The Church

A House of Prayer

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He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” Mark 11:17 NLT

Keeping church and state separate is even written into our U. S. constitution, but Jesus shows us that church and business should also be separate. Often, the pastors of large churches are criticized for their overzealous fund-raising appeals. But while we are criticizing them, we easily lose sight of the wheeling and dealing that can creep into our time of corporate worship. We must remind ourselves that church should never be the place we go to make business connections or to advance our financial position. Jesus called the temple of His day, “A house of prayer for all nations,” Interestingly, this is not the first time that Jesus did this. In the second chapter of John, we find a similar scene right at the beginning of His ministry. But after three years, those same money changers were back doing the same exact things. In His first visit, Jesus made an additional reference to the temple, that time calling it, “My Father’s house.” When we go to church, it is important to remember that though some denomination, or non-profit organization may have their name on the title, in God’s sight, the church is a place belonging entirely to Him and is to be used exclusively for prayer and worship.

This coming weekend is Palm Sunday, and the start of the festivities surrounding Easter. With all the hustle and bustle we have to consciously make the commitment to refocus and remember who this is all about. Why are we planning the things that we do? Who is it for? is there space to pause and reflect on the cross and resurrection morning? Just as in HIs day, they celebrated as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, but only a few days later the crowds began to chant, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Jesus came to give His life. Will He also find us pushing and shoving for financial advantage or forgetting Him in the midst of the busyness of special meals, egg hunts and purchasing of Easter outfits? Just as in His day, from the money changers in the temple, to the soldiers gambling for His clothing, many people missing seeing the value of God’s free and precious gift, as Jesus died to pay the price for our sins. But the good news is that story didn’t end on the cross. Just as He had said, three days later, very early on Sunday morning, Jesus rose, triumphant over death and offering the gift of eternal life to everyone who would simply believe in Him.

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At the Table With Jesus

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And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
Luke 22:24 KJV

Communion is among the oldest and holiest practices in the Christian church. Jesus broke the bread and passed the cup, to his disciples, and those disciples broke the bread and passed the cup to others. As I sit in church every Sunday waiting for communion, I sometimes think of how, after 2,000 years, the bread and cup are still being passed. That night as the disciples sat around the Passover table, to commemorate God’s deliverance of His people out of Egypt, little did they know that even a greater deliverance was to about happen. The Bible tells us that Jesus longed to share that meal with them. He was getting ready to introduce them to a New Covenant between God and man and it would be bought with His own body and blood. Yet on the eve of the greatest sacrifice of love that the world would ever know, the disciples were arguing about which one of them was the most important. If you will permit me, let’s try to imagine their conversations.

Andrew: “Come on Peter, you are always trying to act like the big shot, but I want to remind you that it was me, who introduced you to Jesus and when Jesus needed bread, it was me who found the kid with the five loaves of bread!”
Peter: “Yes, but you were all there when Jesus said, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church!”
John: “Alright already, that’s enough!  We don’t know what Jesus meant by that, especially since just five minutes later He called you Satan and told you to get behind Him. What you all have to admit is that He loves me the most!”

Two thousand years have passed and only the conversations have changed. “We baptize better!” “No but we send more missionaries!” “We live a holier life!” “We are the most blessed!” And yet, Jesus after listening to us, doesn’t just slap Himself on the forehead shouting, “You lunkheads! I’m out of here! What in the world ever possessed me to agree to be born in a stable in the first place!” No, instead Jesus still passes the bread. Jesus still blesses the cup. Jesus still washes our feet, and Jesus still gives His life. Our hope is built, not on our wonderful behavior, our polite conversation or our accomplishments. As the hymn reminds us, “Our hope is built on Jesus’ blood and righteousness. We all must all still come, one by one to eat the bread and to drink the cup given to us by the hands of Jesus, “My body, which is given for you…. This cup is the New Covenant in My blood.” How great a salvation! How wonderful our Lord! How precious His promises! How unchanging is His love!

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Lessons From my Washburn (guitar)

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So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: Romans 12:5-6 a NKJV

I always look forward to the insights that Beth Allison shares over on her blog Lessons From a Lab I, on the other hand get to learn a few things from my Washburn. Now I freely admit that the photos Beth shares of her doggie friends, Adi and Summer are far cuter, than my guitar, but God uses what we each of have to teach us His truth, and it was kind of neat how changing and tuning six strings yesterday reminded me of today’s verse.

First, every string is different. Each of us requires our own individual amount of tension if we are going to sound our note. When we go around expecting others to be singing the same as us, we will not only be sorely disappointed, but we will also miss out on enjoying being ourselves. Some folks are low and slow, like Brother Low E, and others are temperamental and creative like the Mr. B-string, (whose soulful pitch sounds wonderful but goes out of tune the fastest!)

Secondly, each string has its own time and place to be playing during the song. Sometimes the lower strings remain silent, while the highest notes are trilling away, and yet they cannot leave the fretboard in a huff, demanding more attention. They must patiently wait their turn to become the baseline, that will help me to transition from the verse to the chorus. Yes, there are happy tunes when everyone gets to alternate in upbeat joyful praise, but best of all, are the moments when they join together in a final harmonic ring!

Last, I learned that the place assigned by the world to my strings is the exact opposite of how I relate to them. You see, Brother E, who is my lowest note is called my sixth string, and High E, who is his little sister, is called first. Though she may put on airs, when others call her the finest string of all, I would remind her that, from the musician’s point of view, it is the lowest string who is closest to me and nearest to my heart. But whether we are first or last, the most wonderful thing is that we are all his instrument, who He created and tuned to play a song of praise to Him today and forever!