The stories of Christmas & Easter go together.  It’s hard to celebrate one without thinking of the other.  Jesus was born to solve the relationship problem that we all have with our Creator, God.  Sin has separated us from everything that God wants for us and Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection has made it possible to fix that relationship.  When Jesus died on the cross the curtain between the outer courts and the Holy of Holies, the thing that separated the common person from entering into the very presence of God, was torn in two.  Through Christ’s death we now have access to God, and for those who have accepted this gift God offers through Christ, we can now enter into that presence with boldness and confidence.  No need for a priest or any other intermediary to go to God.

Yet I find that many Christians tend to get out their needle and thread and sew the curtain back together.  Churches or denominations put barriers back between man and God that He never intended to be there.  “You can worship with us only if you worship our way.  You can join our church only if you leave your sin at home and never bring it up here.  You need to dress a certain way, act a certain way, look a certain way, and talk a certain way.  You can …” and the list goes on and on.  It’s amazing the meaningless and insignificant criteria we put on people in order to follow God.

Hugh Halter in his book Sacrilege paints an interesting story of Jesus doing away with religion and clearing the way to God .

“If I were a filmmaker I would create a scene where Jesus drives a huge bulldozer up the hill toward the   temple and rips down every wall while beeping his huge horn at all the priests and Levites, who would be angrily waving their hands at him.  Ignoring them, he’d keep on cutting a huge pathway all the way up to the front door of the holy place.  All the peasants would be squinting to look through the plume of dust and rubble as they winessed Jesus put the dozer into second gear, ram up the huge stairs, and blast through the massive wooden doors.  And as the high priest ran for his life, Jesus would haul it into the place the people had only dreamed of seeing–the presence of God.

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Although the religious barriers would have been removed, the pure in heart, in my imaginary scene, would be standing motionless–mouths open, eyes as big as Frisbees, wondering what this now means for them.  Then Jesus, the new King and High Priest, would climb off the John Deere, take his goggles off, run back down the hill, and grab little kids by the hands.  He’d put his arm around the prostitutes; he’d pick the beggars up off the ground and summon every person he could find.  ‘Come on, you who have been trying to find the real God.  Follow me.’  Picture all those people sheepishly but gratefully walking with Jesus.  These people are the pure in heart.

Who’s not the pure in heart?  All the people who were ticked that Jesus just destroyed their religious constructs, who liked the status quo, who enjoyed creating and propping up their sanctimonious spiritual walls.

Then he hands them a key–the key to the tractor that bears the label ‘ministry of reconciliation.’  People of Jesus, peasants of reconciliation, are those who no longer look at a person’s gender, age, color, or attire.  They don’t care about their denominational affiliation, church background, or sinful behavior.  The ministry of reconciling requires that we stop looking at the cover of the book and see the painful storied pages of each person’s life as a whole, understanding that their behavior is only the symptom of a sin-ravaged world.  As we transcend judgment with understanding and trust in God’s ability to know a person’s heart, we will be living out our calling as God’s people. (Sacrilege 157-58)”

What are you doing to tear down the walls that man has built up so that people can find God?

So often we tend to set the criteria for how or when we’ll follow God.  We’ll follow Him as long as we determine the outcome or as long as He doesn’t ask us to do something we’re not ready for.  There are a million excuses we’ve all probably given for not following God, but He doesn’t bend to our conditions

The Apostle Paul says we are either slaves to our sin, the things that keep us separated from God, or we are slaves to Christ and all the wonderful things he wants for us.  Which are you?  What conditions have you put on following Christ?

I’m not much of a poet, but this poem by Adrian Plass really hit home.  I shared it last Sunday during my sermon and wanted to share it with you.  Have you said “Amen”?

When I Became a Christian: By Adrian Plass

When I became a Christian I said, Lord, now fill me in,
Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin.
He said, your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen – I think.
I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen,
I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again?
You say my body may be killed and left to rot and stink,
Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen – I think.

But, Lord, there must be other ways to follow you, I said,
I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed.
Well, yes, he said, you could put up with the sneers and scorn and spit,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen – a bit.
A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen,
I’m not entirely sure, can we just run through that again?
You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit,
Well, yes, I’ve made my mind up, and I say, Amen – a bit.

Well I sat back and thought a while, then tried a different ploy,
Now, Lord, I said, the Good book says that Christians live in joy.
That’s true he said, you need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow,
Do not forget to see their experience, registry and round the clock http://nichestlouis.com/cialis-7535.html order levitra online availability. Present day women are no longer confined to nichestlouis.com cialis 50mg house. Repeating the dosage before discount levitra the completion of 24 hours in the dose. I suggested that they stop wasting energy trying to ‘turn around’ Max, but that they should instead let Max do what he does best, and pair him with someone who excels at customer service. cheap cialis nichestlouis.com So do you want to follow me, I said, Amen – tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Lord, I’ll say it then, that’s when I’ll say Amen,
I need to get it clear, can I just run through that again?
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Well, yes, I think I’ve got it straight, I’ll say Amen – tomorrow.

He said, Look, I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me
A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity,
The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit,
Now tell me, will you follow me? I said Amen – I quit.
I’m very sorry Lord I said, I’d like to follow you,
But I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do.
He said forget religion then, and think about my Son,
And tell me if you’re man enough to do what he has done.

Are you man enough to see the need, and man enough to go,
Man enough to care for those whom no one wants to know,
Man enough to say the thing that people hate to hear,
To battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear.
And listen! Are you man enough to stand it at the end,
The moment of betrayal by the kisses of a friend,
Are you man enough to hold your tongue, and man enough to cry?
When nails break your body-are you man enough to die?
Man enough to take the pain, and wear it like a crown,
Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down,
Are you man enough to follow me, I ask you once again?
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said Amen.

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen, Amen,
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said, Amen

This past week we loaded up everyone into the van for a short family vacation to South Dakota.  Leaving Sunday morning we made it to the Badlands that afternoon and stayed in Wall.  Monday we then went to Reptile Gardens where Titus tried talking to the tortoises, then on to Mt. Rushmore in the afternoon.  Tuesday morning we headed to Bear Country USA and after it decided to start heading home around 1pm.  So of course being a male I decide that we’re going to drive straight home and finally got there around midnight.  Maybe not the wisest move for my wife’s sanity with our youngest, Kelly, screaming “mama, mama” the entire 10hrs strapped into her government required car-seat.  But we all made it home and had a great time.

So on the way home as Deedie and I talked about the progress of the church and how things have been going, having just celebrated our first year of ministry, it made me think about summer vacations and how they affect our walk with Jesus.  The trend has always been, summer comes and church attendance lowers drastically, and I think that’s extremely sad. Summer vacation has become synonymous with vacation from church & God.  So why?  Why do so many Americans seem to take a vacation from God during the summer as if the school calendar dictates our walk with Him?

This past week while I was preparing for Sunday’s message out of Romans 8 I really didn’t know where to go with it.  My downfall is that because our worship services are currently only 1st & 3rd Sundays (*which will change this September to weekly services) I’ve been trying to preach sermons on an entire chapter each time when the content of Romans 8 could easily be spread out over 4 or 5 sermons.  As I read the chapter over and over I fell more in love with it.  So trying to decide what in chapter 8 God wanted to teach us was like trying to decide between seafood or steak; their both good to me!  But God had a plan and He eventually showed me what to preach on.

Within that sermon was a discussion on Romans 8:28-30 and a short explanation of Calvinism & Arminianism.  While you may or may not have found it interesting (if you were present) or felt like I was feeding you Somminex by the bottle full I’ll leave it up to you to decide which camp you fall under.  But a truth that both views can agree upon, whether you line up with John Calvin or Jacobus Arminius, is that God has a plan for all of us.  His Spirit is at work in each believer’s life as well as the world and his desire is to draw you near to Him and “work for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28).  If you are a follower of Christ know that God is very involved in your life and as any father does, He wants to see good come to you.  Elsewhere in Scripture God says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'” (Jeremiah 29:11).  If you still have questions about this whole “God thing” and don’t yet call yourself a follower of Christ know that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1Timothy 2:4) and He is actively pursuing you too.  But as far as the plans go, will “we” always think those plans are good?  No.  Sometimes we don’t understand the plan or have any idea what God’s up to.  Sometimes we’ll wonder if there’s a God at all.  But just because we haven’t heard from Him in awhile or can’t see Him at work, or the circumstances we find ourselves in don’t seem very “good” doesn’t mean He’s not at work.
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Think about all the things that have happened in your life.  Whether it was the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or the birth of a child, and think back to the questions you may have had at that time.  What did those events stir up in you?  How did you respond to them?  I firmly believe that God allows events like those to happen to wake us up, to get our attention, and to cause us to seek Him.  So again, the events in your life; how did you respond?  Did the loss of a job cause you to look to God as your provider?  Did the death of a loved one cause you to question the meaning of life and death and look to God for answers?  Did the birth of a child move you to amazement and awe over creation and life and how God puts all these things together?  I hope they did.  And though we won’t always understand why things occur, know that God has a plan for each of us and He’s waiting for us to respond.  When you do you’ll find the love He has for us is greater than any answers you’ve been searching for.

This past Friday Cedar Point ran the Walk For A Cure at Nashua’s “Water Over the Dam Days” and had a great turnout.  It was a great time celebrating cancer survivors and caregivers, remembering those loved ones we’ve lost to cancer, as well as fighting back and raising cancer awareness.  We were able to raise $1300 which will go to the Eagles Cancer Telethon in Rochester, MN, to help fund cancer research.  You can look at some of the event photos at Cedar Point’s Flickr page (more will be uploaded later).

While I felt the event went well I couldn’t help but wonder what God thinks of cancer walks.  Cancer is a terrible disease that has taken many lives, and I in no way want to diminish the pain and loss people have gone through, but why aren’t there walks for plane or car crashes?  Why not walk for those who have drowned or kids who have died from SIDS?  Cancer is a form of death and the inescapable fact is we all die.  Death is a fact of life.  But cancer, along with every other form of death, is a result of sin.  When sin entered the world death came with it and brought cancer.  So while researchers continue to search for a cure for cancer, there is only one available cure  for sin and his name is Jesus.  He is the ultimate cure for every type of disease and illness. So with the usage of bulk buy viagra men around the world were resigned to the fact that Erectile dysfunction is a potential sign of some underlying heart disease. Under levitra generic usa the circumstances that you can embrace these foods in your daily diet. viagra buy australia It’s made from natural herbs with no side effects. However, if it is viagra on line order taken after a heavy meal before consuming sildenafil drug may delay the effects of the drug and hence should be avoided.  I know the pain and hurt cancer brings to families.  I had a brother and grandfather die to cancer.  But I also have seen the pain that divorce, and drinking, and selfishness can bring to families as well.  No amount of walking is going to cure those.  But when God gets ahold of someone’s heart and they sincerely decide that He is for real and they begin to follow Christ their life is transformed and cancer won’t be as much of an emotional issue anymore.  Will it still hurt when someone we love is gripped by this disease?  Absolutely!  We’re still human, and it’s always going to hurt when we lose someone we love.  But our faith and hope in Christ will bring comfort amidst those dark nights when we feel all alone and are searching for answers.  Will there ever be a cure for cancer?  That’s up to God to decide.  But while those who hope for one wait, I pray that they would take hold of the eternal cure that God offers now through his son Jesus Christ.  I think you’ll find it does the job just fine.