Our Palm Sunday King is Near!

The Psalmist declared the coming of the King of Glory to Jerusalem, and He came:

Psalm 24:7-8 -- “Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and might, the LORD mighty in battle.”

This whole Psalm was likely penned during the time of the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem (Zion). Yet, it speaks forth a great prophecy that was true in the day of the Ark of the Covenant’s journey into Jerusalem and the presence of Yahweh (God), was true when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey 2,000 years ago, and will soon be true again at the 2^nd Coming of Christ.

“The LORD mighty in battle,” speaks unashamedly of a warrior-God, who went out and fought for His people, who subdued the nations, and spread His name that His glory might be known all across the earth. Christ is “the LORD mighty in battle.” It is also true that He is the Prince of Peace, but He is also the better Joshua, the victorious warrior, in whom dwells the powerful and conquering might of the living God. Christ is the Commander of all the forces of the universe.

Revelation 1:7 – “Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him.”

Christ is coming! Our King draws near!

What if we disappeared?

The Great Commandment to love God and love people is a powerful and foundational statement from Jesus. 

If the people of God faithfully obey this Great Commandment the unchurched in our communities will take notice. Loving God with ALL our heart, and loving others as profoundly as we love ourselves…yes…that makes a powerful statement in a community.

Church congregations see themselves as placed by God into particular communities. Our Pearland churches worship together, learn and serve together, and try to teach others to be more like Jesus. But, what if we disappeared? What if Shadycrest disappeared?

If we disappeared, would our community miss us? If we disappeared, would our community grieve? Would they feel a deep loss? These are good and profound questions to ask. The Great Commandment from our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which “all of the Law and the Prophets hangs,” compels us to ask such questions.

I wish to challenge you this week to pray about loving your neighbors. I want to challenge us all to dig deep and evaluate where we are with this profound command to love our neighbors. I want to continually challenge us to identify those in our personal sphere of influence whom God is inviting us to reach. Truly, we might be the only Jesus some will ever meet. God is moving!

Will you let Him move in you?

Confessing Christ

God’s plans to save mankind from their sins includes the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. The lost in the world identify us as followers of Christ not only by the fruit of our lives, but also by the repeated confession of our mouth the Jesus is our Lord.

In Jesus’ day, people were not sure He was the Messiah. This is why Jesus asked His disciples, “who do men say that I am?” (Matt 16:13-19). The disciples’ answers proved there was great confusion then concerning who Jesus was. Likewise, there is great confusion today about who Jesus is.

Some people today say Jesus was a great leader and teacher. Some say following Jesus is one of many ways to get to heaven. Some say Jesus was a fake and a phony--just a man. Some say He was a prophet, like Moses, or Muhammad, or Joseph Smith. Why is there so much confusion still today concerning who Jesus is??? How do we help clear up the confusion?

The answer to these questions is the same as it was the day Jesus asked His disciples to identify who He was. Peter said it right that day, and He kept on saying it boldly and courageously with his life and his words, every day. And, Peter and the disciples did it in a place and a time that was oppositional to the truth that Jesus is truly the King!

So how do we respond? How do we answer? We MUST do likewise. We must be Peter, James, and John to our generation. A person cannot become a Christian unless he/she confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Rom 10:9-10). One day, everyone will confess Christ (Rom 14:11-12; Phil 2:9-11), but if people wait till that day it will be too late. There is an urgency here we must not ignore. We must lay aside our fears, open our mouths, and confess Christ. We must be His witnesses…for lives are on the line…eternity is at stake!

Stay on Target...Stay on Target

Yes…for all you Star Wars fans…the title of this blog is a reference from the movie! These encouraging words helped Luke Skywalker to stay focused on his mission: to drop a bomb into the belly of the Death Star and destroy it, stopping the evil plot of the Empire.

Our mission is quite different in many regards, but the focus we need to stay on target is just as pronounced as it was that day for a young Skywalker. Most people generally feel that the condition of the world is not getting any better and that conditions are actually worsening each year. I would agree. For Christians especially, recent months have recorded stories of Christian persecution that feel more like pages ripped out of the book of Exodus than modern-day news reports.

A Christian couple beaten to death and then burned in a kiln…more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria…a mother forced to give birth in chains in Sudan…the mass exodus (millions) of families forced from their homes in Syria, driven out by the brutality of ISIS…the violence and cruelty seem to know no bounds.

If we don’t understand it, we are certainly starting to feel it, even as we are “safe” in our nice homes here in the US. The news reports are getting closer and closer to home each day. Christ will be the only solid rock that will supply us with hope in trying times. Mark 13:31 says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

We live in a lost and dying world!!! And, we possess the only cure…the hope of the gospel!!! It is too precious a gift to hold for ourselves…we must share it! Focus now…let’s stay on target!