Two Significant Birthdays

Within four days of each other, two of our children have birthdays. On January 21st, our oldest son Jason had a birthday. I can't imagine a another father being prouder of a child than I am of Jason. Of all of our children, he was the planner, and determined to reach his goals. From ninth grade on, he knew he wanted to attend Evangel University, major in music and orchestrate music for live and recorded sessions. Today he is an Assistant Professor of Music at Evangel University. He has been instrumental in expanding the music technology and music industry sections of the Music Department. He has written countless orchestrations for many churches, civic orchestras, recording sessions and more. The idea of hearing the music in his head, and then being able to display it on a computer and then print all the parts for an orchestra, boggle my mind. I love hearing the music he has worked on. If he stays on his goal schedule, Jason will begin working on a doctorate this coming fall. The family side of life makes me just as proud. He is a wonderful husband and father. He and Jennie have done a wonderful job of raising their two sons. Both of them excel in different areas. Two years ago, Jason and Jennie began the adoption process to adopt a Haitian orphan who was very ill. Today, Josie is a bubbly, full-of-energy, bundle of excitement, and very healthy. Jason, Jennie and their boys have loved this little girl into health and vitality. The compassion and care of disadvantaged children that Jason saw in his own home as he grew up obviously translated into he and Jennie's decision to follow James 1:27, The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father's point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans... Happy birthday, Jason.

Today is Nicole's 20th birthday. It is hard to imagine that my little girl is all grown up. The memories of her as an 18 month old, playing "chase me" with me are as vivid today as they were 18 years ago. Every Friday we would dress her "to the nines", complete with her fuzzy white coat and take her to the county's social services division so she could visit with her birth grandmother. At the end of the visit, Kathy would usually spend a few minutes talking with Nicole's social worker, and I would take Nicole out in the hall to burn off some energy. For some reason, today she won't play "chase me" anymore. :) I agonized over this child because she had no father. Many nights I would feed her a bottle and put her to sleep, praying over her, and her future. After her grandmother had exhausted all the possible relatives that Nicole could have gone to, we began the adoption process. For you see, by 18 months, she was already embedded far too deeply in our hearts to let her go back into the foster care system. Today she has blossomed into a wonderful young lady. Her photography hobby has evolved into a small photography business, she is working and paying off her car, and learning the life skills that will make her a wonderful wife and mother. Near the end of the adoption process, we had a session with a doctor who discussed with us all of the possible health problems that Nicole could have. She was born a preemie to a 14 year old mother. She had a severe brain bleed at birth. The disclaimers went on and on, enough to scare anyone away from taking responsibility for her. Today she is healthy, beautiful, and is smart and intelligent. None of the "possibilities", ever came to pass. I believe God helped Kathy and I to love her to health, and God has blessed her with His presence for His purpose. Happy birthday, Nicole.

It's Really All About People

I spent the last week in northern Illinois, helping the Illinois District of the Assemblies of God, install new software and train church users. While I have never served in an Illinois church, I have always admired this district, and the cutting edge ministry they bring to their churches and ministers. In this case, they are trying to give their district supervised churches better tools to do the best job possible in their communities.

Generally, a district supervised church is a smaller church that needs help in organization, funding, governing leadership and other elements. Once a church has become healthy in all the major areas, it transitions to being a self supporting autonomous church. The idea in Illinois is that if you give as much help as possible to the district supervised churches and pastors, you build strong churches in each of the communities that you are trying to reach.

Both communities I worked in last week were rural, and small. The first town was small enough that it did not have a single chain business of any kind. That included fast food restaurants, drug stores, grocery stores, etc. However, the church we were working in has more than 300 people worshiping there today, nearly 10% of the population of their town. The other small city we worked in was a little larger, with a smaller church. The pastor is bi-vocational and they do not have any paid staff. Everything is done by volunteers. The infectious enthusiasm I sensed there was refreshing. Each person that came for training was excited about the new tools. While our job was to install and train on a software system, I could see that each volunteer saw this as a better way to reach their own people and reach out to their community. When we talked about a "person record", the trainees saw that person as a "real person". It was fun to hear them talk about their various groups and ministries and how this new tool would help add people to them.

As a church administrator, sometimes the job can break down to software, numbers, buildings, supplies, and systems. I was reminded this week that it is all about people. Telling people that Jesus can change their life, and then demonstrating that by the way we live. I'll be doing some more of these installations. I can't wait to meet the people.

Another Employment Update

It has been awhile since I have updated my blog readers on the status of my journey towards a new job. Since my last update, Christmas has come and gone. Today we will finish putting away the last of our Christmas decorations and our tree goes to the recycle pile. Since we traveled to Colorado Springs for the Christmas holiday, we did not decorate our house as much as we normally do. Sadly, some of my favorite nativity scenes were packed in my office "stuff" boxes in our storage unit, so they didn't get to be enjoyed this year. Not having an income changed the way we did most things, but it also reinforced the joy of being with family and enjoying those moments far more than the commercial part of the season. I really missed not being part of a Christmas production, but I was blessed to attend several in our area and in the Springfield, MO area. I read more Christmas stories and writings this year than ever before, and all-in-all, we had a wonderful celebration. As you might imagine, however, all church hiring activity stops from Thanksgiving through the New Year, so there wasn't much activity on that front.

I am waiting to hear on a couple of possible positions, I have recently applied for a couple of others, as well. Kathy and I are trying as hard as we can to hear from God. We are confident in His love and care for us, and know that He knows exactly where we are. We also know, however, that 20 million Americans are out of work. Many of those are devoted Christians, trying to trust God just as much as we are. We also hear the sad stories of homes lost, bankruptcies, financial devastation and family unrest as people try and cope with this very difficult time in our country's history. We had our house on the market, but after 6 months we took it off the market and have decided to wait until spring to try and sell it again.

So where are we? We have had and continue to have some tremendous prayer and emotional support from our families and great friends. We have had just-in-time financial support that has helped us stay current with our financial obligations. We are using our savings, but at a slower "clip" than we expected. Our faith in God's provision for us is at an all time high and we are confident that God's open door for us will be revealed soon. Thank God we are not in this alone. Blessings for a New Year...

Another Year Is Dawning

I meant to post this blog yesterday, but ran out of time. One of my favorite hymn lyrics writers is Frances Ridley Havergal. If you look through a hymnal, you will will find several of her hymns included. My all time favorite Havergal hymn is Take My Life And Let It Be.

Frances wrote several hymns for the new year. This one, titled Another Year Is Dawning, was written on December 31, 1874 for the new year of 1875.

   Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be. 
   In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.
   Another year of progress, another year of praise, 
   Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.


   Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace, 
   Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face.
   Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast; 
   Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.


   Another year of service, of witness for Thy love, 
   Another year of training for holier work above.
   Another year is dawning, dear father, let it be. 
   On earth, or else in Haven, another year for Thee.


Another year to see the great hand of God at work in our lives as we demonstrate who He is to a needy and desperate world.

I Am Blessed To Be Just Unemployed

The month of December marks 7 months that I have been unemployed. For 3 of those months, I have not had any income, and as a former church employee, not eligible for unemployment insurance. As I contemplated all the wonderful blessings from God this Christmas season, I realized how fortunate I am, as a husband and father, to be just employed. For instance;

I could be a husband and father in a Somalian refugee camp trying to keep my wife and children alive. Trying to find enough food and clean water each day just to live until the next day. Nothing else would matter, including the "things" that we left behind in our hasty exodus.


 I could be a father in Juarez, Mexico, terrified every time my teenage sons leave the house, knowing that the drug cartels are killing young men involved in drug trafficking. Sadly, many young men have lost their lives because of mistaken identity.


I could be a father in Southeast Asia, escorting my teenage daughter everywhere she has to go, scared to death that she might be kidnapped and sold into the heinous sex trafficking industry.


I could be a Christian husband and father, looking over my shoulder every time we attend ourchurch in Tehran, Iran. Many of our friends have been arrested and fathers have a way ofdisappearing and never being heard from again.

Instead, I live in the most prosperous country in the world. I do not have to fear when my children leave our house. We have yet to miss a meal. Even though our financial health has suffered a serious blow in the second half of 2011, we have been blessed abundantly by friends and relatives. God has been so good to us. Today, December 26th, we are celebrating Christmas with 20 relatives in Colorado Springs, CO. Most of my children and grandchildren are here, along with parents and brother and sister-in-laws. We've discovered that the "things" of Christmas are not so nearly as important at the "people". While I have always known the presence of God in this wonderful season of the year, this year, Immanuel truly has been God With Us.
    

O Come, All Ye Faithful

The Christmas truce on Flanders Field in Belgium is a timeless testimony to the power of the birth of Christ. On the western front of World War 1, a brief, unofficial cessation of hostilities occurred between British and German forces. It began on Christmas Eve 1914, when German soldiers in their trenches began singing "Stille Nacht", (Silent Night). The British stopped firing and began singing English carols. Soon the troops were greeting each other across no-man's-land and exchanging small gifts. According to the written account of an unknown British soldier, the next morning, December 25, 1914, was foggy and very cold. Neither side began firing; the truce held. Some British troops went over to the German side to help bury a slain soldier and then returned for a Christmas worship service. "How we did sing, 'O Come, All Ye Faithful.'" he wrote his family. "I never expected to shake hands with Germans between the firing lines on Christmas Day, and I don't suppose you thought of us doing so. So after a fashion we've enjoyed our Christmas." The next day the war resumed.
 
   O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
   Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;


   O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
   O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.


   Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation; O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
   Glory to God, all glory in the highest;


   Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be all glory given;
   Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

The Essence of the Christmas Season

Here is a wonderful story, by Loren Young, that demonstrates the essence of Christmas.

   One recent Christmas I was visiting my parents who live in a mining community in West Virginia. Times were bad. I noticed in front of me a young couple stopped near a lame man.
   The husband, obviously a miner, and his wife were talking in whispers. As the young husband looked down at his wife, a smile slowly came over his face and he nodded. She pulled out an old black change purse. Then she walked slowly to the lame man and turned the purse upside down.
   Coins rattled into the old man's cup. "I'm wishin' you a Merry Christmas," she whispered. Gratefully, the lame man reached out to shake her hand.
   I watched them walk down the street. They were broke and would have to walk home. But I could tell by the bounce in their steps that it would not be a long walk. When they lightened their purse, they also lightened their hearts, and the joy that comes from giving had worked it ageless magic once again.

Let this Christmas season be  renewing of the mind of Christ in our thinking, and a cleansing of our lives by His pure presence. Let His joy come to our weary world through us. Gerald Kennedy

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

One of my all time favorite Christmas carols is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I have performed the carol many times as a piano solo, several choral arrangements, orchestra arrangements, and in the last couple of years, a wonderful arrangement for choir, cello, and piano. The cello part was played b Jonathan Gathman, one of the most creative and accomplished musicians I have ever had the privilege to perform with.

In medieval Europe, there were cathedral services each evening leading up to Christmas Eve. Each service would begin with an antiphon, a choral call to worship. There were seven "Great O Antiphons," beginning with the Latin word veni (come), followed by the Latin words for "O Wisdom," O Lord," "O Branch of Jesse," "O Key of David," "O Dayspring," "O King of Nations," and "O Emmanuel." It is believed that O Come, O Come Emmanuel was written in the 12th century. These choral prayers were rooted in messianic titles used by the prophets in the Old Testament, pleas for God to come. In the 1800s, various English translations of the "Great O Antiphons" were made. This well-loved British version is the work of Thomas Alexander Lacey, who was born today, December 20, 1853.

   O come, O come, Emmanuel! Redeem Thy captive Israel.
   That into exile drear is gone, far from the face of God's Son.


   Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel. Shall come to Thee, O Israel.


   O come, Thou Branch of Jesse! Draw the quarry from the lion's claw.
   From the dread caverns of the grave, from nether hell, Thy people save.


   Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel. Shall come to Thee, O Israel.


   O come, O come Thou Dayspring bright! Pour on our souls thy healing light;
   Dispel the long night's lingering gloom, and pierce the shadows of the tomb.


   Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel. Shall come to Thee, O Israel.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

When you look at printed music, the lyrics (words) are attributed to the author and the music (tune) is attributed to the composer. Sometimes both are written by the same person, but not always. When you look at the printed music for O Little Town of Bethlehem you see the tune is called "St. Louis." Here's the story.

In 1865, the famed Boston pastor, Phillips Brooks, visited the Holy Land and stopped at Bethlehem. He was so moved that he wrote the lyrics to this wonderful carol for the children in his Sunday School. He handed the words to his organist, Lewis Redner, and asked him to compose a melody. "If it's a good tune, I'll name it 'St. Lewis' after you." The completed song was an instant hit, and Brooks did name the tune for the organist, changing the spelling to "St. Louis" to avoid embarrassing him. Here are a couple of my favorite verses.

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.


How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is given;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heaven.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

There Is Nothing Better Than A Christmas Baby

34 years ago, today, our daughter Aimee was born at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara, California. For a minister of music, the timing was very interesting. That week, we were in the final preparations for our annual Christmas concert, and the hospital was 2 hours driving time away from the city we were living in. It was this way because of insurance requirements. Our oldest son, Jason, was almost 2 years old, so that year we had a great Christmas with Jason, who understood what was going on, and Aimee, our brand new baby, that everyone wanted to hold.

Every year we had to really work at having Aimee's birthday on the calendar early enough so that the church music I was working on wouldn't overlap. Jason was an almost perfect baby. He hardly fussed, slept through the night starting his first week home, and was an easy baby and child to care for. Then came Aimee... One night when she was still pretty young she came into our bedroom. I was already in bed, reading Dr. Dobson's The Strong Willed Child. She asked me what I was reading and I told her, "Aimee, I'm reading a book about you." Then there was the time she and her mother were visiting Kathy's parents. Marjorie taught organ lessons in her home and was finishing up with a student. As the adult student started to leave, Kathy and Aimee came into the room and Kathy's mom introduced them. The student asked Aimee, "what do you call your Grandma?" to which Aimee replied "Grandma." Then the student asked her "what do you call your Grandpa", to which Aimee proudly replied "jerk." We're still not sure where that came from. What we did know early on was that Aimee had a mind of her own, and she would march to the beat of her drummer, not necessarily ours.

Today Aimee is an outstanding Children's Pastor in Albany, Oregon. This is the second church where she has made tremendous strides in the church's ministry to children. I think the single-mindedness that she displayed as a child has benefited her tremendously as she creatively designs ministry to children. I believe that somewhere down the road, Aimee will be a regional, if not national Children's Ministry leader. I think she will be a wonderful mentor and creative resource for children and children's leaders across our country. She is also a wonderful mother and wife.

As I stand back and watch from a distance, I am so thankful to God for this wonderful little dynamo that He trusted us with. Her mother and I are so proud of her. We can't wait to see all of the great things that God will help her and her husband accomplish.

Is Christmas Celebrated in Heaven?

I have started watching some of my favorite Christmas movies. On of them is the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol staring Alistair Sims. One of my favorite scenes is where Bob Cratchit asks for Christmas Day off, and after Scrooge scolds him for taking off this one day of the year, Bob's face lights up as he puts on his scarf and coat. The joy of anticipation shows all over his countenance. I know how Bob Cratchit felt, because I love Christmas as well. Another recent movie that is becoming a favorite is The Nativity. I love seeing the story acted out on the screen. Every year I read the story from the gospels, but there is something special about seeing each scene unfold. On Friday evening I attended a presentation at St. John Lutheran Church titled The Legend of the Christmas Angels. Part of the story explored the idea of how the angels interact with humans during Christmas.

All of this got me thinking about Christmas in Heaven. I wonder if each year a grand pageant is presented for all the heavenly residents? I have directed many Christmas presentations over the years. Many of them have included a nativity scene. The success of each presentation depended somewhat on the budget for costumes and sets, and the actors that were available, lighting and sound, music and all the elements that go into a Christmas pageant. There would be one huge advantage to the presentation of a Christmas pageant in Heaven. They have the original cast! No one has to wonder about what the costumes looked like, the script is exactly right, and there is no question about "did the angels say or sing?" The lighting would be perfect and the audio crew wouldn't miss a single cue. Can you imagine the power of the presentation as this wonderful story is enacted by all the people who were there more than 2,000 years ago? I wonder if everyone kids the innkeeper about not trying harder to find a room for Mary and Joseph? I believe the angel host that announced Jesus' coming to the shepherds numbered in the thousands on that wonderful night. I wonder if when they reenact the story in Heaven, they give other angels who might not have been there, the opportunity to shout "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

I hope they really do present The Nativity every year. And...if they do, that will be one of the highlights for my first Christmas in Heaven. I love this story, and what an incredible thing to see it re-enacted by the original cast. Merry Christmas.

Let Christmas Begin

This is going to be a very different Christmas for the Salazar family. For the first time in 36 years, we are not part of a church staff during the Christmas season. For the past nine years we have enjoyed 3 church Christmas parties. First with the Deacons, Elders and Pastoral Staff, our entire church staff and then we hosted our Music Department at our house for a grand get together. It is very interesting to not have a church family, especially at Christmas. We have been attending a wonderful Lutheran church near us, but it is not our church family yet.

Christmas will still be a great celebration in our home. As of today, our house lights are up, our outside decorations are out, our live tree is decorated and lit, and most of our inside decorations are up. Tonight we decorated our tree, drank hot chocolate, enjoyed a fire in the fireplace and listened to wonderful Christmas music. Let Christmas begin...

We also had another heartwarming experience tonight. Earlier today we pulled out a lot of decorations that we have not used in this house because it is smaller than other houses we have lived in. They are all very nice and we hated to see them stay in boxes. So, I put an ad in the "free" section of Craigslist and took pictures of all the things we wanted to give away. I mentioned in the ad that we particularly wanted to give these decorations, serving dishes, serving platters, and lights to a family or person that couldn't afford to decorate for Christmas. Within 30 minutes of posting the ad I had 6 responses. The first one was from a family that has a very ill mother living with them. The husband has been laid off for several months and they could not afford Christmas presents this year. The only thing they wanted to do was put out some decorations for their mother, thinking that this might be the last Christmas she is alive. The husband came over this evening to pick up all the items. He was blown away with all the nice things they received. I think they thought it might be junk. Shawn helped him load up all the boxes and then Kathy went out to his car and gave him a Schnucks grocery store gift card that had been given to us. This burly, hard-on-the-outside father choked up as Kathy gave him the card. We both saw that he was trying to stay composed, since he didn't know us, but if he had looked in our eyes, he would have seen the same emotion he was experiencing. All in all, it was a pretty good evening. Let Christmas begin...

Christmas Music Is Timeless

Christmas music is timeless. Except for patriotic music, most other styles of music lose their impact as time goes by. If you look at top 100 charts from each decade, each chart is different. None of the music of one decade stays popular into the next decade. Last Sunday on our drive home from celebrating Thanksgiving in North Carolina, Kathy and I listened to some of our favorite Christmas music. Here is some of mine:

   The Many Moods of Christmas - Robert Shaw with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
   Handel's Messiah - the Christmas portion
   An Evening In December - incredible a capella music from the 80s
   Christmas with the Annie Moses Band - wonderful young musicians
   Jingle All the Way - Bela Fleck & the Flecktones -  use a mixture of bluegrass, fusion of jazz, or anything else that catches their interest. 
   Il Divo - The Christmas Collection - an incredible men's quartet
   O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Jay Rouse's wonderful arrangement for cello, piano & choir
   Noel - Josh Groban - last year we performed Silent Night from this album - one of the best arrangements of this classic carol.
   Christmas Colours - Maranatha Music - wonderful light jazz
   Michael W. Smith - Christmas - one of the best
   If On A Winter's Night - Sting
   The Preacher's Wife soundtrack featuring Whitney Houston
   The Wind Machine, a New Age bluegrass group - they have 2 Christmas recordings
   The Christmas Album - David Foster, with a lot of wonderful artists
   Anything from Mannheim Steamroller
   
As a musician, I have had the privilege of playing a lot of great Christmas music. Both in public settings as well as just for myself. I think being a musician gives you a greater appreciation for other musician's work. I will try and listen to at least a portion of each of the works from my list this year. If you are looking for some new Christmas music, go to iTunes and listen to samples of some of these albums. Merry Christmas.

It Was Hard To Drive Away

This past week we drove to Youngsville, North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham), to spend Thanksgiving with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. We had great trips both going and coming. Our 3 teenagers even got along, for the most part.

My dad is 92 years old, very hard of hearing and getting very feeble. While it was a joy to be with him, it is hard to hold much of a conversation. One evening, however, all of us, together, spent some time in his bedroom. It was a fun, reminiscing time, and I'm glad that our children had a chance to spend the time with their grandfather. It was great to look at old photos and think about different times.

My mother is a saint. She, along with my brother-in-law, Terry, are the primary care givers for my dad. He needs almost everything done for him. On Friday night, he slipped out of his wheel chair on the way to the bathroom and I had to help my mom pick him up. She doesn't have enough strength to do what she does, but she does it anyway. I have never heard her complain about having to take care of my dad. Hospice care is involved now, and it is a tremendous help. Terry and Lila are incredible. There care for my dad is amazing.

My sister, Lila, and mom cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. My sister is a vegan, and fixed several vegan dishes. The vegan turkey and stuffing was pretty good. We all enjoyed trying the various dishes and enjoyed all the traditional Thanksgiving food. It was good to have my dad at the table. Earlier in the week he was too weak to get out of bed. Later, my mom had to give him some morphine to help with extreme pain. He is struggling with congestive heart failure and it's starting to get the best of him.

On Friday we toured historical Wake Forrest and drove into Raleigh. We had a great time sightseeing.

On Saturday afternoon we said our goodbyes. I was emotionally overwhelmed as I said goodbye to my dad. I think I knew deep in my heart that this was my last goodbye before we see each other in heaven. For many miles I reminisced about my dad, the things he taught me, and the things I learned by just observing his life. You don't get parents any better than mine. This time together just reinforced that for me. On 6/18/2008 I wrote a blog titled Don't Forget To Sweep the Street. This was my dad at his best. It's worth searching for and reading.

Great Friends Are A Gift

For the past 5 months our lives have been turned upside down. After 36 years of continuous church ministry, I have been out of work for these 5 months. Our kids are in limbo, not knowing where we will finally land. We have lost our church family and many of the activities and events we would have been part of are no longer available to us. For the past 6 weeks we have not had any income, which adds to the feeling of being turned upside down. That's the bad news. Now for the good news.

Most Sundays we have attended a Lutheran church with 2 of our best friends. This is a wonderful church and we have been blessed, not only to attend, but to attend with our good friends. These are friends who love us and have helped us tremendously for the past months. Yesterday we attended a church in Wentzville with 8 of our friends. Not only did we experience a wonderful service, it was great to be with friends. We hadn't seen some of these folks since our departure from West County Assembly of God 5 months ago, so we had the opportunity to "catch up." At lunch with 4 wonderful friends, we laughed, had great conversation, and they helped Kathy and I talk through some issues relating to our house and inevitable move out of the St. Louis area. When we got home yesterday afternoon, Kathy and I felt so refreshed. Our outlook, for the most part, has been very positive, but there have also been some frustrating and discouraging times. To spend time with good friends yesterday is a blessing from God.

Other friends have blessed us as well. We've had groceries delivered, we've been taken to Sam's, twice, to "stock up." We have received many cards and notes, most with a check or cash. A friend took me to a men's breakfast and then filled my van's tank on the way home. One of our best friends was instrumental in having Starbridge Christian Center set up a special fund for us to help pay for our health insurance. West County Christian Academy blessed us with a pile of gift cards and a check. We used gift cards for groceries for weeks with all the cards they blessed us with. Kathy and I have both been invited to breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. We've had many phone calls that have been so encouraging. While I could have never imagined that we would be in this precarious financial situation, God has used our friends to bless us. We will never forget this. While we do not have a firm job offer yet, we have 2, and perhaps 3 possibilities, that should have us in a new job by January 2nd. Kathy and I have always known that God took care of His own. To experience it first hand, primarily through our friends, has been nothing short of miraculous. God is so good...

The Final Week - The Resurrection

My daily read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year passage ended today's reading with the Gospels account of Christ's resurrection and ascension. As I have mentioned in my previous blogs about The Final Week, I have learned so much from this reading. It is always amazing to me that brand new truth emerges from passages that you have read countless times before.

In today's reading, something jumped out at me. I think it may have been because for the past several months I have been desperately seeking the will of God. There have been times in my prayer times where I wished Christ would sit in the love seat across the room from my favorite chair and simply talk with me. While I have sensed God's presence many times in these past weeks, it would be incredible to look in His face and hear His audible voice. There is an account of that right after the resurrection.

Matthew and Luke tell about Cleopas and an unidentified man traveling on the road to Emmaus. Christ joins them in the journey. He asks them what they have been discussing and they tell Him about the events of the past few days. Luke 24:17-19 He asked, "What's this you're discussing so intently as you walk along?" They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. 18 Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard what's happened during the last few days?" 19 He said, "What has happened?" (from THE MESSAGE) What a great sense of humor. Here he is the main character of all the events and He's asking "what has happened?" He goes on to say, Luke 24:25-27 "So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? 26 Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" 27 Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him. (from THE MESSAGE, emphasis mine) 


What an incredible experience for these two men. Jesus starts at the beginning of the Word, goes all the way through the Prophets, and points out every prophecy that referred to Him. I think any of us would have paid a lot of money to have that kind of class with the Master. So when I pray, and think about Jesus sitting on our love seat, this is the kind of experience I had in mind. Wow.

The Final Week - Wednesday & Thursday

Traditionally, we celebrate Good Friday on the Friday before Easter Sunday. (duh) However, there is compelling Biblical evidence that Christ celebrated the Last Supper on Wednesday evening, was betrayed and arrested that same evening and then crucified on Thursday. Since this was the time of celebrating Passover, there has been an assumption that Jesus and the disciples celebrated the Passover on Friday. While I do not have enough room to go into a detailed explanation, basically, you have to have an understanding of the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the way in which the Jews reckon time. For instance, the Jewish day begins at sunset on the previous evening. This means, for example, that our Wednesday night is actually Thursday, and our Thursday night is actually Friday. If Christ is placed in the tomb on Thursday afternoon, He is there for three days, which lines up with the scriptural accounts.

Confused? Matthew, Mark and Luke record the disciples' preparation for the Passover on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. While the disciples assume they are preparing for the Passover meal, and that it will be held in two days, the meal we traditionally call the Last Supper was actually held on the day before the Passover, known as the Day of Preparation.

One of the most moving reasons for moving away from the traditional time frame is seeing how Jesus' crucifixion becomes the perfect type of the Passover Lamb. Under Hebrew law, the paschal (Passover) lamb is chosen on the tenth day and then kept up until the 14th day, when it is sacrificed for the sins of the people. If you count the days of the Jewish calendar, Christ was crucified on the Day of Preparation, the same day the sacrificial lamb was sacrificed for the Passover meal. Throughout the account of Wednesday and Thursday, more very specific prophecies as revealed in Isaiah 6 and 53, Psalm 41, and Zachariah 13 come to pass. The entire account of this week is an amazing one, full of revelation about Christ's sacrifice for us. Even though I've read these passages many times, I am learning so much this time. PTL

The Final Week-Tuesday Morning

On Tuesday morning of Christ's final week before the crucifixion and resurrection, He is asked a question about the temple. Jesus begins a discourse on the end times that we find in Matthew 24 and 25. In chapter 25, Christ talks about heaven and our inheritance, and how that inheritance is gained.


31 "When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. 32 Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, 33 putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom (your inheritance). It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. 35 And here's why:


I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room, 36 I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.' 


37 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38-39 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' 40 Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me — you did it to me.' 
(from THE MESSAGE)

Once again as I read this passage this morning, I was reminded of the over 550,000 children who are in foster care and 127,000 of those children who are waiting to be adopted. Adoption is one of the key elements of our relationship to God. Gal 4:6-7 6 You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!" 7 Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. (from THE MESSAGE, my emphasis) 

Foster care and adoption are a wonderful way for us to minister to Jesus. I can tell you from personal experience that foster care and adoption are wonderful ways to serve Christ. They are also, rewarding, frustrating, tiring, fulfilling, and a host of other things. One day the King will say to you, "Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom, your inheritance. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation.

The Final Week-Monday

Mark and Matthew record a couple of events that made a real impact on me as I read through these passages today. Mark records this in chapter 11; 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written:


"'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" 


18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. 

Can you imagine the emotions that Christ is dealing with as he comes into the temple court. I think this was a case of righteous indignation. He physically cleans house. I imagine he was angry, frustrated and determined to make a point. He also fulfilled Isaiah's prophesy in chapter 56:7. Then Matthew records something that is a complete opposite to what has just happened. Matt 21:14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. 16 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. 
"Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" 

Jesus knows he will be crucified by the end of the week. He also knows that His disciples and followers still don't realize that His kingdom will be an eternal, heavenly one, and not an earthly kingdom that will overthrow the Romans. In the midst of these emotions, Jesus takes the time to heal and minister to people. He also takes the time to enjoy the praises of the children who have gathered. When the chief priests and teachers of the law try to rebuke Him, His response is a fulfillment of Psalm 8:2. We need to take our cues from these children, from our lips should come praise. Praise God for Christ's example. What a wonderful account from Monday of the final week.

The Final Week-The Triumphant Entry

I've been reading through the Bible this year using the Daily Bible in Chronological Order. It is a great way to read the Bible in historical sequence. Today begins sections titled Final Week. I noticed something in the triumphal entry into Jerusalem that I had never considered before. As Jesus and the disciples approach Jerusalem, he says to them in Matt 21:1-7; As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 

5 "Say to the Daughter of Zion,

'See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" 

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. NIV

First, verse 5 is the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. It never ceases to amaze me how many prophecies were proclaimed about Christ and his coming to earth, that came to pass. The second item is that just on Jesus' word, the people that owned the colt let him be taken by the disciples, who they did not know. The other thing is that this colt had never been ridden. Have you ever tried to ride a colt or horse that has never been ridden before? I'm sure we've all seen a movie or video of the "breaking" process that happens when a horse or donkey is trained to have a rider. It is not easy, and many people have been hurt trying to do this. The interesting thing here is that each of the writers say the same thing, they placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. To me, that is quite a miracle. No one had to break this colt, it simply cooperated with the King of Kings as he prepared to enter Jerusalem. The entire Final Week is full of these kind of events that get lost in the bigger story. This story never gets old. Over and over again the Word reveals new nuggets of truth that strengthen our faith and propels us to share this amazing story. Tomorrow, the Final Week-Monday.