Mission Faithwalk

                  Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:17-19)                 I’ve told this story many times because I think it’s an important idea. At different times, I’ve seen my father, my brother, and/or my sister with her younger son and not recognized them. In fact, I looked at my nephew, thought, “cute kid, looks familiar,” and kept on walking. I’ve seen other people in places I didn’t expect them, or wearing casual (not work) clothing, and didn't recognize them. Cognitive biases (the...

                 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes [ c ]  his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11) Sometimes, people ask why bad things happen to good people. Today’s verse explores that. It was the Lord’s will to crush the righteous servant, because through the suffering of the one, many would be blessed and justified. He would bear their iniquities. People who suffer can do one of three things. They can rise to help others who are suffering (which would make them useless if no one else suffered). They can be defeated by their suffering an...

                  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,   fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2) To scorn shame means to say, “I will refuse to allow standards that are inappropriate, that are incorrect, that are unworthy, to be the measuring stick by which other people assess my worth as a human being .” (John Ortberg) ( https://becomenew.subspla.sh/krz8cfy ) Normally, when we look at this passage, it’s about everyone watching them, and therefore, they’d better throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. They need to run with persevera...

                       He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:3-4)                 I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.―  C. S. Lewis                 This year, I haven’t seen as many of the “other gods died and resurrected” and “Easter is a pagan holiday” as I have in the past. That’s a good thing. I think the people who ...

            God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (II Corinthians 5:21) Have you ever had a dilemma? There were two (or more) equal desirable outcomes, or two (or more) equally undesirable outcomes. You, yourself, and you have an argument. "You" wants one thing, "Yourself" wants the other, and "You" can’t decide. To be fully accurate, God doesn’t have dilemmas. He is wise; He knows how things will and must work out. But in a sense, God had a dilemma. He created the universe and put us in it. He loves us and is ready to forgive us, but at the same time, His sense of justice won’t permit it. We also have a dilemma. We’ve rebelled. We’re guilty. But we don’t want to face the punishment for our crimes. We want God to change the rules, and He does, but not the way we expect, because our solution either requires Him to violate His love or His justice. His solution might violate our egos, but ...

                     For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time . (II Timothy 2:5-6)                 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,   and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.   After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,   and last of all he appeared to me also, as to...