Parts of Speaking Publishing

 The Dispatch Faith website contains an essay "The Betrayal of Judas," which deserves reading.  https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-faith/palm-sunday-judas-jesus/ A few excerpts: After seeing Jesus condemned, Judas had a change of heart. Blood money in hand, he went to the temple and confessed his sin to the religious authorities charged with mediating mercy. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,”  he told them . Their response was as chilling as it was brief: “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” In short, “Not our problem. Good luck with that!” Those same religious leaders would later debate what to do with the silver Judas threw down and returned, scrupulous about its moral contamination. In seeking to avoid implicating themselves by taking back the blood money, they were legally precise, but pastorally indifferent.  For Judas, the combined weight of these two betrayals proved unbearable, so he hanged himself. ..... English writer Julian Barnes g...

 Borrowing here from website: https://www.thenivbible.com/blog/holy-week-timeline/  TUESDAY: Day of Controversy and  Parables Matthew 21:23—24:51 ;  Mark 11:27—13:37 ;  Luke 20:1—21:36 In Jerusalem, Jesus evaded the traps set by the priests. Tuesday afternoon, on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem, Jesus taught in parables and warned the people against the Pharisees. He predicted the destruction of Herod’s great temple and told his disciples about future events, including his own return. Tuesday was thus a busy day with a great deal of teaching and confrontation. This same site says that Wednesday was a day of rest. I think not, really. It's just not recorded in a way we would expect it. Judas was betraying, disciples were questioning, and I'm sure Jesus was praying as well as teaching.

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” From an article on the ruins of a monastery in Kayala, Egypt:    Among the finds, one mural depicts two deer surrounded by vegetal motifs within a circular decorative frame. Deer are a surprising choice. Egypt’s native large mammals lean more toward   adapted desert species   like ibex, foxes, and gazelles. However, for communities shaped by the Bible, the deer likely evoked Psalm 42:1 (above). Deer are not efficient panters like dogs: They primarily cool down through their skin and by seeking shade or water. Panting signals physical need and desperation—it signals a deer in trouble. In this context, the deer in the monastery’s mural symbolizes spiritual longing, thirst, and dependence on God. The monastery’s presence in the transitional desert–delta landscape makes the choice of deer especially evocative. For a deer, an animal of streams and shade, to be in this landscape means it has found s...

 Luke 's version, chapter 17 (NIV) 45  When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling.   46  “It is written,”  he said to them,  “‘My house will be a house of prayer’ [ a ] ; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ [ b ] ” 47  Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.   48  Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. Matthew's version, chapter 21 (NIV) 12  Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.   13  “It is written,”  he said to them,  “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ [ a ]  but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’ [ b ] ” 14  The blind and the lame came to him at th...

This is John's account, which does not include how Jesus got the donkey and focuses on how the event moves to the next conflict. It also points back to how central the raising of Lazarus is.  John 12:12  The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,  13  took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed   is   He who comes in the name of the   Lord !’ The King of Israel!” 14  Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it;   as it is written: 15  “Fear   not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.” 16  His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and  that  they had done these things to Him. 17  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called La...

  Christ Our Cornerstone 19  Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  20  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,   21  in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  22  in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. I memorized this years ago and it's still in my brain. The focus is not individual, but together: what God is doing over history with those who believe Him. He is building a dwelling place for Himself. Reference Revelation 21:20. 

I participate in a small group Bible study with our pastor that he has with a group before the sermon as part of his sermon preparation. It is deeply important to me. We studied Colossians 1:15-23.  Colossians 1 has many parallels with Ephesians 1. These were sister churches, Gentile mostly, that did not have any outstanding moral problems. Scholars believe there was an early version of Gnosticism in Colosse (which I have seen from a distance standing in the streets of Laodicea). which explains the emphasis on Christology. As one participant said last night, it's like Paul was talking about the Colossians and just set it aside to say how awesome Jesus is. The pastor said it might be an old hymn or parts of it. It is so poetic that that seems reasonable.  I need this passage today due to a family issue yesterday. I have taken out the verse markers. This is the English Standard Version translation. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creatio...

, , , r emember  that you were at that time separated from Christ,  alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to  the covenants of promise,  having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12, ESV).  Yes, remember what and who and how and where you were.  Having no hope and without God in the world.  I have recently read The Stranger by Camus, again, and this time I got it. I was really shallow before and now I'm only a normal amount of shallow. It is definitely about a man who is a stranger to the covenants of promise and who has no hope in the world and is without God. The problem is, he is okay with "the benign indifference of the universe," as the famous line goes. He accepts it, and that's the point. I don't think most people do, and they search for something to give them meaning. I fear our version of Christianity is too thin to give anyone meaning, but thankfully, God is bigger than my opinion. Many past atheists are comi...

 2:14-16   For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility   by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,   16  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.   Christ made peace at the cross between  Jew and Gentile, and other ethnic differences, so that they worship together and have spiritual equality, and  believing mankind and the moral and spiritual law of God that we break and therefore between mankind and God, and our divided selves individually - alluded to here and developed in Romans. 

 Up until yesterday the posts were about Ephesians 1 and 2. I reached a point where I can shift for the last two weeks of Lent.  I am, obviously, a Christian, although that is a word that in today's hypersensitive and consistently offended and offending world, I am not sure I should use. Others have limitations. "Believer" doesn't clarify "in what," "Christ follower" sets a high standard--do we meet it? Language--not an easy tool! Although I'm taking a shift in focus, this post will still refer to Ephesians 2: 13:  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were  far off have been brought near  by the blood of Christ. That is the message of Good Friday. "... brought near by the blood of Christ." I would like to take the blood out of the message, but that's a me problem. A bloody death was what he suffered, not poison, not a broken neck. "They will look upon him whom they pierced" is stated three times in the Bible.  Good Frida...

 After the acclamation of pure grace in how we receive acceptance with God, Paul discusses creativity -- not ours, but God's: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.  That is me doing verse 10 of Ephesians 2 from memory, from the old AV. Here are some updated translations:    For we are God’s handiwork,  created  in Christ Jesus to do good works,  which God prepared in advance for us to do. NIV   For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. New American Standard   For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. Holman Christian Standard We are told the word translated workmanship is poema, as in work of art. This verse has a beautiful and inspiring side, and...

8  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;  it is  the gift of God,  9  not of works, lest anyone should boast. This is one of the first verses Christians kids "back in the day" (a phrase I despise because the day could have been 50 or 5 or 500 years ago!) were taught to memorize.  The themes of Romans are here: no boasting; faith to believe as part of the grace gift; "the just by faith will live."  Why is boasting such a big deal here? I mean, why does God want to avoid mankind's boasting so much? It's hard to see how someone could work well and hard enough to earn the salvation anyway.  I think it's a misapprehension of what boasting is. In the Bible, boasting is not a childish, harmless bragging. It is prideful resistance to God. For example, Psalm 5:5:  The   boastful shall not   stand in Your sight;  You hate all workers of iniquity. Therefore, boasting equals iniquity....

                                               

 Ephesians 2:4-7 - But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus I memorized this in the Authorized Version in 1974. It could be the gospel in a nutshell, although perhaps some doctrines are explicitly mentioned.   St. Paul makes this statement in a written document to a community of Christians in Ephesus while he is in jail in Rome in the late 50s A.D. We have easy access to it today; how many documents from then are read by massive of people today? We could read historical accounts and government edicts, plays and poems of the Roman Empire at that time, but very few of us actually do.  Despite its familiarity, we still...

I hope this essay about Doug Wilson (of Moscow, Idaho, fame) is accessible; I got the link from Facebook, so it should be.  The term "American evangelicalism" has become challenging to me. It seems to be so immersed in politics and revisionist history. Why anyone would feel the need to portray antebellum slavery as anything but brutal, anti-Christian, and anti-American, I cannot fathom. Christian Nationalism seems to be a  re-interpretation" of everything Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John wrote.  I used to depend on identity labels for myself; I avoid them now. This does not make me virtuous, just more comfortable with how I might be perceived by others, which can be regarded as cowardice as well as a form of intellectual honesty.

 In this passage the word "together" is repeated twice. He made us alive together, raised us up together, and made us sit together. Christ's victories are ours because we give our faith allegiance to Him.  I wonder, though, if the together is not also a statement about the Church as a whole. We won't sit with Him individually. The whole Church will be given these places of authority, honor, and esteem with Him.  My Bible notes say "These positional privileges will in the future be experientially realized and enjoyed." That is a Baptist note! I don't think it is that simple. Does it have to be in the future only? 

[But God] . . .  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  6  and raised  us  up together, and made  us  sit together in the heavenly  places  in Christ Jesus,  7  that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in  His  kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  I am not feeling well this morning and focusing enough to write coherently is a struggle. I will offer a few disparate comments.  Note "grace" is bolded. Grace is the motivation of the giver and the gift; the cause and the result; the past, present, and future; the engine and the action. ". . . in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in HIs kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." As if grace weren't surprising and exceedingly rich now, more is to come.  Why do we struggle so much to accept grace and live as if this salvation is a t...

 After a brutal reminder of their pre-Christ lives, Paul uses two powerful words to get back on track: But God. Do a concordance search and find where those two words are used in other places. My favorite is Genesis 50:20: But as for you, you meant evil against me;  but   God  meant it for good, in order to bring it about as  it is  this day, to save many people alive. Or  Psalm 73:26  My flesh and my heart fail;  But   God   is  the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Acts 10:28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.  But   God  has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Granted, in some cases God intervenes and turns the narrative in a way that ends in judgment, but usually "but God" introduces hope, grace, deliverance, and new understanding. As here: But God, who is rich in mercy,    because...

 I had never heard of Laetare Sunday, explained here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetare_Sunday  and extolled below.  Rejoice in the middle of the repentance of Lent.  Our pastor this morning explained how the Christian has self-esteem because we are brutally honest about who we are--sinners but in Christ. A cause for rejoicing. Laetare! Jonathan Pennington Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad” (Matt. 5:11–12). “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Pet. 4:13). The command to practice joy in the midst of loss, grief, and hardship often feels impossible to do and heartless to hear. Yet it is found repeatedly throughout the Bible, including in these quotes from Jesus and two ...

 The first three verses of Ephesians 2 are familiar to many:    And  you  He made alive,   who were dead in trespasses and sins  2  in which you once walked according to the  [ a ] course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  3  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. The Ephesian believers had been dead in sin and trespasses, not just in a theological way because of a decision made by an ancestor millennia before. They actually did things that conformed the patterns of the cosmos and Satan and assertively conducted themselves in lust and wrath.  I don't think telling someone they are a sinner because of Adam and Eve is the whole message. We have to know sin and know our hearts to make...

 2:1 -    And  you  He made alive,   who were dead in trespasses and sins Since three key words are italicized in the first clause, I go to other versions and the Greek.  NIV:  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, . . . The idea of being made alive reappears in verse 5.  The other major versions, NASB, ESV, and Holman, do not provide the italicized words because they aren't there in the Greek.  There's a rather cliched statement, "Jesus did not die to make bad people good but to make dead people alive." Well, He did both, but the New Testament idea of the unconverted being dead cannot be overlooked. How were we dead? In trespasses and sins, and the next verses show the extent of it. This is just one more way that the New Testament makes a clear distinction between believers and non-believers. God sees a clear difference even if it's not always visible to those around us. However, I imagine today the difference is mo...

 Statement by a fellow church member in a meeting of women to create community.  "I feel so spiritual until my teenagers come home from school."

Today marks three more weeks until Good Friday, crucifixion day. It is Friday the 13th also, a superstition that comes from 13 (Judas Iscariot, the betraying disciple, being the thirteenth, whether one count Matthias as replacement 12 or Paul*) and Friday, the traditional day seen as the crucifixion (which puzzles us because of the "three days in the grave" requirement**). I am stopping to explain what I am doing here before I move into Ephesians 2, which I noted this morning in my study is a "testimony" of individual Gentile believers in Ephesus as well as the corporate church community in that region of Turkey. I was privileged and blessed to visit it in late September/early October and it was one of three high points. No, I take that back; the whole trip was a high point that is almost impossible to process even now because so much happened. I am writing these daily posts as part of my Lent. I did not "give something up" for Lent. I don't believe in...

 The subject shifts slightly in verse 15, from what we have already been granted to what Paul chooses to pray for in regard to the Ephesian church community.  15  Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,  16  do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers Two relative clauses follow this opening: that  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened  that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,  [that you may know]   what  is  the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power  which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated...