Thoughts on Easter

by Rev.Kim Dorr :: In these days of economic crisis, uncertain futures, wavering relief – in the days before Easter, I found myself meditating on Luke 9:51:

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (NIV)

I try to imagine what this must have been like for Jesus. Having just seen THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST again, the images are fresh in my mind – the beatings, the bloodshed, the torture, the anguish—How does one set out to resolutely move toward that??

My experience of human nature is that we seek to resolutely AVOID stuff like that. We want to know how to move in the opposite direction of anything like that rolling toward us. And if it’s just coming –the train wreck we know we can’t avoid – don’t we shut our eyes, duck our heads, hold our breath and kind of wait for it to hit? How does one move toward something awful?

Perhaps the answer is in the word “resolutely” – the way in which Jesus moved toward Jerusalem. To be resolute means to have a decided purpose, to be determined and from that determination to be bold, firm and steady. Jesus knew there was a magnificent purpose to what awaited him in Jerusalem. The purpose is what provided the courage and the peace. The purpose is what provided the ability to steadfastly move toward the unthinkable, to reach beyond the pain and embrace the hidden mystery of resurrection.

In these days, no matter what your circumstances are, know that God has a purpose for everything under heaven. As you look to our Lord, and reflect on His steps toward Jerusalem, may you see Him look toward you. In His eyes may you find God’s purpose more clearly revealed.

Remembering and Missing my Dad – claiming the promise this week holds

by Rev. Care Crawford :: Holy Week . . . here already, here again. I have come to Holy Week and all the promise it holds with a different or fresh perspective in the past ten or so years. My dad died over ten years ago. Now Holy Week and the promise of the cross and empty tomb remind me of the gift and invitation of heaven, of eternal life. It is in the forgiveness of our sins and that promise of “life everlasting”, as the Scripture says, that we bank on . . . Christ amazing sacrifice and love for us. As I enter Holy Week in the past many years since my dad died, and more recently since my brother David and Uncle Graham too went to be with the Lord,  I think about heaven a lot!

I miss my dad. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don’t think of him, wonder about heaven and have that “ache” of the empty place that God does not fill, but leaves empty in the relationship that was and will be one day, reunited in heaven’s embrace. I am not sure how it works in heaven; none of us can be quite sure. Scripture tells us that the Spirit prays for us, and in that Trinity, I sometimes smile thinking that my dad is praying with Jesus for me. I count on it and feel the strength that Christ’s prayers, the Spirit’s, “sighs”—deeper than words bring to me.

My dad was a minister, and a great preacher, a great “pray-er”. . .  a man of words. He had command of the language and could weave a phrase and pray a prayer which was eloquent and pierced to the places of the heart which ministered to you and brought blessing- smiles and tears at once.

I had the opportunity to experience the blessings of that eloquence and the deep place of my heart in smiles and tears the other day. I opened my mail and in a card from my mom was a typed prayer. It was one of the prayers my father had prayed at a Maundy Thursday service long ago. To my remembrance I had never heard or seen the prayer. It was a gift that brought a smile of assurance from heaven to me and a tear of missing as well as acknowledgement to the truth and hope it spoke. I share it here as it came to me through my mom’s note. May it be for you an encouragement and blessing as you listen to the Lord’s command this Maundy Thursday—coming to the table, “do this in remembrance of Me.” And in all your remembrances, might you recognize yourself in the story of His passion and follow!

A DAVID LIVINGSTONE CRAWFORD PRAYER
Help us, gracious God, with open minds and contrite hearts
to feel our way into the meaning and mystery of this table.
Quicken our imagination to the end that what went on in
that upper room may come alive for us, for we would sit at
the table with the 12 and open ourselves to the close-up
presence of Christ.
So brittle is our faith in Your providence that we
can only stand and stare when One who’s ways are perfect
shuns all complaining in His final hours and asks Thy
blessing on the meal.
O God, we do not sit in judgment on the disciples for
having hassled with one another over who was the greatest…
for pride has often marred our lives as well.
We are not surprised that one by one that night they asked
when betrayal was announced, “Is it I?” for like us,
they knew full well that under similar circumstances anyone
of them could cash their Master in.
We bow before Thee awed by the mystery of Thy suffering and love.
Forgive us that our preference runs to Bethlehem and the
Garden Tomb, to poinsettias’ and lilies and away from
Golgotha with its twisted thorns and iron nails.
Forgive us that we are far more willing to be instructed
than we are to be redeemed. Give us reachable and pliable
responses to Your grace, willing captives of the wonder that
Thy dear Son became a captive that we might become free
by letting Him be judged guilty…that we might be innocent by
letting Him suffer….that we might have joy by giving Him up
to death.
We have not deserved such mercy, not one of us. How else
should we thank Thee except by comprehending this great deed
and how can that happen unless the living Savior comes to
speak to our hearts and open us to Your love?
We offer our prayer in faith with Thanksgiving, through
Jesus Christ our dear Savior. Amen.

Miracles

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: During Holy Week Jesus performed the only miracle of destruction we have recorded . . . the cursing of the fig tree. Most of mythology and human fantasy would have a “god man” using his or her powers for their own gratification. It’s remarkable that Jesus never uses his power for his own needs; only for others. Yet here Jesus walks up to a fig tree, finds no fruit, and says “may no fruit come from you again.” The next day the tree is withered and the disciples are blown away at His power. Jesus does a quick teaching on faith, but the real lesson is that a fruitless life is one that is already dying. Christ did not do anything but put the film on fast forward. Jesus wasn’t just “venting” because he missed an afternoon snack. He was lovingly warning the nation, and us. I wonder as I look at all the “leaves and limbs” in my life where the real fruit is being born? Amidst the crazy speed of life and accomplishments and “to do” lists, am I really “abiding in the vine” and bearing fruit for the kingdom?

Ultimate Saving Hope

by Rev. Roger Dermody :: I was struck once again this week by the profundity of the 22nd Psalm. Hopefully, most of you have, or will have, the chance to hear Mark’s excellent sermon on this Psalm, and explore it deeper in your small group this week. It is clear that this Psalm is the one that was on the lips of our Savior as he hung on the cross. Written almost a thousand years before crucifixion was the norm for capital punishment, medical experts argue that this Psalm accurately describes the excruciating physiological symptoms one would experience if crucified (vs. 14-17a). Further, this Psalm accurately forecasts the mocking of the crowd (vs. 6-6, 12, 17b) and the gambling over Jesus’ clothing centuries before it actually happened (vs. 18). But what I’m most struck by is the end of this Psalm. True, this is a Psalm of deep lament and physical and emotional anguish. But it is also a Psalm of victory. It foretells the effects of Jesus’ sacrifice. Namely, because of the cross, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. (vs. 24)” I believe that our Lord, near death, suffering on the cross, had the entire Psalm on his heart. While we have record that his lips could only utter the first line, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, in his anguish Jesus knew the final paragraph. He knew that the effects of his misery, of enduring the mockery of the crowd and the physical pain and suffering, was to be the ultimate salvation of the world. Look too at the last two verses: “Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it. (vs. 30-31)” Pay attention to that last phrase. Sound familiar? Almost like, “It is finished!”? We don’t have many words recorded of what Jesus said while hanging on the cross. Many argue, that we only have seven last words. But if you look closely, I believe you will find evidence that we have the bookends of an entire Psalm. It’s none other than the 22nd Psalm. Jesus cried out the opening line of this Psalm… reminded people for all time of the prophetic truth of this Psalm… was comforted by the ultimate saving hope expressed by this Psalm… and cried out it’s final phrase with His final breath, “It is finished” = “He has done it!” May we all be struck this week, in a fresh way, by the profundity of God’s Word, and Christ’s death and resurrection for each one of us.

To Seek and to Save…

by Rev. Kim Dorr :: To Seek and to Save…the lost. Something struck me the other day as I was watching the news – a story about a missing child. I watched the story covered by all the major news networks showing hundreds of volunteers scouring a certain location, searching for this lost little one. I stopped and said a prayer for the child and her family. I always do whenever there’s a story like this – stop and pray that the child will be found and safely returned to his or her family. Whenever there is an Amber alert here locally, I always find myself looking with intention into cars that drive past me on the freeway and at youngsters dining with grown ups, wanting to make sure they look like they belong there. If I can do an extra little bit to help find a child – isn’t that worth any and every effort?

I even scan neighborhoods whenever I see a poster for a lost cat or dog. “Wouldn’t it be great to find that pet?!” I think to myself. I can imagine the homecoming – the shouts of glee from children, wagging tales, tears of joy – all for a lost pet. When I drive by the same poster week after week, it creates an actual pain in my heart, imagining the sorrow of those still looking, in waning hope, for that one that is loved.

The other day, as I prayed while the news story played on – God interrupted me and showed me His perspective on HIS lost children. He showed me what it would look like if we took more seriously HIS sorrow and driving desire to find HIS lost children – posters on every corner, news coverage 24/7 with stories on who was lost, where to look and how very much God, the child’s Father, suffered in the loss and wanted to have that child found. What if we started looking with ardent intention for those that God desperately wants to find? Can you imagine the homecoming? Luke showed us a picture of it: a Father running without regard to anything other than that child returning home, embracing that son or daughter and showering them with tears and laughter; the child, long beaten and ravaged by things of this world, in disbelief and joy, surrendering to this embrace and knowing that he or she is HOME.

In these last few weeks before Easter, let us remember why Jesus came to us and why he laid down His life – to seek and to save the lost. Let us be stirred, the way a report of a missing child stirs us, let us pray, let us look, let us expend every effort that we can to do our part in finding that child and walking that child safely into the presence of the Father who never stops looking for anyone who is lost…

2009 SE

by Glenn Reph :: During Lent we may prayerfully consider giving up something dear or pleasurable to us.  May I suggest an item for you to consider. This item is special.

I refer to something we secretly enjoy, making it a little more difficult to release; we do not let go easily. This special item ubiquitously permeates our culture with seemingly small differentiation between race, wealth, social status, education or religious view. The general appetite and appeal of this item has increased over time and has grown in popularity and approval, both unchecked and unchallenged. On the surface it seems innocuous enough, but in larger portions can tear up the fabric of relationships within families and communities, even churches.

The item I am referring to is “special entitlement” (SE). Special entitlement is a sense of deserving, simply because of who you are.

Looking at this as a wine, SE’s fruit has a pungent odor with a hint of narcissism, and a not so subtle undertone of “it’s all about me”. SE is deeply entrenched in a current vintage of spiritual thinking that says, “I deserve therefore, I dream, I wish, I ask“.  SE produces an arresting aroma of “If I think in my mind, if I wish it, I can have it and have it all“. SE has a texture and composition of “I must be in command of my own special life“; with a long finish declaring, ”I am master of my own special universe“. While there may be shades of wholesome truth hidden somewhere in this vintage, any real fruitfulness has been covered and masked by the spice of ”specialness“. The alure of this vintage SE screams, “I am so special.  I deserve much more and much better!“. (WS 100)

For some of us SE came early in life.  You may have discovered it in the initial childish sense of grabbing objects and saying “mine, mine, mine”, like the seagulls in Finding Nemo.  The youthful bud produced a healthy cluster of fruit. Truth be told, you repeatedly heard the phrase “you are special“, and you drank, deeply believing it to be so.  That fragrant phrase blossomed into the mind fruit used to create your own case of SE.

Being recognized, appreciated, or served when and where appropriate is not improper.  But we find ourselves standing in expectation, curiously shaking our head when not being served in the right way, not properly recognized for our most excellent accomplishments, or not being fully appreciated for a job well done.   Giving up SE is a good thing regardless of Lent.

Here’s a good starting point. Years ago in Sunday School I learned an acrostic for JOY:  Jesus first, others second, and you last.  Get it?

And lastly, when you find yourself perplexed and thinking, “Don’t they understand that I’m special. Don’t they understand who I am?”  Adjust your thinking heavenward and give your SE up to the ONE who came to serve, not to be served…

Slowing Down

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: It is fascinating to me that the first thing God sanctified was not a place…but time. The Sabbath. God knew we had to have time to rest, or we could not become Holy. “therefore the Lord sanctified the Sabbath for on the seventh day God rested from all He did.” Jesus helped fight the tendency we humans have to always confuse the means and the end. “Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man.” God doesn’t need our rest and focus. We do. God wants to share His goodness, and power, and love, and dreams. But He can only do it with people who slow down enough to actually hear Him. I am going to give myself permission to not answer every email, phone call, and urgent voice…so I can hear the One Voice Who knows how to refresh me.

Thoughts on Lent – Fasting

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: One of the most common questions I’m asked about Lent has to do with the whole ‘giving something up’ deal. Where did that come from? The idea of fasting is about making a ‘holy space’ for God. It is not about trying to ‘bribe’ God by our spiritual sacrifices. Remember what Samuel told Saul when the king declared how much money he was going to give God. “God desires obedience – not sacrifice.” When we deliberately set aside a common behavior, it triggers our thoughts when we mindlessly go to our little routines.  We have to ask ourselves out loud “Why am I not doing this thing?” It gives us an opportunity to ’set the direction’ of our life’s rudder towards the things of God. So whether it’s a food, or drink, or media, or whatever, the goal is to be more yielded and not enslaved to daily habits. Lent and liberation are connected.

A Week of Harvesting!

by Pastor Enock :: It was early Tuesday morning, I got up an hour before the usual as I need to prepare for a early meeting with a couple of missionaries serving in China. After some devotional time, I decided to open my e-mail before I left the house, as I usually do. As I browsed over the many messages I received, one of them caught my special attention. The subject read “A Week of Harvesting in Bihar.” For more than 100 years, Bihar (a state on the Northern India) was considered by mission strategists and missionaries as the “graveyard of missions. So many missionaries had spent their entire lives serving there without almost any result.   The reality now is different. In that email our mission partner in India, SD Ponraj, shared with us great blessings in the work of God in Bihar.

As I read “A Week of Harvesting in Bihar” my heart was taken by a strong sense that God is changing the reality of Bihar as many people come to Christ. In this last week alone,

• 823 people from 13 villages were  baptized

• 85 new lay leaders graduated. Our partner in India started four Portable Bible School training. Many of their students cannot read or write well. But through a special training program they have been prepared to teach and disciple others.

• The whole villages of Jheangai Dihara and Ghorahi responded to the gospel. These two villages had been resistant to the gospel for a long time and now, for the first time, the entire villages have invited Christ to “live among them.”

Bel Air Pres is working in partnership with Ponraj and the Bihar outreach Network for about two years. We have learned so much from them in their visits to us and when we send teams to visit them. Ponraj will be with us by the end of April and we are sending teams to visit them in the fall. It has been a blessing to us to be part of God’s work in India. As for them, it has been encouraging to know that they are not alone in the challenges and struggles to make Christ known in Bihar. Ponraj concluded his letter to Bel Air Pres saying “Thank you for your prayers and support for BORN Movement.  The Lord is answering your prayers.  Please continue to stand with us and support us. We need you very much at this time of “great harvesting” in Bihar.”

God is at work in our midst and in Bihar. We just have the blessing to see it and from time to time to be part of it.

In His Shalom,

Enock De Assis

Deliberate Simplicity

by Exec. Director Glenn Reph :: I live and breathe to get more done - even better in ministry.  I enjoy quantitative and qualitative operational ministry management.  God wired me to enjoy the challenges of complexity but recently I have been fascinated by the efficiency of simplicity.  My thinking has been influenced heavily by two authors.

Here are two books I recommend to those who wonder how we can “get more done – even better.”

1. Simple Church:  Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples by Tom Rainer & Eric Geiger
2. Deliberate Simplicity:  How the Church Does More by Doing Less by Dave Browning

Many of you may not be aware that in early summer of 2008, prior to my arrival here at BAPC as Executive Director, I was retained as an operational ministry management consultant for Dave Browning @ Christ The King in Burlington, WA. ( www.ctkonline.com )  Dave’s book was not yet in print.  Over the summer prior to my coming on staff at Bel Air Presbyterian Church I had multiple meetings with Dave to build (complexity) some internal infrastructure for the expansion of the global ministry of Christ the King Ministries.  The core challenge was to build systems that were simple not complex; expandable and collapsible; inexpensive and adaptable.  This idea appeared more  oxymoron than visionary leadership.    Can you actually build a growing deliberately simple church without the complexity of  management systems (infrastructure)?

The challenge is still before me here at BAPC.  As I write this blog, the team and I are getting ready to do Easter at the Hollywood Bowl in seven weeks on April 12th, 2009.  There is nothing easy about doing an Easter service at the bowl:  Union workers, decorating, orchestra, choir, tickets, parking, budgets, audio, etc.  We will invest plenty of time, money and management cycles to do Easter in a venue for one hour.  The Good News will be brought to about 10,000+ people at one worship service.  Worth it? You bet. Simple? No way.

The question that always seems to lingers in my mind (after each ministry event) is this:  What part actually made a difference in peooples lives?  Or to put it another way: What parts are superfluous? or just not all that necessary? or what can we remove and yet not reduce the number of changed lives?

Pray for me, I seem to be cursed with a complex mind trying to do simple.  I really want to do simple, and this time I really mean it.

Glenn Reph, Executive Director:  glenn.reph@belairpres.org