By Mike Martine
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Mark 9:38-41 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“He was not one of us.”
For most of us, too often, it comes down to who’s in “the club.”
Who’s allowed to sit at our table at lunch? Who is really “one of us” as opposed to a “pretender?” Who, in the end, is “all right with God?”
And, as usual, Jesus blows us-and the disciples-right out of the water.
“Do not stop him…Whoever is not against us is with us.”
Jesus has an irritating habit.
Every time we think we’ve got “the club” defined, he moves the marker.
He changes the definition, causes us to think twice…moves us toward inclusion.
Think about it…the disciples have happened upon a guy desperate to do good. Desperate to help people in need. A person who probably had tried everything and then, by chance, tried employing the name of a teacher he had heard of not long ago…and it worked!
But, of course, the success of the man is not what grabs the disciples. It’s rather that the man is not “part of the club.”
But Jesus sets them straight…and sets us straight in the process.
God’s children rarely, if ever, agree on everything. God’s children keep redefining “the club” to the point that even those who call on the name of Christ can be excluded by brothers and sisters who do the same…
BUT…right or wrong, good theology or bad, Jesus is with and cares for all of us. Jesus doesn’t really care about the club, or who is (or isn’t) a card-carrying member.
Take this from this story. Christ wants to act for you and for all people. Any idea that all of the rules have to be followed in order for this to happen is not only false, it flies in the face of the message of grace.
Jesus is willing to love beyond the boundaries we would set.
Jesus is willing, and does love this way, because (truthfully) every time we start defining “the club” the definition is wrought with sin.
Whoever is not against us is with us.
Are we willing to accept that this is the truth?
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by Pastor Dave Sonnenberg
Reprinted from September 15, 2005
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I am haunted (in a good way) by a song that Chris Rice sings. The song is called, “Welcome to our world” and is a contemporary song about the birth of Christ. Rice sings of welcoming Christ into the everyday situations of our lives- each situation greeted with “welcome”.
We need to “welcome” Christ into each situation of our lives. Welcoming requires intentional action and an intentional mindset. When we wake, our call is to learn to say, “Jesus, welcome into this day. Hang out with me. Teach me something.” When we go to work, we need to say “welcome into my interactions with others.”
Perhaps the most intriguing welcome by Rice was his welcome of Jesus into the midst of our violence. Rice sings out “Bring your peace into our violence; let our hungry souls be fed.” In a world filled with turmoil, hurt, anger, and too much division, the call to welcome is a call that needs to be uttered by more and more. Bring your peace Jesus.
I don’t know about you, but I need to intentionally welcome Jesus into more and more of my life for all of life is sacred. It is no easy task but I fully believe that Jesus is interested in every aspect of my life and yours.
Invite and welcome Jesus into this day.
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By Penny Risen
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Mark 9:42
“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.” New Living Translation Bible
To become the people God wants us to be, we need vision. He wants us to notice those who need help, who are disenfranchised, who don’t have someone to talk to our perhaps don’t even know where their next meal might come from.
To become the people God wants us to be, we need empathy. He wants us to care enough to reach out with a helping hand, to stand up for social justice, to listen and step into someone else’s shoes.
To become the people God wants us to be, we need to turn from sin and hold the hand of our brother and sister to lead them from sin. As the passage from Mark says, if we turn a blind eye or refuse to care, we become threatened to sink into tragedy.
We need to adjust our course and find answers in His Word. Only He can pull us out of deep trouble and despair. Only the Spirit can bring us into relationship with a Savior as our guide. Only He can nudge us into action to bring others into light, to raise our hands and say we’ll help — not hurt through apathy and selfishness.
Our Lord knows our name and by His grace, He calls us His child. Let’s see, feel, act and move toward adding “little ones who trust” to His flock. In this way, how can we not try to become more like Jesus to a troubled and hurting world?
A simple, low-key praise song has become a favorite of mine recently. It reinforces the awesome mirror our Savior is for our soul. It brings into sharp focus what kind of people He wants us to become, as we connect with others in faith.
The lyrics remind believers:
”I have a father, He calls me His own.
He’ll never leave me, no matter where I go.
He knows my name, He knows my every thought.
He sees each tear that falls and hears me when I call.”
— “He Knows My Name” by Paul Baloche
Prayer for the day: Dear Lord, thank you for guiding me to care for my brothers and sisters. While I may not know by name those I help through service, offerings or donations of food during troubled times, grant me a giving heart for those in need. Allow me reach out to those near me, to offer words and deeds which reflect Your grace and love. Amen.
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By Anne B. Crawford
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Scripture Reading: Numbers 11: 4-6, 13-15
“4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost-also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! 13Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now-if I have found favor in your eyes-and do not let me face my own ruin.” (New International Version)
By: Fritz Foltz
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Mark 9: 43-48 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,* to the unquenchable fire.* 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.*,* 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,* 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
Wow! I’m glad I don’t have to take this command literally. Of course, there is little evidence that anyone does, no matter what their biblical theory. No one in their right mind maims themselves physically to prevent their sinning.
On the other hand, there have always been some who are willing to take such commands literally when it comes to other people. The Medieval Inquisitors used such passages to rationalize their torture. They justified breaking the bodies of convicted sinners before execution as offering a last chance for repentance, penance, and heaven. And of course, even today we sometimes hear of people who have cut off the hands of thieves or claim God is pleased at the killing of those they label sinner. We always seem more ready to impose penalties on the sins of others.
Most of us realize Jesus is talking in hyperbole, trying to get across how important it is to follow God’s ways. Our survival is based on more than food. “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” This is especially pressing in the context where this passage appears- a warning against putting “a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me”.
Perhaps, we can also use the passage to remind ourselves of another guideline for Bible reading. Jesus warns time and again that we are to take the log out of our own eyes before attempting to remove the splinter from others. We had better not impose on others what we are not willing to impose on ourselves.
Take care to ask God’s will during this day and take special care in applying it to yourself before judging other people. But even more important, take time to thank God for the Gospel that puts the passage in the context of God’s unconditional love.
Let us pray: Open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts, Father that we might always see what you call us to do and have the courage to do it. And enable us to hear the Gospel that assures us of your love, not matter what our sin. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Frontline Devotion for Sunday, September 20, 2009
By Don Kress
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Text for the Day: James 3:13-18 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom-it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats. Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, over-flowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. (The Message)
All of us have known someone who claimed to be wise? My experience is that a person who proclaims them self as wise seldom acts that way. People who are truly wise are generally more humble in their actions. James says that wisdom isn’t revealed through the way we talk, but rather through the way we live. True wisdom is measured by a person’s character.
The “American College Dictionary” defines wisdom as: ”knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action.” True wisdom requires two things: learning and discernment. The Reverend Dr. Selwyn Hughes says that there are seven traits – or “pillars” – that are evident in a person who has wisdom: trust, integrity, generosity, diligence, watchfulness with words, friendship, and personal purity. (”Wisdom for Living,” “Everyday Light” 1998) It’s interesting that knowledge doesn’t even make his list! But Hughes’ list is consistent with James’ message: it’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that defines wisdom.
The commentary related to today’s text in the “New Living Translation Study Bible” says this: “Foolishness leads to disorder, but wisdom leads to peace and goodness. Are you tempted to escalate the conflict, pass on the gossip, or fan the fire of discord? Careful, winsome speech and wise, loving words are the seeds of peace…Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are inspired by the devil. It is easy for us to be drawn into wrong desires by the pressures of society and sometimes even by well-meaning Christians. By listening to the advice: ‘Assert yourself,’ ‘Go for it,’ ‘Set high goals,’ we can be drawn into greed and destructive competitiveness. Seeking God’s wisdom delivers us from the need to compare ourselves to others and to want what they have.”
Do you know someone who claims to have wisdom, or do you, yourself, think you are wise? Evaluate those claims of wisdom against Hughes’ seven pillars. A person who is truly wise will exhibit all of those traits. James is right: when it comes to measuring wisdom, “It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, your servant Solomon – acclaimed as the wisest man in history – said, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.” (Proverbs 9:10) Grant me such wisdom, Father. Help me to demonstrate my wisdom by the way I live. I ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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By Mike Martine
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (New International Version)
As Fritz Foltz mentioned in the latest “Frontline Study,” (you can find it at www.fritzfoltz.com)
it’s interesting that, from a biblical perspective, God did not even allow humans to eat animals until the time of Noah! (Genesis 9:1-7)
Of course, there’s enough of a biologist in me to look at this passage and say things (in my head, of course) like, “Ah…so God will give the lion and leopard molars!”
But kidding aside, the meaning of this is very clear. God is working for a time when violence will cease on the earth. A time when beings will not only exist side by side, but when they will even go so far as to care for one another’s young.
In truth, the “kingdom of God” proclaimed by Jesus is this exact kingdom proclaimed among human beings.
Gandhi seemed to understand this kingdom…he also understood that the opposite of the kingdom is a very different place indeed.
One day, a man named Nahari burst in to see Gandhi. He was crying out, “I’m going to Hell! I’m going to Hell!”
“Why?” Gandhi replied.
“I have killed a child! I smashed his head against a wall!”
Again, Gandhi asked, “Why?”
“Because!” Nahari yelled. “Because they killed my son! The Muslims killed my son!”
(Now you have to understand, this was during a time when the followers of Islam, the Muslims, and the Hindus-i.e., Nahari’s {and Gandhi’s} people, were rioting against one another. Violently threatening one another and making good on those threats.)
“They killed my son!” Nahari sobbed. “And now I have killed one of their children. I most certainly am going to Hell!”
Gandhi was silent for a time, and then he said, very quietly. “I know a way out of hell.”
“You do?” Nahari said.
“Yes. I do. But you must do as I say.”
“Anything!” Nahari cried out.
“Go find a child,” Gandhi said, “whose parents have been killed in the fighting…and raise him as your own.”
“Yes, Mahatma!” Nahari said.
“But…” Gandhi continued, “you must be sure he is a Muslim. And you must raise him as one as well.”
The wolf must live with the lamb…the asp must make no notice when the child’s hand reaches into its nest.
The vision of the peaceful kingdom is not an elimination of differences. It is, rather, a picture of life that looks past differences to the basic truth: that all are children of God.
Can we embrace that kingdom?
Can we afford not to?
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By: Pastor Dave Sonnenberg
Reprinted from September 8, 2005
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In Genesis 18, three visitors come walking toward Abraham’s tent. He has never seen them, but he runs out to greet them. He urges them to come and stay in the shade of his tent. He has an enormous feast prepared, and is honored to engage these visitors in conversation. Hospitality like this was part of the ancient mid-eastern culture. It is too often a lost art in our day and age. We, the people of God need to recover it. We need to be as honored to meet new people, whether it be in the church or in our everyday
contacts.
In the church, one of the best stories I remember was told to me by a woman who had twins. She hadn’t been in church in a long time, but she decided one day to come to church- bringing along her 2 twin toddlers. Apparently, the kids were wild, jumping all over the place, making lots of noise, dropping food and toys all over the place. The woman was horrified and embarrassed and afraid that others were going to chastise her. As the service drew to a close, the woman felt utterly worn out and defeated. She felt like coming to church had been a bad idea. As she was packing up her bag, John and Arlene turned around and said, “Welcome to Grace. It’s good to have you here.” The woman was utterly amazed. Those simple words of welcome were what she needed. The woman eventually became an active member in the church and she has told me that story on several occasions. The words of hospitality from John and Arlene were so incredibly important.
Wherever you are, take the courage to speak words of welcome to others. Make people feel important at work. Make the strangers you come across feel like they are “royalty” as Abraham did. We have countless opportunities to share words of blessing. Do we pass those opportunities by or do we seize them? I pray that you seize them. You’ll be blessed and so will those who you reach out to.
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By Penny Risen
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Mark 9: 33-37
“They came to Capernaum. When Jesus was safe at home, He asked them, ‘What were you discussing on the road?’ The silence was deafening – they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest. He sat down and summoned the Twelve. ‘So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.’
”He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in His arms, He said, ‘Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me -God who sent me.’ ” The Message Bible
In this passage in Mark, Jesus seeks servants for His mission who are willing to start on the ground floor. He sees in each child and adult a certain spark that he or she can bring to the world, if they willing to be servants — servants of all. Not first, not the medal winner, neither star nor top of the class but lowly as a child. Jesus recruits willing hands and hearts, not big egos or only tip-top talent. He has a job for us.
Prayer for the day: Dear Lord, I know You expect me to make a difference in the world, sharing Your love with all. Please give me the desire to be a servant and to bring others into Your ministry. Amen.