Good Friday with Jesus

Jesus and I sat at a quiet coffee shop while I read His letter to me. When I sat back to think about what I was reading the following conversation took place.

Jesus: David, do you know who you remind my Father of?

David: No, I don't.  I hope it's not Peter.  I hope you can't see denial in me waiting to come out when questioned by a little girl.

Jesus: No, it's not Peter.

David:  Is it Thomas?  I know that I still have more doubt than I should, but I'm working on it.  I'm trying to hav…. No, no, it's not Judas, is it?  I'm sure I wouldn't sell you out for a few coins. Wait! It couldn't be Caiaphas, could it?  Am I so blinded by my position and religion that I've missed you?

Jesus:  Not Thomas, Judas, or Caiaphas.  David, think more carefully.  Who does the Father think of when he sees you?

David: (thoughtful pause while we both drink from our coffee cups) Barabbas!  He was the one that deserved to die and got out of it.  Do I resemble him?  Does He see a lucky chump who didn't get what he deserved?

Jesus: Lucky chump? (Jesus didn't like that guess.  He put his coffee down, sat back, and shook his head.)  David, you're thinking like you think.  Try thinking like I'm teaching you to think.  Think with the mind I'm giving you.  Who do you remind my Father of?

David: Brad Pitt?

Jesus: Um, No.

David:  I don't know.   I know I am loved and don't deserve it.  I know that I mess up far too often.  I know there are too many scars that I have and have caused.  But, I don't know who I remind the Father of.  (Jesus sat forward and almost whispered to make sure I was listening)

Jesus:  The cross and the tomb where not just places I had to go, they became tints of color that shade everything He sees. He can't see my people without seeing them through the grace of the cross or the victory of the tomb.  Everyone who follows me is seen through the grace and victory I bought for you.

Try it again.  Who do you remind the Father of?

David: You?

(Jesus smiled and nodded as he finished his coffee.)

Jesus and I stood from the table where we were seated and pushed our chairs back in.  I got to the door first so I opened it and let him through.  As he walked by he looked at me, grinned, and shook his head, "Brad Pitt?"  We like laughing together.

It was a Good Friday.

Pastor Dave

 

4000 Diseases

I just listened to a really smart person explain that there are 4000 diseases that have a known molecular structure. Two-hundred and fifty of those diseases have a drug that cures them.  Imagine going to work knowing that you have 3,750 discoveries left to go.  Imagine knowing that each discovery takes about 25 years to come to completion.  That's almost 94,000 years! Pack a lunch.

What about the 4,000 diseases that cause distance between us and the Creator? Don't we spend much of life trying to ignore, out run or forget what is wrong?  Aren't we trying to discover new ways to be at peace?  Isn't there a constant effort to find out what's wrong and do our best to fix it?

Easter.

There are over 4,000 diseases that have attached themselves to our soul, but there is one Repair.  There are countless sins and faults that try to keep us from knowing God, but there is one Antidote.

I guess a lot of life is knowing what's wrong and how to fix it.  God does.  I can't.

By the way, 94,000 years aren't needed.  One moment.  One step.  One Savior.

Healed,

Pastor Dave

Note: this is personal and I have a request at the end.

Last weekend I started feeling an increased numbness in my legs.  MS never leaves; it just lets you learn to live with it and then reminds you that you're not in control.

By Wednesday evening I asked my wife to pick me up from a meeting that I drove to because as I walked from the building to the car I knew it wouldn't be safe to drive home (The brake is harder to push than the gas. Maybe the former is even more important than the latter).

Wednesday afternoon I called my Neurologist.  Wednesday night he called me back.  8 a.m. Thursday morning I was in his office. Thursday after my appointment I was in the infusion center for the first of 5 days of stuff - steroid stuff.

Here's 3 things I know:
1. My label has not changed - I am a follower of Christ who has MS; I am NOT MS who is a follower of Christ.  I want people to see Christ first even if MS is sometimes more obvious. MS impacts how I walk right now not where am I going.  When I can't point to Christ I am no longer a pastor.

2. see 1.

3. see 2.

I've been on this physical journey since 1988. It has been two years since I have had a set back, the longest span since this all started.  I'm still able to get around - just less graceful.  I understand the cliche "cow with a crutch." A cow is never graceful, but with a crutch it's less so.

Sunday I intend to talk with my fellow followers about Jesus.  I'll do it from a stool close to the floor, a high platform messes up my equilibrium.  I'll do it pointing to Jesus.  I'll do it with all the anointing that God may choose to bless me with.

Here's my requests to those who are MFMCers.
Many of you are new since my last run in with this gunk.  Please know that your pastor is "fine."  I love you and I long for you to see Christ with me, to hear from Christ with me, and to follow Christ with me.

The other thing I'm really feeling led to say is; if you know someone who is hurting, someone who doesn't know how to trust, someone who can't find faith, someone who needs to know they are not alone, someone who needs to know followers of Christ deal with "it" too, someone who might hear a word from a person who isn't flawless - invite them this Sunday.

Something in my spirit believes this is a very important season for us.  I'm asking you to pray for Sunday and watch for the Holy Spirit to bring someone across your path to invite.  I'm asking to pray for my anointing not just my legs (no maybes about it, the former is more important than the latter)

Fellow Follower,

Pastor Dave

 

Time Change

The borrowed hour must be given back Saturday night.  Officially at 2:00 AM clocks are to be turned to 3:00 AM.  The hour we gained four months ago must be given back. 

There will be no babies born between 2:01 and 2:59.  That hour does not exist.  If a child is born at 2:56 it is really 3:56.  Which is less of a problem than when we gain an hour.  

Time change is powerful.

Example: If a woman is delivering twins and the first baby comes at 1:32 and the second one is delivered at 2:06, time goes back at 2:00, so it is listed on the certificate as 1:06.  The second born is legally the first born (by the way - that happened in 2007).

Example: I always find it interesting that the Sunday that we lose and hour is one of the lowest attended Sundays of the year.  People go to bed at night intending to be in church in the morning, but… "We'll go next week." 

Time change isn't powerful enough. 

Example: If you're scheduled to do something you really don't want to do at 2:15, it still needs to be done even if there is no 2:15. 

Example: If you did something you shouldn't have done at 2:39, it is still done even if 2:39 was skipped.

It's powerful, but not that powerful.

I watched the end of basketball game the other day in which the last 3 minutes on the game clock took over 15 minutes to play!  That's confusing.  Time seems to slow to a snails pace during the movie The Notebook and it seems to match the speed of light when I'm laughing with friends. That's confusing too.

Time is powerful, but we forget Whose it is.  The truth is the movement of a clock has no inherent power.  It changes nothing.  Time is God's, it's not ours to manipulate.  We can talk about how we "waste" it or "save" it, but time is God's. I would be wise to ask him how to "live" it.

Live the time he gives you.

26,032,320 minutes into life,

Pastor Dave