Be Thankful, November 23, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Well, here in the United States, it’s almost Thanksgiving again. It’s probably a good time to stop and think about that psalm that’s most appropriate for this time of year. And that’s psalms 100. it goes like this:

Sing to the Lord, all the world!

Worship the Lord with joy;

come before him with happy songs!

Acknowledge that the Lord is God.

He made us, and we belong to him;

we are his people, we are his flock.

Enter the Temple gates with Thanksgiving;

go into its courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise him.

The Lord is good;

his love is eternal

and his faithfulness lasts forever. (Psalms 100 GNT)

Thanksgiving preparations take a lot. perhaps we think about sending out invitations to family and friends. we have to make that list of what we’re going to put on the table; the beverages that we’re going to have, the appetizers that we’re going to bring out before the meal begins or as the meal starts, maybe the meat or maybe two. is it going to be Turkey or ham or both? maybe some kind of fish, who knows? Vegetables. all the different desserts. my favorite is pecan pie. my wife’s is pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream.

perhaps we have games in store. is it going to be football for the guys? is it going to be some kind of outdoor game for the kids? or do we have something lined up indoors if the weather is bad? and then we have to get the house ready. there’s cleaning to do. maybe there’s extra chairs we have to obtain. or maybe extra tables. What about the place settings? or are we going to use good China or everyday plates? do we have enough?

Well, all of those preparations we have to take care of, but this year it’s a little, isn’t it? there’s going to be smaller numbers, perhaps. maybe not the big crowds that we’re used to in the past because of the covid pandemic. in fact, some states say that we can’t even have more than ten gathered for Thanksgiving even if it’s in our families. some might be missing from that Thanksgiving table whether they are ill or quarantine because of the covid symptoms. or maybe some have passed away, and we’re missing them because of that reason.

or maybe the Thanksgiving preparations will be short this year because of unemployment, food shortages, and essentials that just aren’t there. it’s going to be different this year that’s for sure. and this year it’s different because of the turmoil. I don’t know whether it’s the politics that has caused all of it. certainly, that’s part of it. we don’t yet know whether we have a president. no one’s been declared yet, not until the electorate votes in January. not until all the lawsuits are over. not until all the craziness that’s going on has ended, will we really know what’s happened.

and the turmoil with the pandemic. is this the 2nd way the 3rd wave? is there another one coming? certainly, we are facing some dire times as our health care workers are really getting fatigued? and we’re all getting exhausted with this separation anxiety? and what about our economy? as we have more lockdowns and more unemployment, our businesses just begin to crumble because of the lack of people going into our stores. and the turmoil that just continues to climb day after day.

and our social life, the turmoil that we see there. the separation just continues to eat at us a little at a time day after day. when we can’t have the contact that we had in the past. we are social creatures. when we can’t meet together, when we can’t have that physical contact, when we can’t touch and meet and be face to face with people that we love, with friends that we’re usually in contact with daily, it affects us. and all of that turmoil together creates anxiety. it creates problems for us.

many people will ask, so what do we have to be thankful for? well, there is hope for Christians. we have the same hopes that we’ve always had. we have hope in Christ. we have hope for a home in the future. we know that this is not our home. our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. our hope is in something more than this place.

it’s not a hope for just the beginning of a new year. it’s not just hoping for a fresh start as 2021 starts and maybe a new beginning that a new set of politicians might bring to us. it’s not hope for the government to do something that will bring change. or that new politicians or a new regime will finally fix everything. that won’t happen. it’s not hope that there will be an end of turmoil because the White House might flip. it’s not hope that that might end the racial tension or that the economy will suddenly spring up.

Our hope is in Christ. we hope that he will change our hearts. and he does change our hearts. He gives us peace that only Christians can understand once they’ve been forgiven of their sins. once he comes and indwells us. that’s when we understand what this is all about. what this Christian life is all about. can I explain it? can I understand how it happens? No. except that I understand that Jesus Christ forgives me, and it fills me with His peace and comfort and a joy that despite all that’s going on, I can still know that there’s hope for tomorrow.

so I can worship him. I know about the present. I know that God Reigns. I know that God is still in charge despite all the different things that are going on around me. I know that he protects his children. do we have suffering in this world? Yes, but this isn’t what it’s all about. it’s life after life that creates our hope. it’s what happens after this place that makes all the difference.

that’s why the apostles could be bold in their preaching. they could stand before the Sanhedrin. they could stand before Roman soldiers. they could give their lives because they knew that this wasn’t all there was. they were different from the world because of what they knew about the present. they knew that this wasn’t all there was.

we can worship because we know the end. we know that there will be a renewed heaven. there will be a renewed earth. creation will be renewed and made perfect again. we also know that in the end, they’ll be a judgment and what we do here will be judged by the one who judges perfectly. it won’t be our earthly judges that can be bribed or swayed by politics or caused to give different sentences or different punishments and rewards based on who they know or the wealth of the one they are facing. but will be judged by the one who knows our heart. the one who knows all about us. the one who created us and all there is. his judgment, his justice will be perfect.

we know the end. we know the present. we know the Lord. we know that he alone is worthy. he is our Shepherd. he is our savior. he’s the sustainer of all there is. he’s the creator. God alone is worthy of our praise and our worship. he alone is the one that is worthy of worship. so we go back to that 100th psalm. and as we approach this Thanksgiving season, it’s worth listening to one more time.

Sing to the Lord, all the world!

Worship the Lord with joy;

come before him with happy songs!

Acknowledge that the Lord is God.

He made us, and we belong to him;

we are his people, we are his flock.

Enter the Temple gates with Thanksgiving;

go into its courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise him.

The Lord is good;

his love is eternal

and his faithfulness lasts forever. (Psalms 100 GNT)

Enjoy this Thanksgiving. Worship God. We have a lot for which to be thankful. More than anything, else we can be thankful that he is God, and we or not.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Scriptures marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation®: Scriptures taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

God is Love, May 3, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Well, the November elections are well behind us. A new president took office months ago. But our nation hasn’t changed much. We still feel the effects of the divide that has been developing for a couple of decades. Party politics, escalated by the algorithms that social media shove to us to keep us addicted to what we want to hear, continue to grow on a hyperbolic curve.

We continue to have the growing concern about racism or reverse racism or whether there is any racism and what constitutes racism. Is it against color? Ethnic origin? National allegiance? Religious affiliation? Political ideology? Socioeconomic status? It seems all of those get stirred into the mix whenever racism starts rearing its head in some circles.

The “woke” movement and “cancel” culture are equally divisive. Somehow, we forget our entire history, good and bad, brought us to the place we are today. Right or wrong, the past is what it is and cannot be changed. It is history. Are we proud of our history? Some of it should be rightfully proud. Some of it we should fall on our knees in disgust and ask God forgiveness for our people as Daniel did. It doesn’t change the facts of history, but it changes us.

Then we see what is still happening with the pandemic. India seems to be the disease’s principal target as I write these words, although the United States still has 32.5 million positive cases and more than half a million deaths in its wake so far. And the number of new cases has remained relatively flat since mid-February despite more than half the population receiving at least one dose of the miracle vaccine to stop the spread. Chances are we will take another booster in six months or at least twelve months because of the mutations the virus undergoes with each generation of its spread.

It appears masks will become the new global fashion statement. The virus’s secondary and long-term effects on the body are still being discovered. It is a vicious disease. We also don’t yet know the long-term effects of the vaccines we take or the effects of the cures to get us out of intensive care wards. We know those are better than the days of suffering those with the disease endured with death knocking at the door, but we don’t yet know what they are only a year into the process. So, what do we do?

Responses look typical from where I sit. Some still isolate themselves, daring to go out only for necessities and emergencies. Businesses like DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber capitalized on the isolation quickly delivering whatever you need – with the requisite fee and a tip, of course.

Others try to hoard supplies as if the apocalypse arrived and factories will close forever. When supplies get to needy areas, sometimes money makes a difference in how distributors handle those supplies. The wealthy somehow always seem to have enough, and the poor always seem to remain in need. We can examine the plight internationally and blame poor government, but we can look at home and see the same results. Our responses continue to divide us no matter how we try to come together over issues.

So, what do we do? As Christians, what is our role, and how should we respond to the mess we see around us on every front? Let me share from one of the readings this week, and I think it will speak for itself.

My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him. God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him. God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts.

God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us. God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him. God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s how we stay one with God and are sure that God loves us.

God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us. If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won’t be worried about the day of judgment. A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows that we have not really learned to love.

We love because God loved us first. But if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see? The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!” (1 John 4:7-21)

I grant you that it is hard to get through the rhetoric we hear on every front today. We get blasted by the far-right and the far-left with little sanity from either side. Both sides’ ideas begin to sound okay when all you hear is what they feed you, but when you really listen to what the other side says, you find both sides often want the same outcome. If we would remember that neither party is in control of the world, or the country, or much of anything really, we would start to learn to talk to each other and solve problems. Neither side has control because Jesus is King. The head of one party or the other might promise all kinds of things, but they have little control over what they can do once on their throne. Obstacles in their path blur their vision, cause them to stumble, and stop their plans. It happens to every leader except one – King Jesus. His plans will succeed.

We need to stop listening to the world’s rhetoric on both sides and spend time with the King of kings. Learn how he lived and interfaced with those around him. Figure out what he did and what he said to those who followed him. Listen to the words of his disciples, those who lived next to him for three years and saw the miracles he performed and the way he treated the fringes of society. He was and is the King of kings then and now. Most people in the world just haven’t acknowledged it yet. But it won’t be long until every knee bows before him.

Watch him. God is love, and his actions show us what love looks like, what God looks like in action. Jesus demonstrated the ultimate example of love for his followers and all humanity, taking on his shoulders the sins of all humankind and carrying them to the cross. That horizontal beam of the Roman symbol of agony and death should remind us of the love we should have for each other as Jesus showed us when he lived with us for those few years. He is our example.

Love is the characteristic that sets Jesus’ followers apart from the rest of the world. We genuinely care about others. During the final battles between Rome and Jerusalem, the Christians helped those left in the city flee. During the burning of Rome, it was the Christians who provided aid and shelter to those left homeless as they could. It was Christians who helped the plague-ridden victims in the middle ages. Christians come to the assistance of others because they care about their fellow man.

It doesn’t matter what color a person’s skin. God made all of us some shade of brown, from a pale tan to almost ebony, but when we compare our pigmentation, we all fall onto the brown side of the color wheel. We all look the same inside and react to drugs and treatments about the same way. Our limbs, organs, and brains work the same way. God made us much more alike than different if we will stop to examine humanity. And if God made us all, it means we must love our brothers and sisters. As John tells us, “We love because God loved us first. But if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see? The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”

Now, go and demonstrate the love of God where you are, show others who the God of creation is by his Spirit living through you.

At the Name of Jesus, April 19, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We like to read the stories in the Bible. We like to hear about the miracles and heroes rising up to defeat great armies. But that’s not what the Bible is about. When we stop and examine those stories, they tell us about God’s plan for humanity through those stories. What’s more important is how his plan unfolds through the lives of those who follow him and stay obedient to him. We learn by watching God’s power work through their weakness.

One such story comes from the early believers as Peter and John go to the temple to worship. But it’s not the miraculous event that should capture our attention, but Peter’s sermon that follows. Just to make sure we suit everyone, though, I will share the miraculous part of the story, too.

The time of prayer was about three o’clock in the afternoon, and Peter and John were going into the temple.A man who had been born lame was being carried to the temple door. Each day he was placed beside this door, known as the Beautiful Gate. He sat there and begged from the people who were going in.

The man saw Peter and John entering the temple, and he asked them for money.But they looked straight at him and said, “Look up at us!”

The man stared at them and thought he was going to get something.But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold! But I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, get up and start walking.”Peter then took him by the right hand and helped him up.

At once the man’s feet and ankles became strong,and he jumped up and started walking. He went with Peter and John into the temple, walking and jumping and praising God. Everyone saw him walking around and praising God.They knew that he was the beggar who had been lying beside the Beautiful Gate, and they were completely surprised. They could not imagine what had happened to the man.

While the man kept holding on to Peter and John, the whole crowd ran to them in amazement at the place known as Solomon’s Porch.Peter saw that a crowd had gathered, and he said:

Friends, why are you surprised at what has happened? Why are you staring at us? Do you think we have some power of our own? Do you think we were able to make this man walk because we are so religious? The God that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and our other ancestors worshiped has brought honor to his Servant Jesus. He is the one you betrayed. You turned against him when he was being tried by Pilate, even though Pilate wanted to set him free.

You rejected Jesus, who was holy and good. You asked for a murderer to be set free, and you killed the one who leads people to life. But God raised him from death, and all of us can tell you what he has done. You see this man, and you know him. He put his faith in the name of Jesus and was made strong. Faith in Jesus made this man completely well while everyone was watching.

My friends, I am sure that you and your leaders didn’t know what you were doing. But God had his prophets tell that his Messiah would suffer, and now he has kept that promise. So turn to God! Give up your sins, and you will be forgiven. Then that time will come when the Lord will give you fresh strength. He will send you Jesus, his chosen Messiah. But Jesus must stay in heaven until God makes all things new, just as his holy prophets promised long ago.

Moses said, “The Lord your God will choose one of your own people to be a prophet, just as he chose me. Listen to everything he tells you.No one who disobeys that prophet will be one of God’s people any longer.”

Samuel and all the other prophets who came later also spoke about what is now happening.You are really the ones God told his prophets to speak to. And you were given the promise that God made to your ancestors. He said to Abraham, “All nations on earth will be blessed because of someone from your family.”God sent his chosen Son to you first, because God wanted to bless you and make each one of you turn away from your sins. (Acts 3 CEV)

As we often see in scripture, Luke gives us a very brief synopsis of an event that his readers probably had heard before. Whether the name of the person to whom Luke writes, or an honorary title, which means “friend of God,” Theophilus was not ignorant of the incident. Luke confirmed the stories of Jesus and the early church through first-hand knowledge and many witnesses. This first recorded miracle after the coming of God’s spirit into the lives of Jesus’ followers is familiar.

Peter and John headed to the temple to worship. On their way, the saw, as usual the same lame beggar they saw every time they passed the entrance called the Beautiful Gate. He sat there day after day collecting alms as his only means of survival. Someone brought him to the place in the morning. He sat begging all day to collect the few coins those who took pity on him dropped into his hand, and his friends picked him up and took him home at night. That same ritual continued day after day without end.

When Peter and John stopped that morning and looked into the man’s eyes, though, something different happened. Peter and John had no money. They had nothing to offer except what God’s spirit in them prompted Peter to announce to the man – healing. But not just physical healing. If you read the verses carefully, you’ll find he was made whole, complete, healed in the sense of his body, mind, and spirit renewed and cleansed as the Jews would have understood healing. He could walk when he had never walked before, but his sins were forgiven. He became complete by God’s spirit living in him. God renewed him.

The miracle got people’s attention. Those coming and going around the gate and who saw the man who they recognized as the beggar from years of passing by him began to gather around to find out how this happened. Now Peter had an audience. And Peter, never one to be shy, began to preach. “Do you think we did this? Give honor to the one who really did it. He is healed by the name of Jesus. Oh, the one you betrayed. The one you turned against. The one you rejected. The one you killed and let a murder go free instead. But God raised him from the dead. Faith in Jesus made this man whole.

Peter goes on to excuse the leaders of their ignorance of what they did. Paul will later proclaim that if they had known what they were doing, they would not have crucified Jesus. He lays out how Jesus fulfills the role of the Messiah as prophesied in the scriptures. God kept his covenant promises even though we did not.

We broke creation through thinking we could be like God. God promised to fix it. But he chose to do so through the humans who broke it in the first place. The covenant with Abraham promised to bless all nations through him. It promised to multiply his family to an uncountable number. The God’s continued covenants with Israel and David told of a king who would rule the earth. Every nation and every person would bow to him. The Messiah would free them from exile. But their view of the Messiah then, didn’t match the Messiah Peter described. They lived in a broken world. One ruled by violence, physical power, so they expected their Messiah to rule with the same harsh character.

Jesus came in peace. God’s plan to make the world right didn’t include the violent overthrow of world empires. He already kept them in control. He created all things in the first place. Jesus, his Son, could calm storms with the sound of his voice. He could heal with the touch of his hand. He could drive demons out of people and into pigs on command. God didn’t need violence to subdue the nations of the world. He already ruled them. Instead, he came as a gentle shepherd. He allowed himself to be wounded, broken, insulted, humiliated, crucified to show the power of love.

In doing so, Jesus overcame humanity’s curse – death. He defeated death and the power we had given to idolatry. We made figures of wood and stone and invested our worship into these man-made figures instead of worshiping the God of creation. We still worship idols and cause untold pain in the world. Our idols today may not look like the figures of gold and stone from Peter’s day, but we worship money, power, sex, jobs, positions, fame, celebrity, sports, possessions, a host of idols that keep us chained to the curse Jesus defeated for our sake when we believe in him for redemption.

Jesus pronounced a new covenant with his disciples during his last meal with them. He had fulfilled the promises of the old, and he gave his disciples a new covenant that included all who believed in him for salvation. God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven would begin with his death on the cross. He was the King of all kings. All people of every nations were invited to come and kneel at the cross. All who believed in him as the Messiah could become members of this new covenant. All could find freedom from the powers that held them hostage to sin and death and decay eternally. They could find new life in him.

Peter’s sermon to those assembled that day echoed the new covenant. God spoke through the prophets to Israel. “But God had his prophets tell that his Messiah would suffer, and now he has kept that promise. So turn to God! Give up your sins, and you will be forgiven.”

The message hasn’t changed in 2000 years. It is as fresh and true today as it was for those Peter addressed in the temple court that day. Jesus still forgives. He still gives new life to those will believe. All it takes is trusting in him. Do it today.

He Has Risen – April 5, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We just enjoyed a grand Easter celebration because Jesus is alive. But it shouldn’t be a once-a-year celebration. Jesus is alive. Think about that a moment. Two thousand years ago, something happened that changed the course of human history, so much so that most of the world determines the date by the man whose death and resurrection caused that change. Today, secularists changed the name of time from BC and AD to BCE to CE. However, the calendar divisions still coincide with Jesus’ birth as described by the calendar developed by Dionysius in 524 AD under Pope John I. They can change the name, but they cannot change the fact.

Jesus’ resurrection proved him as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. God’s promised King of all creation to bring freedom and rule over all the world. In Jerusalem, the political and religious leaders thought they defeated the uprising Jesus led with his band of followers proclaiming him Messiah when they nailed him to the cross. The resurrection proved them wrong. But Jesus’ uprising did not want to overthrow Rome or even the priesthood. He brought peace, forgiveness, and hope to the world. The promises God gave Abraham, David, Moses, and Israel in his covenants with them. The message they were supposed to share with the nations to bring others into the family of God, expanding his kingdom to all people.

Since that day, Christians have heard from non-believers that Easter is just a story, Jesus’ followers made it up to keep the revolt alive. Just look at the differences in the gospels, they say. Of course, they disregard the fact that if all the testimonies are identical in a court of law, the opposition will tell you the witnesses were coached. No one sees an event or talks about a traumatic event the same way. Without some trivial differences in the testimonies of witnesses, juries must conclude serious doubt. That’s what we see in the gospels, trivial differences. The event is the resurrection. Who got to the tomb first, whether the angels were inside or outside the tomb, whether there were one or two angels, how the linens were arranged, these are trivial compared to the fact that a dead man was no longer dead, but alive just as he predicted.

Then some would not believe it because the first who saw the risen Lord were women. The gospels reported Mary first seeing the risen Lord in the garden at first thinking him the gardener. In that culture, a woman’s testimony wasn’t considered trustworthy. If the gospels writers wanted to make up the story, they would use men, not women, to tell of the resurrection. We notice by the time Paul begins telling the story for the church, the women’s testimonies are left out, the disciples’ and other followers’ testimonies support seeing the risen Jesus, but not the women. Why? Women’s testimony would cast doubt on the event in his culture.

Then we have the martyrs. Why would ten of the eleven disciples, Paul, and thousands of others willingly go to their death, refusing to renounce their faith in Jesus and his resurrection if they did not believe it? All they had to do was say the words, and they could save their lives, but they did not and would not do so. For those who were Roman citizens, death came quickly as they were beheaded. Rome could create indescribably horrible torture for those who were not Roman citizens before their end finally came.

One such form of cruelty described by the historian Josephus, a Christian would hang by one hand over a pack of hungry dogs while they jumped and clamored over one another to eat what flesh they could. If the victim didn’t die, they would haul them back to the prison cell to be brought out again to feed other animals or tie them to horses and pulled apart. Still, they would remain loyal to Christ. Incredibly, their suffering and death often spurred others to come to Jesus because of their unshakeable stand for him.

So, what did Jesus do that caused the world to change so dramatically? Why would the calendar and the world turn upside down because of him? We read the words Peter spoke to Cornelius and his household in Acts 10 that describe part of his work.

Peter began to speak: “I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to.You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.You know of the great event that took place throughout the land of Israel, beginning in Galilee after John preached his message of baptism.You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him.We are witnesses of everything that he did in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem. Then they put him to death by nailing him to a cross.But God raised him from death three days later and caused him to appear,not to everyone, but only to the witnesses that God had already chosen, that is, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from death.And he commanded us to preach the gospel to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.All the prophets spoke about him, saying that all who believe in him will have their sins forgiven through the power of his name.” (Acts 10:34-43 GNT)

Jesus came as the human God wants all of us to emulate. Paul tells us in Philippians that he did not exploit his divinity but set it aside and became man to fulfill man’s role as the reflection of God, the embodiment of God, to draw all men to the kingdom. Jesus came announcing peace. He wasn’t the warrior king the Jews wanted in a Messiah, but the King of kings bringing peace and justice to all nations prophesied by Isaiah. He went about doing good, healing people of every sickness, and driving out demons. We hear little about demons in our day. The world will tell you they don’t exist. It’s all part of the story, make-believe. Indeed, some of the issues the middle-ages thought they dealt with were mental illnesses, but we went too far in the other direction, I’m afraid. I believe there exists a spiritual realm we cannot see in which spiritual warfare continues between good and evil, and we behave as willing players on one side or the other. We stand either on God’s side or not. We have a choice, but we cannot stand in the middle; there is no middle ground.

Then Jesus died on the cross, according to the scriptures, as Paul says. It’s much easier to see in hindsight than with foresight, which I think is why Jesus had to explain the scriptures about himself to the two men on the road to Emmaus on that first Easter morning. Now we can look at scripture and see all those verses that tell us his suffering, scourging, death on the cross, the casting lots for his robe, and so many other points in his life that fulfill prophecy. He did what Israel and no other self-proclaimed Messiah had done or could do.

What did his death on the cross do? Once and for all, he made a way for us to break away from the power of idolatry, whatever that idol might be. Today, it is most likely to be money, power, or sex. Those are the big three. Those might be absorbed in jobs, material things, family, position, pornography, affairs, or anything you put in front of God. But Jesus’ death on the cross, his lifeblood cleansed the place where God and man meet on earth. And his sacrifice means we can come into God’s presence repentantly and our sins will be passed over, forgiven, because of the blood spilled on our behalf, just as the angel of death passed over the houses of the Israelites at their Exodus from Egypt. We are freed from the power of evil. Free to worship God as we should.

Jesus’ resurrection vindicated him from the Jewish leaders’ accusations and others who discredited his role as Messiah. Those who followed the scriptures believed the Messiah could not die, especially before returning the Israelites from exile and seeing God return to revisit his people. His presence had not been seen in the Temple since Ezekiel’s vision of his glory departing the city and stopping above the Mount of Olives. Messiah would restore the dwelling of God and return his glory. But this Jesus died on the cross. The empty tomb, his bodily resurrection, proved his victory even over the power of death.

Jesus did one more thing with his resurrection. He pulled the future into the present. Some Jews and other pagan religions believed in a resurrection at the end of time when God would judge our actions in this life, and we would be rewarded or punished for our deeds. Jesus brought that future into the present with his resurrection. No others have or will experience it until the end, but he brought the ‘age to come,’ as the Jews refer to it, into the present. As Paul described him, he is the firstfruits of the resurrection, and we will follow him with renewed bodies into a renewed creation at his coming again.

The kingdom has come. God’s spirit dwells in those who believe in him for salvation. Heaven and earth come together in us as heaven and earth came together in the Garden of Eden and the tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple in Jerusalem. One day, Jesus will return, and the New Jerusalem will appear; the new creation has begun, and we who believe in him are part of it. Our mission is to share the message of his life, death, and resurrection. We are to share the announcement of the new creation coming and that we can all be part of the kingdom he ushered in by his actions on the cross and that first Easter morning.

Every day is a day to celebrate the fact that he has risen, and he is coming again. In the meantime, share the message that Jesus is now and always will be King of all nations, Lord over all powers and people, Master of everyone and everything. Let us worship him in renewed strength, giving him all the glory he deserves as we await his return.

The King Has Come, March 29, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Palm Sunday has slipped behind us. Passion week stands before us. As we look at the events that will happen to Jesus over the next few days, I think it will help us to understand why both the religious and political leaders want so desperately to do away with him. Everything culminated with the actions he took on the first day of the week, Palm Sunday. But without fully understanding the historical background behind the events that took place that day, we cannot understand why the chief priest and representatives of Rome were so anxious to be rid of Jesus. We fail to miss why the radical shift from crown him to crucify him.

We see Palm Sunday as Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and picture people waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” In our western thought, we have turned the actions into not much more than a nice children’s activity for them to make construction paper palm leaves and wave them in the air as they walk down the aisles of the church. We smile and comment on how cute they look as one of the boys chosen to play Jesus comes riding through the middle of the group on a stick horse.

The events of Jesus’ triumphal entry have significantly more to say to us than just a nice parade on a sunny Sunday morning, though. The depth of the covenant promises between God and Abraham, David, and the Israelites made the events that happened that day extraordinary. Until we put some of the background of Jewish thought and hope into Jesus’ actions, we miss the significance of Palm Sunday. Let’s start with Mark’s rapid-fire description of the entry from his gospel in chapter 11.

Now, as they were approaching Jerusalem, they arrived at the place of the stables near Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead and said to them, “As soon as you enter the village ahead, you will find a donkey’s colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it to me. And if anyone asks, ‘Why are you taking it?’ tell them, ‘The master needs it and will send it back to you soon.’ ”

So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied to a gate. When they started to untie it, some people standing there said to them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

They answered just as Jesus had told them: “The master needs it, and he will send it back to you soon.” So the bystanders let them go.

The disciples brought the colt to Jesus and piled their cloaks and prayer shawls on the young donkey, and Jesus rode upon it. Many people carpeted the road in front of him with their cloaks and prayer shawls, while others gathered palm branches and spread them before him. Jesus rode in the center of the procession, with crowds going before him and behind him. They all shouted in celebration, “Bring the victory! We welcome the one coming with blessings sent from the Lord Yahweh! Blessings rest on this kingdom he ushers in—the kingdom of our father David! Bring us the victory in the highest realms of heaven!”

Jesus rode through the gates of Jerusalem and up to the temple. After looking around at everything, he left for Bethany with the Twelve to spend the night, for it was already late in the day. (Mark 11:1-11 TPT)

Let’s start with the geography, and the place Mark records the beginning of Jesus’ triumphant ride. He and his disciples have come to the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha in Bethphage near Bethany, Bethphage means the house of stables in Aramaic. These two small villages are nestled on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. Jesus came here often, it seems. Whether to visit his friends Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, to deliver the sermon we call the Olivet Discourse Matthew records in chapters 24 and 25 of his gospel, or in his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane after his last Passover meal with his disciples this place is familiar. Jesus will ascend from the Mount of Olives forty days after his resurrection.

A most fascinating aspect of the geography, however, comes from Ezekiel’s prophecy. In chapter eleven, God gives the prophet a vision in which he sees the shekinah, the visible glory of God, depart the city of Jerusalem, and stop above the mountain east of it. The mountain east of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. Jesus, the embodiment of God, returns to the Mount of Olives to begin his triumphant return into the city of Jerusalem on the first day of the week that will mark the beginning of his reign over the new Kingdom of God.

We next see Jesus’ foreknowledge of certain events as he tells two of his disciples to go ahead of him and get a colt they will find in the village tied to a house. Perhaps we can assume Jesus planned with the owner earlier for the colt to be available at a certain time and place, but would Jesus know about the bystanders who would question his disciples, and the answer that would placate their curiosity if they thought any thievery were in progress? It makes one wonder.

Then we see Jesus’ act of riding an unridden donkey at all. First, donkeys are well known for their stubborn streak, their unwillingness to obey their owners, much less strangers who want to put them to work. Second, this was an animal not yet tamed. Ask those who tame horses, mules, and donkeys how quickly they would hop on an unridden colt and take it into a crowd. Not one in a thousand would think you were sane to attempt such actions. But Jesus did without a second thought. He knew the animal would obey his every command. If the wind and waves obey him, so would an untamed donkey.

Riding a donkey into Jerusalem meant something special to the Jews, though. It looked unlike the victory procession of most kings. They would enter gates on stallions with their conquered kings and slaves behind them. Jesus rode a lowly donkey, and the colt of a donkey at that. But those who looked for their Messiah King saw Jesus as their rescuer from Roman oppression. Zechariah had written:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech 9:9 NIV)

Jesus, this miracle worker who dared challenge the authority of the Pharisees, and gave new interpretations to the law that spoke of love, peace, and God’s kingdom near at hand road through the gates of God’s city just as Zechariah described the Messiah. Their victor had arrived. Israel’s King came through the gates that day. Herod met his match. Caesar and his government would no longer bully God’s people. God had sent his Messiah to rescue them and bring justice back to Israel. The people on that first day of the week saw victory in its many forms – return from exile; freedom from Roman oppression; true justice reigning; God’s new kingdom beginning; the Age to Come had arrived; the Messiah, King of all nations would reign.

What they didn’t see was how that victory would take place. They didn’t understand the Messiah was a suffering servant. They didn’t think the Messiah could die on a cross, the most shameful means of execution. And they didn’t see the connection in the geography. Jesus, the embodiment of God, began his triumphal entry on the Mount of Olives, where Ezekiel last saw God’s glory revealed. Jesus rode the foal of a donkey through the narrow road to Jerusalem to the Hosannas of the crowd, and through streets of the city to the Temple. Jesus, the embodiment of God, went into the Temple, and no one recognized him for who he was. He looked around, and just as in Ezekiel’s vision, Jesus departed and rested at the Mount of Olives in the home of Lazarus.

The rest of the week will unfold with the religious leaders understanding the revolt that simmers because of Jesus’ actions on that first day of the week. The crowd sees a potential revolutionary hero rising. This Jesus came through gate of the city using prophecy to declare himself King, Messiah. Barabbas already awaited execution for inciting a revolt. Crosses lined the countryside filled with those who dared challenge Roman rule. Now Jesus rides in as if he were King of the Jews. Herod is not a friend, but at least he is not a foe of the Temple. He’s better than Caesar and has served as a buffer for Israel. Now, the authority Herod gives the priests in governing, the nation itself stands in jeopardy because Jesus’ followers declared him Messiah, King of kings. If Jesus is Messiah, Herod is not king, Caesar is not lord. The country, the Jewish faith is in trouble. Something must be done.

If the religious political leaders knew what they were about to do, they would never have killed Jesus! By their actions, they are about to usher in the Age to Come, the new creation, heaven joining earth in a way they could not imagine. A revolution is about to begin that will encompass the world – revolution of love.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scriptures are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

The Hour Has Come, March 22, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The scripture under consideration this week gives us some interesting points to explore as we approach Good Friday and Easter. It comes from the gospel of John, chapter 12.

Now there were a number of foreigners from among the nations who were worshipers at the feast.They went to Philip (who came from the village of Bethsaida in Galilee) and they asked him, “Would you take us to see Jesus? We want to see him.”So Philip went to find Andrew, and then they both went to inform Jesus.He replied to them, “Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified.Let me make this clear: A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat—all because one grain died.”The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to me, will find true life and enjoy it forever!If you want to be my disciple, follow me and you will go where I am going. And if you truly follow me as my disciple, the Father will shower his favor upon your life.

“Even though I am torn within, and my soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue me from this hour of trial. For I have come to fulfill my purpose—to offer myself to God.So, Father, bring glory to your name!” Then suddenly a booming voice was heard from the sky,

“I have glorified my name! And I will glorify it through you again!”The audible voice of God startled the crowd standing nearby. Some thought it was only thunder, yet others said, “An angel just spoke to him!”Then Jesus told them, “The voice you heard was not for my benefit, but for yours—to help you believe.From this moment on, everything in this world is about to change, for the ruler of this dark world will be overthrown.And I will do this when I am lifted up off the ground and when I draw the hearts of people to gather them to me.” He said this to indicate that he would die by being lifted up on the cross. (John 12:20-33 TPT)

Some translations say Greeks came to Phillip, but to the Jews, all foreigners were Greeks or Gentiles; the terms were synonymous to them. It’s like our phrase when hearing a foreign language or explanations that are intellectually challenging and exclaiming, “It’s all Greek to me.” These men may have been proselytes to the Jewish faith, or they may just have heard about Jesus’ miracles and wanted healing, food, or answers. Maybe they believed he could forgive and longed for freedom from sin or perhaps just curious about this man who raised so many questions among the people.

Phillip went to Andrew, and the two took the request to Jesus. We might have thought Jesus would say yes or no to the request or would have gone to the foreigners to give them an answer to the quest. Instead, we get what seems a rather peculiar response.

“The time has come. I’m about to be glorified. Unless a grain of wheat is buried and dies, it is alone. But if it dies, it will produce a harvest. If you love your life, you will lose it. If you hate your life in this world, you will keep it for life in the age to come. If anyone serves me, they must follow me. Where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor them.

Now I’m troubled, but I came for this hour. Father, glorify your name. Now, this world’s ruler will be thrown out when I am lifted up from the earth. And when I’ve been lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”

What a strange answer to give Phillip and Andrew when the Greeks came to see Jesus! Throughout the gospels to this point, Jesus had continually told those around him, “My time has not yet come.” At the wedding in Cana, in conflict with demons, when Jesus told some he healed not to tell who healed them, and so many other instances. After his first confrontation with the Pharisees in Jerusalem, Jesus kept his ministry outside Jerusalem to avoid both the religious and political leaders there because ‘his time had not yet come.’

Jesus knew his death would coincide with Passover. It seemed he looked to a particular Passover. We might think he would aim to go to the cross on the day of atonement to look at the somber ceremony the Jews held for the forgiveness of sins each year, but he did not. He marched toward the Passover for a reason. In the Protestant church, we miss the meaning because we don’t understand the long, rich history of the Jews and why Passover held such a powerful meaning.

We know it marked the Exodus from Egypt, but the celebration meant so much more to the Jews, and we forget the early Christians, including Jesus, were Jews steeped in that history. Passover marked freedom from slavery. Freedom from the power of an evil King, Pharaoh. It marked the passage from death to life with the crossing of the Red Sea. It also brought the remembrance of their sin and death in the wilderness. Their sin wasn’t because of bad behavior but because of idolatry.

The word sin means missing the mark. Their failure to worship God. Their failure to be the image-bearers of God he gave them as their vocation in his covenant relationship with them. They missed the mark in their vocation. Their sin of idolatry kept them from the promised land until they cleaned up their act in the wilderness and learned to worship God in the tabernacle as he directed in the tablets of the law. Then they crossed the Jordan and began the conquest of the promised land.

But again, they missed the mark of the covenant, and God finally sent them into exile into Syria and Babylon, not because of bad behavior, but because of their idolatry. They failed in their worship. They gave power to idols rather than keeping the authority God gave to humans in having dominion over the world. Gods of wood and stone, crafted by men’s hands, were given power they did not earn but were given to them as men worshiped them. Idolatry polluted humanity, including the Jews, finally driving God’s people into exile.

The tabernacle, the ark, the mercy seat was the place God would come to meet with man. The lifeblood of the animal sacrifice cleansed and purified the altar and the mercy seat. It wasn’t the killing of the animal God wanted. It was the access to the purifying blood to place on the mercy seat. We know from medicine today that it is our blood that purifies our bodies. It carries the toxins and impurities to our liver and kidneys, which act as filters to flush them out of our system. Without blood filtering the cells throughout the body, the toxins we produce would kill us in minutes. Blood from the sacrificial animal cleansed the mercy seat where God met unclean humans, a picture of a future time when God would meet man at the cross with his life’s blood cleansing that sacred spot to bring us out of exile.

The blood was never for the forgiveness of sins. In the atonement sacrifice, the priest symbolically placed the people’s sins on the scapegoat’s head, and another priest led the animal out of the camp into the wilderness. The sin offering individuals might make throughout the year atoned for wrongs committed unwittingly or unwillingly, wrongs they didn’t know they committed. Committing a behavioral wrong knowingly meant harsh punishment, often death by stoning with the accuser casting the first stone.

Jesus and those around him knew all this. They lived it every day as part of the burden carried by the corrupted Jewish covenant. But when Jesus answered, he saw the cross. He knew the evil powers would soon break. The cross would overcome sin. He was the light of the world; he had almost completed his vocation as God intended for humanity. Jesus was about to take back the power of those idols through his death on the cross. His innocent death would usher in a new Passover; the power of forgiveness would find victory over the power of evil and the curse of death.

Jesus’ hour has come. The world is invited. The cross will bring victory, freedom, forgiveness, and power through God’s spirit. His vocation will find completion in the cross. Jesus knew more suffering would come, both to him and his followers, but that is the way of the cross. That is the way of love and forgiveness. The powers of evil, of idolatry, will not give up easily. They will fight. But Jesus moves steadily toward the cross because he also knows what lies on the other side.

The cross is in front of him. But so is Easter.

You can find me at richardagee.com. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Love Wins, March 15, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

I’d like to share with you the lectionary from John. I comes from chapter 3:14-21.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.

But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (John 3:14-21 NIV)

We draw closer to Easter. Our meditations focus more on the cross, and the day Jesus ushered in the beginning of the end and new creation, the restoration of heaven on earth as at the beginning of God’s beautiful creation. This week’s lectionary included one of the most recognized verses in all the New Testament, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.”

We use the verse in evangelistic services to win others to the love of Christ. We use it to comfort people in times of crisis. John 3:16 demonstrates the all-inclusive nature of a loving God. He leaves no one out of his love. The verse gives us hope amid overwhelming despair, knowing life exists beyond the few years we spend in these frail fleshly vessels. The promise of eternity for those who believe in Jesus as Messiah, Savior, Lord, and follow him gets us through the difficulties of life in ways that are hard to explain at times. John 3:16 stands as a monumental verse in scripture.

However, we often disassociate the verse from the two that come before it, even though intricately tied together. The preceding verses introduce a story from Numbers that Jesus recalls, and the New Testament writers record only this one time. The story does much to explain the role of the cross as Jesus marches toward his death.

The Israelites grumbled about the steady diet of the manna God gave them as a source of food in the wilderness. God had enough and sent poisonous snakes into the camp that began biting and killing some people. The people approached Moses, admitted their wrong, and asked him to intervene to God on their behalf. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and erect it on a pole in the camp center. Anyone who looked at the serpent would live.

To you and me, that sounds like a pretty silly cure for snakebite. It did to many of them, too, I’m sure. But if you believed God and looked at the pole, you lived. If you didn’t, you died. The difference became so apparent among the people that the serpent became an implement of worship in the Temple that later King Hezekiah destroyed, grinding it into dust, finally ending the practice,

Soon, the political and spiritual leaders prompted by evil forces, unbeknownst to them, would lift Jesus up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Not to cure snakebites, but to cure the sins of those who believed in him once and for all. But it requires believing, just as it required believing for the Israelites in the wilderness. The cross was the culmination of Jesus’ vocation – death, the final task completed. Jesus taking his last breath. A picture of evil winning at six o’clock Friday evening. But that was only the end of the beginning. New creation happened next. The Kingdom came. Heaven and earth met. Jesus, the resurrected King came alive from the tomb and defeated the enemy of humanity. He won.

What we need to understand about John 3:16, then, is God didn’t punish Jesus for our sins as some might think. God gave Jesus as the only one who could live humanity as he intended it. Jesus lived out the vocation God gave Adam, but Adam failed. He gave the vocation to Noah, but Noah failed. Abraham failed. Moses and the Israelites failed. The Israelites looked for a Messiah who would bring them out of exile and looked for God to return to the Temple to dwell there. They never recognized Jesus as the embodiment of God in human form. The Messiah, God, the suffering servant who would fulfill the prophecies in ways unexpected by the political and spiritual leaders corrupted by a broken world.

God gave himself in perfect humanity, in perfect love, to live out the vocation he gave to humans who could not carry out his plan, so he did it himself. He lived a life of love and suffering and sacrifice, bringing heaven to earth in unexpected ways to dwell with us. The interesting word used is not dwell or live with us, but he tabernacled with us, temple words, God coming to meet man words. On earth as in heaven words.

The passage we shared shows us God loves the world like he loves the Israelites. The world lifted his son like Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, but rather than living a few years by viewing the serpent, we can live eternally by believing in the son. God so loved the world he came in the form of humanity to save it.

In the wilderness, believers lived, non-believers died. Both had the same opportunity. Both could look at the serpent if they chose to do so. Believers chose to look at the serpent lifted up on the pole because they believed it could cure them. Non-believers never made an effort and died in their tent. Only one group found life.

The light came into the world. Believers in the light found life. Non-believers remained in darkness and death. Both have the same opportunity. Both can have life, but only one group will receive it. Only those who come out into the light and have their deeds exposed can find forgiveness for their deeds. Only those who believe can find life. Those who do not believe are condemned already because they refuse to come out of their darkness, and like the Israelites who failed to believe in the wilderness and stayed huddled in their tents, the poison will kill them.

Does God desire that we suffer and die in our sins? No. It’s why he came in the first place. He so loved us that he came. He took the world’s sins upon himself. But covenants have two sides. He did the hard part; he died on a Roman cross for us. He asks us to lift up our eyes to the cross and believe in him. Meditate on this short passage this week. What does it mean to you? Let it soak into your soul as you understand what Jesus did for you on the cross that day 2000 years ago.

The Heavens Speak, March 8, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Some scholars have built an entire vocation around Apologetics, the discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics) It’s not just Christian Apologetics in religious debates today, either. You will find it in Buddhism, Judaism, Muslim, cults; almost anywhere you locate a religious gathering, you’ll discover apologists for their belief system.

In the early Christian church, apologists debated attempting to stem the growing persecution against the believers. Trumped up charges against Christians put them in grave danger by the state and their neighbors. Nero accused Christians of burning down Rome. Others charged them with cannibalism by misinterpreting the Eucharist. Still others accused the Christians of incest since they called each other brother and sister when greeting each other. So, the early apologists’ debate shared the gospel’s truth and the Christian practices that helped support those truths.

Later, apologists focused on the existence of a unique and personal God. Some, like Tertullian, formulated and described the trinitarian nature of the godhead in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – one God existing in three personifications. Others explained the means of atonement through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus; how the Eucharist acts as a remembrance of his covenant with believers; and other doctrinal issues within the church.

Today, apologists often work to share what early Christians believed. We have allowed doctrines and theology to stray so far to the right or left of what the early church held as truth; we have a hard time knowing what to believe anymore. Apologists debate the finer points of doctrine, often confusing the situation more than they should. Sometimes I think they hurt the faith as much as they help when debates internally get as rabid as debates external to the church.

But however heated debates might get, it’s necessary sometimes to stop and look at scripture, think about what it says to us, meditate on its meaning, and understand what God wants us to do because of its message. Such is the case with many of the Psalms, the Jewish nation’s songs, filled with emotion, but also filled with truth. We can see it in Psalms 19, one of the scriptures from this week’s lectionary readings.

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;

yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,

which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. (Psalms 19:1-6 NIV)

In these verses, we recognize nature will declare the creator God’s majesty and power if we won’t. When we consider the universe’s mechanics, we should stand in awe of God’s creative power. Some today scoff at his existence, but how can there exist such an intricate balance between the galaxies and stars and planets without a great designer. If only by chance, I would submit that takes a great deal more faith than believers exhibit. Producing the universe by chance would be like putting the parts of a watch in a bag and shaking it until a watch comes out. But indefinitely shaking that bag of parts doesn’t produce a watch, only dust in the end.

All we need do is look around us, and we see the evidence of God. The sun, moon, and stars do not need to speak for us to know God exists. We see his handiwork by their very existence and their precision movement in the sky. We hear creation around us in the voice of the animals, the babbling brook, the sound of raindrops falling, the breeze rustling the leaves in the trees, and myriad others surrounding us. We feel the heat of the sun, the cool of the night, the salt spray of the sea against our face. We innately know God is real because of our physical experiences every day.

Our observations of the natural world tell us something or someone set it in motion. Everything around us cannot be an accident. Things reproduce too perfectly, yet too uniquely to come from chance alone. Something or someone put all the laws in place to make this spot in the universe the perfect place for us to live and grow and multiply. Scripture tells us that someone is God. The apologists use scripture to argue and debate their logic. The non-apologists just look up to the sky and look around them and see the glory of God in all his creation.

When Jesus made his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, the Pharisees and rulers told him to hush the crowds as they cried out, “Hosanna to the King.” The Pharisees feared what the Romans would do because of the praises lifted for this itinerate preacher and teacher. You probably remember Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees and rulers. “If these don’t praise me, the rocks and hills will cry out their praise.”

The psalmist saw creation crying out God’s praises whenever and wherever he took time to look. He could not escape the awe-inspiring visage of what God had done. But he also purposed to voice his declaration of God’s glory and majesty in the form of a psalm. It is time we, too, declare the glory of God as we look around and see what God has done. Nature will continue to speak on God’s behalf, but I don’t want nature to speak for me. I want to speak for myself as I share the goodness, the majesty, the incredible power, the glory of the creator God, who rescued us from this dark world and promised to one day restore earth and heaven to their former glory for those who believe in his son for salvation.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

God’s Covenants, March 1, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The season of Lent includes several important points for us to consider as we journey through those 40 days leading up to Easter. Initially, baptismal candidates used the time to go through a rigorous catechism to ensure they knew what it meant to take on the title Christian in a pagan world. Church membership didn’t mean just putting your name on a roll and attending every once in a while or giving a few dollars to keep the lights burning. Becoming a member of this band of Jesus followers meant the possibility of giving up everything, including your life. You might lose your job, your possessions, family and friends, everything. As Jesus told his disciples, the world would hate them because of the message they lived before others. Lent, then, allowed these new converts to make sure they believed what they believed and knew what it meant.

Over time, we transferred Lent as a preparation for baptism and church membership to prepare for Easter, something the early church never did because every Sunday they celebrated Easter. That’s why the early Christians celebrated and worshiped on Sunday, the first day of the week when the resurrected Jesus appeared to Mary and his disciples after his crucifixion for the first time. We seem to have forgotten much of what the early church meant by their early baptism practices, Lent, even the meaning of Easter and Sunday. But Lent is in every respect a time of preparation, a time for self-examination and meditation on what God did for us on the cross.

The cross fulfilled his last great covenant with humanity. God made covenants with many throughout the Old Testament. They begin with Adam. He placed him in the garden and gave him dominion over his creation, granting him life for as long as he obeyed a straightforward command. Don’t eat from the tree in the center of the garden. Adam failed the test, and the curse of death fell upon all creation. God gave Noah a covenant and sealed it with a rainbow. He gave Abraham and David and Solomon covenants. Throughout the Old Testament, we read repeatedly covenants God made with individuals and with his chosen people.

God’s covenants have some interesting characteristics, however. His covenants are extraordinarily one-sided. God does most of the work. Covenants today would be called contracts in which each party commits to providing some service to the other party. But in God’s covenants, invariably, God commits himself to do everything except one small item. He calls the other party to obey him. Usually, that’s the sum total of what he asks. That was all he asked of Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses, Israel, and the list goes on. His covenants ask for obedience. Just listen and do what he asks. And usually, his rules are not hard. Don’t murder – not so hard. Don’t steal – we can do that. Don’t commit adultery – it seems like our culture leaves that out a lot, but if we control our appetites, we can do that without much effort. Don’t lie – it’s a lot easier to tell the truth, so you don’t have to remember who you told what lie. Don’t covet – there’s that appetite again, but it’s really about being okay with what someone else has. If we do those, it’s easier to have no other God’s before Yahweh, or not to have any images, things we’ve created to take his place, or to take his name in vain, or to set aside time to worship him. When we do all that, honoring parents is easy. And Jesus put it together in two simple commands: Love God; Love others.

So, to sum up God’s covenants, he does everything for us to succeed in his economy. He takes care of our needs, not necessarily our wants. He adopts us into his royal family and makes us part of his kingdom. God renews our humanity as he designed it. And all we need to do is love him and love others. He takes care of everything else. That should sell better than the Gansu knife. But it doesn’t because we think we know more than God. Take a look at God’s covenant with Abraham, for example.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.

God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.” (Genesis 17:1-7;15-16 WEB)

How do we get around our obstinance and worldly attractions? Lent is a good start. Paul tells us in Philippians to think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV) The covenant of the cross surely meets that criteria and should be in our thoughts consistently during Lent. Think about what comes from Jesus’ sacrifice – forgiveness, fellowship, adoption, inner peace, eternal life. Meditate on these things and let God’s peace wash over you during Lent.

Jesus did it all for us. He gave his flesh and blood. He endured the agony of the cross, the ridicule, and humiliation from the crowd, even death at the hands of an angry mob. He did it all. And our part of the covenant he instituted on that last night with his disciples? Obey two commands. Love God and love others.

Lent – a time of preparation, self-examination, meditation. Think back to the early church and what it meant to new believers. True believers may not be far from going underground again in this country as Christians are in many countries around the world. It’s time we stop and contemplate what it means to follow Christ. Will you follow him if it means your job, your property, your possessions, your family, your life? Will you pay the price in suffering when you walk in the footsteps of the suffering servant? Those were questions the early church faced. Will we see them in this country? Maybe. Spiritual warfare continues in realms we do not understand. Lent offers a time to reflect. Take the time as another glorious Easter celebration approaches.

Scriptures marked WEB are taken from the THE WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB): WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE, public domain.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

In God We Trust, February 22, 2021

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We can find our nation’s motto in a lot of places – on our coins and bills, on government buildings, in several federal department and state seals. It has been around for almost two centuries, first embellishing the one-cent coin in 1837 and becoming part of all our coins in 1873. It became the United States’ official motto under President Eisenhower in 1956 and has been on our paper money since 1957.

At the passage of the Coinage Act in 1873, the country still reeled from the effects of the Civil War. We needed a reminder that God remained as the guiding light from whom all things would prosper and proceed after a war that killed more Americans than any other. We needed to remember our real treasure didn’t reside in money or wealth or property but God. So by putting “In God We Trust” on our coins and bills, every time we paid for an item, we are reminded God provides, not the government, or our jobs, or some other tangible or intangible force we might presume gives aid. God is the source of our strength and success.

Many have tried to remove the words from our currency from the first day it appeared. To date, all attempts have failed. I’m afraid it won’t be long until those opposed to God will soon succeed to the detriment of the nation, but as Christians, we need to continue to press to keep the motto alive across the land for as long as possible. Our heritage lies in the providence of God’s grace. Were all our founding fathers Christian? No. As many point out, some were deists; some were atheists. But many did claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The reason for the several groups’ departure from the European continent certainly involved escape from religious persecution. Others wanted to take advantage of the prospect of new lands for development, the potential for finding rare minerals, power, and a host of other reasons. However, the earliest settlers from Europe came seeking religious freedom, as seen by the early charters within their settlements.

What can we learn from them? Perhaps the most important lesson, trust in God. I’m reminded of those words as I read the lectionary for this week from Psalms 25:

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O LORD!

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. (Psalms 25:4-10 NIV)

Lord, teach me. We become so arrogant in our seeming knowledge, but we know so little. If we had real wisdom, we would face the mess we find ourselves in today with its racial strife, the enormous political divide, the clashes between socioeconomic or ethnic groups. We would not create such misunderstanding between people because of disparities in material or immaterial things that might cause those disparities. If we had real wisdom, we would work together in community to help each other, lift each other, encourage each other, strengthen each other, understand each other.

So, my prayer is to teach me, Lord. Help me know your paths. Somehow get through my thick head, and lead me in your truth, not what some party or newscast or social media writer might want me to hear, but rather, lead me in your truth. I know that only your truth can save me from myself and from the evil that surrounds me. That’s what the psalmist knows, and that’s what I am learning daily from God’s truth recorded in his word.

I like the way “The Voice” renders the next verses. “Gracious Eternal One, remember Your compassion; rekindle Your concern and love, which have always been part of Your actions toward those who are Yours. Do not hold against me the sins I committed when I was young; instead, deal with me according to Your mercy and love. Then Your goodness may be demonstrated in all the world, Eternal one.” (Ps 25:6-7 The Voice)

I am so glad God doesn’t give me what I deserve, but rather, in his compassion, his mercy, and love, which have always been part of his actions toward his children – humanity – he extends his grace instead. He forgives our sins. He forgets our transgressions. He wipes away the wrongs we commit against him because he is good and merciful and loving.

But God doesn’t leave us at that point. He doesn’t abandon us at the point of forgiveness. Instead, God instructs us to live right. He teaches us to live honorably. God leads us down paths that will benefit us and keep his reputation and name clean and clear. The humble find themselves lifted by God’s teaching. But what does humility mean? I think the best definition I’ve heard is not thinking less of yourself, but not think more of yourself, either. Remember that you are a child of the King, but only because the King died on the cross for you.

So, where does all of this put us? I think it’s time to pay attention to our motto. Whenever you pick up a coin or lay a bill on the counter to pay for something, remember where to put your trust. Faith in money doesn’t work. There will never be enough to do everything you want to do. We will probably never pay off those trillions of dollars we owe that keep growing every day. The government won’t fix things. For 245 years, the government has tried but has never succeeded in making life better for everyone. Someone always gets the short end of the stick. Social change doesn’t make a difference. The change will benefit one group but harm another; it always does.

Our only hope for the future comes from putting our trust in God. The psalmist knew it. The Secretary of Treasury Salmon P. Chase knew it in 1861. President Eisenhower knew it in 1956. As believers, we know it today. We need to show by our actions that we believe it, though. Read God’s word. Soak your mind in it. Let it become part of your life. Act on it as you let God’s Spirit work through your life to show his love in a world desperate for something more than what they get every day through their standard fare. Make a difference because of what you learn in and through Jesus, the Messiah, the true King of this world.

God Renews Us, February 8, 2021

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. I’m tired of politics. I’m tired of the pandemic. I’m tired of isolation and social distancing. I’m tired of biased news reporting. I’m tired of social media. I’m tired of the increase in violent crime. I’m tired of the growing disparity between classes. I’m tired of the constant bickering that never accomplishes anything. I’m just tired.

Do you feel that way sometimes? If you do, you’re not alone, and I’m not alone. I think we all experience it at some point. The Israelites experienced it during Isaiah’s prophecies. Judah and Israel crowned more bad kings than good ones during their histories. Few stood up to God’s standard as men after God’s heart. More carried the title “more wicked than his father.”

Most often, the prophets spoke out against the kings’ leadership because of two significant issues. First, they allowed and often participated in the worship of foreign gods, in contradiction to Yahweh’s first commandment to have no other gods before him and his second commandment to never make or bow to any image. Second, the kings failed to care for those who could not care for themselves in society, the widows and orphans who had no means of support. The kings made the poor poorer as they accumulated wealth for themselves.

Finally, God allowed his chosen people and the city where the Jews built his Temple to crumble. First. Assyria led Israel into exile, then Babylonia took all but Judah’s poorest and lowliest into exile. Jerusalem ground into broken stones and burnt timbers.

I look around at our country and see a lot of what Isaiah saw. Our nation seems to crumble around us. A few years ago, we heard about the infrastructure of Flint, Michigan. The lead in the water system poisoning its people because of the antiquated water system in disrepair. Then we heard about the bridges collapsing in several states under the weight of everyday traffic and discovered many of our interstate overpasses stood on the verge of collapse with no repair since erected in the 1950s and 60s. The overhead electric grid serving California sparked several wildfires that destroyed millions of acres of forest, hundreds of homes and killed dozens of people.

Our education system crumbles around us as we place near the bottom of the industrial world with students graduating from high school that can’t read or write above the sixth or seventh-grade level. Math skills among our graduates rank among the lowest in the civilized world, and few of our college graduates are problem solvers. They look for answers on the internet instead.

We saw our political system crumble in this last election cycle as both parties slung mud at each other instead of outlining plans for how they would fix the problems we face. The rhetoric on both sides of the aisle continues to divide us, create distrust among us, discourage meaningful debate, and resolve real issues. We have few statesmen left in either House of Congress as parties vote as a block on every piece of legislation.

And it seems faith has crumbled. Before COVID, attendance across most denominations in the US consistently fell. People didn’t pronounce God dead, but many acted like it. We became a society afraid of telling the truth because we might hurt someone’s feelings. And I agree that truth without grace is disastrous. But so is grace without truth. We must stand for something, and if we call ourselves Christians, we must stand firmly on the commands Jesus gave us. Love God and love others. But we must not only stand on them, but we must also act on them.

Today there are more than 5,000 cults in the United States. A cult is a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. We think of Jim Jones, David Koresh, and others like them, but more than 5,000 small sects register as religious groups worshiping a person or object in this country alone. And collectively, they bring in billions of tax-free dollars. Our faith crumbles.

Israel whined and complained about their plight. I just whined and complained about our plight. Look at any social media outlet and you will see an incredible amount of whining and complaining. But God, through Isaiah has something to say about our complaints. We find these words in Chapter 40 beginning at verse 21.

Do you not know?

Were you not told long ago?

Have you not heard how the world began?

It was made by the one who sits on his throne

above the earth and beyond the sky;

the people below look as tiny as ants.

He stretched out the sky like a curtain,

like a tent in which to live.

He brings down powerful rulers

and reduces them to nothing.

They are like young plants,

just set out and barely rooted.

When the Lord sends a wind,

they dry up and blow away like straw.

To whom can the holy God be compared?

Is there anyone else like him?

Look up at the sky!

Who created the stars you see?

The one who leads them out like an army,

he knows how many there are

and calls each one by name!

His power is so great—

not one of them is ever missing!

Israel, why then do you complain

that the Lord doesn’t know your troubles

or care if you suffer injustice?

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God;

he created all the world.

He never grows tired or weary.

No one understands his thoughts.

He strengthens those who are weak and tired.

Even those who are young grow weak;

young people can fall exhausted.

But those who trust in the Lord for help

will find their strength renewed.

They will rise on wings like eagles;

they will run and not get weary;

they will walk and not grow weak. (Isaiah 40:21-31 GNT)

Did you notice? God has this under control. He did for the Israelite and Judahites headed into exile. He did for the disciples and the early church as they faced indescribable persecution. And he does for us right now. God sees what happens to us. He knows what we need, how we feel, the anguish and burdens we carry. But God never gets tired. He never gets weary. His wisdom is beyond understanding. And he strengthens us.

Isaiah tells us the young with all their vitality may stumble and fall and grow tired in their journey. But those who trust in God, the creator of all things, will regain their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and never get winded or weary. They will walk and never tire or faint. Will all those things happen this side of eternity? My aging broken body says, probably not. But there will come a day when Jesus returns to renew and restore heaven and earth to its former glory. He will give us new bodies that never tire. We can enjoy that space with him forever when we give ourselves in faith to him.

This place may crumble around our heads, but we don’t fight against this visible place. It’s okay if it all tumbles down around us. We are citizens of a different kingdom. One that will last forever. We are children of the King and will enjoy the fruit of his renewed creation, a renewed heaven and earth, as part of his family. Our mission now is to introduce other to him through love, so his family can grow. So, do we whine and complain, or do we look at the reality of the spiritual warfare taking place around us a praise God for the hope within us as we love others into his kingdom?