18th Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: Mark 10:25/James 5:3

Why do some rich people think they are going to heaven? Do you think that Jesus was badmouthing them?

Some rich women bankrolled Jesus and his disciples. Thus it seems like it is an unfair guess that Jesus thought kindly of them. One sugar momma was Mary Magdalene, who would be among the first to see the resurrected Lord, along with Susanna, and Joanna.

Joanna’s husband was King Herod’s administrator. We see and read in Luke 8:3, “These women and other women, provided support for Jesus and his disciples.”

Not all-rich people are selfish and spiritually bankrupt, even though there’s a heap of verses that seem to  trash the rich because of these reasons.

They wrote laws favoring themselves. They bought off politicians and judge, while today the poor would get public defenders. Rich people underpaid their workers, cheated their customers, and many ignored the poor.

When Jesus said “it is harder for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven than a camel to get through the eye of a needle,” he was referring to the camels’ gate into the city. This gate was much lower in height and narrower in width than any other gate in the city. Traders use this gate because it was closest to the market place. If the camel was heavy laden with a high load, they either had to unload the camel or possibly help him crawl through on his knees.

Jesus here was using an extravagant illustration to drive home his point: Wherever your heart is, is where your treasure is. Is your treasure earthly and heavenly? Both Jesus and James both made this point.

Jesus stated, “Why do you see the sawdust in someone else’s eye and cannot see the wooden beam in your own eye?” Not all-rich people are shut out of the kingdom of God. One such person who entered was Joseph of Armethea. He donated his own tomb for Jesus’ burial. This is a wonderful example of a rich guy with a compassionate heart. Joseph had been a secret follower of Jesus’ earthly ministry, yet he was a wealthy member of a top Jewish council and a member of the Supreme Court that orchestrated Jesus execution!

He came out of the closet when he asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. He wrapped Jesus’ body in clean white linen and laid him in his own tomb. Joseph apparently respected Jesus more than he coveted his relationship with his own colleagues. He put Jesus first and he likely paid a terrible price, diminishing many earthly returns in his earthly kingdom. Joseph lost the respect of his co-hearts, lost his seat on the council, and got a cold shoulder from his Jewish business associates. All his earthly means and assets took a nosedive.

While his was concerned about this, he was more concerned about his relationship with the Lord. It’s wonderful that we seek earthly treasures, but they will not get us into the kingdom of God! There is only one treasure that we need not only for this life but also for the heavenly life. That treasure is a personal relationship with our Lord.

What earthly treasures are you willing to give up or sacrifice for your real treasure, Jesus the Christ?

Let us pray!

Listening and Doing

14th Sunday in Pentecost
Scripture: James 17-27

James is much like our Lord in that he calls it as he sees it.

Jesus often loses patience with the scribes and Pharisees, primarily when they are not living the law that they want to preserve, but He spoke with good reason.

There are few individuals who have not been unimpressed by the dangers of being too quick to speak and too slow to listen. A scholar’s work includes these words: “quick to hear and quick to forget” and “slow to hear and slow to forget”

Be ye swift to hear the words that you may be correct to understand them. Remember, if we are slow to anger one might not stick their foot in their mouth.

While one might be tempted to be angry with a slow learner, a backwards person, and especially a lazy person, we might accomplish more of our desire if we encourage these persons and do not expect them to measure up to our standards. Our response to them always shows our true character.

Here James presents us with a vivid picture. Paul speaks of a man who goes to the church service, listens to the message, and leaves thinking that his listening has made him a Christian. He deceives himself thinking that attendance in public worship, hearing the word preached, is enough that he has faithfully served the Lord that day. It is not ok that he has shut his eyes, plugged up his ears, and closed his mind and heart to what has just happened in the worship service to and for him.

James is seeking to remind us that what we hear in the service must be lived out daily in our lives as we interact with one another.

I was appointed to a local church with much pride that they had 5 weekly services of Bible study and prayer meetings. About 50 people were involved in these special services. They were extreamly proud of this track record. Then a newcomer was asked to join in one or two of them. He said, “You must be quite knowledgeable about the scriptures and your love of the Lord is wonderful, but what are you doing with all that knowledge and love in making new disciples for the Lord, spending 5 nights in a week in these 2 events? When do you go out to the streets of your community and tell of his love?”

That went over like a bucket of ice water being poured over their heads!

Don’t you know that the worship service is to equip you to share your love and knowledge of the lord.

The Sunday morning worship, Sunday school classes, prayer meetings, and bible studies are all wonderful, but they were meant to prepare us to tell His story in making new disciples.

Do you recall the words of that great hymn “Jesus Calls Us?”

Jesus calls us o’re the tumult
Of our lives wild, restless sea
Day by day His sweet voice soundeth
Saying Christian follow me!”

Are we faithful to His calling?

The problem today is the church today has become a spectator sport. We come to the church to be with others like ourselves who love the Lord. We take in great spiritual insights that make us feel good, thinking we have met our spiritual duties for the week. Then we go home and return next week once again to have that warm fuzzy feeling. But God has blessed us with relatively little blessings because we did not labor in His vineyard.

Jesus calls us.  Yes Jesus calls us even you and me.  What are we doing about that calling?

Let us pray...

The Armor of God

13th Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20

As Paul takes leave of his people, he is sees a giant struggle that lies ahead of him: house arrest with a Roman guard chained to his wrist. 24/7.

Now, life in the ancient world was different from our lives today. They widely believed in demons, devils and evil spirits. The air was full of these elements just waiting to pounce upon us as God’s people, seeking to derail us from our walk with our true God.

Looking at his guard and the armor he wore, Paul makes a great spiritual comparison to how the guards’ armor reflects our armor in the battle against evil forces.

  1. The belt around his waist is the belt of truth. As Christians we can move freely and quickly because in any of our life’s situation He knows the truth. Our God walks daily in all our lives’ actions and situations.
  2. The breastplate of righteousness covers the chest. Words are no defense against accusations that are hurled against us, but a good life displays a true person.
  3. There were the sandals of preparation. One’s sandals are a sign that one is equipped and ready to go out and spread the good news. This means all persons, male or female, lay or clergy have a few sermons just itching to be shared.
  4. There is the shield of faith. Paul is not thinking about a small round shield, but a full body shield to protect one as the fiery darts of evil are thrown at us. The dart is a long stick, a point dipped in oil, lit with fire that seeks to destroy the words of God.
  5. There is the helmet of salvation. We must always remember that it is not something that looks back to our sins, but something that means God’s forgiveness of our past and strength for the present and the future.
  6. There is the sword of the Holy Spirit, “which is the word of God.” The sword is not a 2-edge sharp weapon that may cause death, but the presence and words of God that can pierce the darkest sin and evil that seeks to destroy us as Christians.
  7. Paul’s final weapon is prayer. Paul states 3 types of prayer:


  • Constant Prayer
  • Intense Prayer
  • Concentration Prayer

As they say, “a limp prayer never got us anywhere.”

The Jews had this saying. “Let a man unite himself with the community in his prayers. Always pray for others before praying for oneself.”

Finally, Paul, after praying for others, prays for himself. He does not ask for comfort, or for peace. He allows God to move in his life as God sees fit, not as he desires. We would do well to remember that.

No Christian leader and no Christian pastor can go on unless their people are ever upholding them in prayer. Thank you all for your support, and please keep the prayer for the ministry here. Amen!