Tornado Clean-up

On December 26, 2015, a series of tornadoes hit North Texas. Garland and Rowlett sustained substantial damage to homes and businesses. Eight people were killed and dozens were injured. The people of Garland and Rowlett are struggling with massive clean-up projects before they can even consider rebuilding. The week after the tornadoes hit, a friend of ours, Nita Dupnik drove through the area to see what the needs were and how she could help. The following week, Nita went to Garland, along with her brother, and Nancy Powell. They spent the day removing debris from homes, sorting to find anything salvageable, and depositing everything else on the curb for pick up. After hearing from Nita in Sunday School, I worked with her to plan a day when more people could drive over to help, setting the date for Saturday, Jan. 23.  Although the idea began as a Ladies Sunday School project, we announced it to the church, and when the time came, we took seventeen people for the work day, men and women, ages from 12 to…75ish.

These are a few pictures of us getting started.

Here a few pictures to show the devastation in the area. 

These pictures are of the first home we worked on with the home-owner, Marcus. He and his wife and three young adult children shut themselves in a bathroom when the tornado hit, and were not hurt. They came out to find their home destroyed and their neighborhood in turmoil.  We moved the debris from his yard to the curb where it would be picked up.

Although we packed lunches, a group of volunteers brought us sandwiches. We stopped work long enough to eat, then, just as we finished, another group bought pizza. 

The second place we worked was home to a couple with four children. They all took cover in this laundry room, along with the washer and dryer.

After the storm, that was the only room standing. 

These home owners had saved for 15 years to buy their first home, and had lived in it 14 months before the storm destroyed it. 

When we came to help them, they were under pressure to complete the clean-up and were required to have the slab clean by Sunday night. This seemed impossible, until another volunteer group came with a small tractor! They pulled the remaining walls down and cleared it off pretty quickly. 

Here is our group getting ready to load up to head home. A few had moved on to another location for work.

We had a great day and were blessed to be able to help out where we were really needed. 

The first temptation, always Satan's first attack

In Matthew 4:1 we read,   Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

After his official anointing in John 3, he was led into the wilderness to be tempted. After having the Holy Spirit come and rest on him, after being praised by God as his son who was doing well, then, he is tempted. We often think that when we are tempted, we have done something wrong. While it may be true that we have put ourselves in a situation or condition to be vulnerable to temptation, it is not necessarily the case. Being tempted is not sin. We don’t outgrow temptation. We don’t become so mature and spiritual that we cannot be tempted.  It may be, and should be, that the same things do not tempt us that did at one time. You begin to realize, Oh, I have no interest in the thing that enticed me a few years ago, or a few weeks ago…….   Do not ever think that you are beyond being tempted.   BUT, when tempted, don’t be condemned. Learn how to stand strong.

Satan began his temptation assault with, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  

What is the temptation? 

Satan wants to create the question, “ Are you who you think you are? Are you the person that God said you are? Did you really hear God’s voice…did God really say???”

This was the first strategy in tempting Jesus, and the first temptation he comes with every time. Satan tempts us to question the very things that God has spoken.

We see that in the very first temptation, in Genesis 3:1 Did God really say?  

Jesus’ answer was immediate and certain.

Matthew 4:4  But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”  (Deut 8:3)

The word translated “word” here is the Greek word rhema, usually considered to be the current, personal spoken word of God. 

Not the written word, the scripture, but the spoken, breathed word of God that is personal and individual. That is the word that gives life,that sustains life. 

What word had Jesus just received from God? 

Matthew 3:17  and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

That is the very word that Satan called into question. Jesus said, I will live by that word, hold onto that word, believe and live by that word of God.

The word that the Father had spoken affirmed their relationship.

Satan asked, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  Satan temps Jesus to question who he is. God has just spoken to him, affirming that Jesus is his beloved son, who he is pleased with. 

Satan questions that very fact. So, IF you are the Son of God, make yourself some bread.  I mean, you haven’t eaten in 40 days, you’re hungry, you can take care of this is you really are who you think you are.

Is there anything wrong with making bread from stones????  That is not really the point.

We can become very hung up on sin, on doing the right thing and not doing the wrong things.  That is not the issue here. The issue is, “would Jesus trust his father, stand strong in his relationship, live by the very personal word of God.”  Jesus passed the test by living by God’s “rhema” word.

This is the answer. We can stand strong against temptation and live in victory when we cling to our Father, hear his voice, believe and hold fast to the words he speaks to us, and value our relationship with Him above everything else.

The Unexpected Messiah Affirmed

Matthew 3:13-15 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.

Jesus, Messiah, Son of God, came to be baptized by John. John did not expect this. John baptized people after they repented. Jesus did not need to repent. He had no sin. He had no wrong thinking.     He had no reason to be baptized. He wanted to be baptized because it was the right thing to do. As a human, he was about to make a big change in his life. Jesus was 30 years old. He had lived in his parent’s home, worked as a carpenter like his earthly father, lived a normal life, seemingly like everyone else in Nazareth. Now, at 30 years old, he was ready to begin his ministry. His first step was to submit himself to the ritual of baptism. 

This is an important step, and act of obedience and an act of consecration. To this point, Jesus has lived a very human life, although totally sinless. His life has not been remarkable in any outward way. He worked as a carpenter, trained by his earthly father.  Now, at the age of 30, he is ready to begin his public ministry, to show himself as the Messiah. So, he begins that with this act of baptism.

 Matthew 3:16-17  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Unexpectedly, the heavens were opened.

When Mark described this scene, he used a different word

Mark 1:10 “heavens were opened”. The word translated opened here means split in two, break, divide, tear open.  There is an element of violence with that word.

The same word is used in Mark 15:38 “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”  The temple curtain was very thick, made up of many layers with embroidery. When Jesus died, that veil was ripped, torn apart with energy. 

When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were ripped open, a way was opened up between God and man. 

With the heavens opened, the Spirit of God descended. Jesus was receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit to begin his ministry. Jesus was a man, a human being who operated in the full empowerment and equipping of the Spirit. 

With the heavens opened, and the Spirit descended, a voice came from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

The last voice from heaven recorded was when the angel announced to the Shepherds, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11

Since that time, the heavens were silent. Jesus lived in obscurity, as a child who grew and matured, and as a man who worked with his hands. 

Now, once again, the heavens break apart for a special announcement. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Why was the father well pleased? Jesus had not done any miracles yet. He had not taught truth with authority. He had not rebuked the Pharisees. Why was the Father pleased? 

I think the Father was pleased because Jesus had lived for 30 years a normal life, the Son of God, living out the divine life that was in him, but in a quiet, obscure way. He just WAS.

The father was pleased with the person Jesus was.

And, the entire scene was totally unexpected.

The Unexpected Messiah’s unexceptional life

Jesus was born and lived a very human life. The gospels are very specific about that. Jesus, although he was God, fully God, never stopped being God, was, at the same time, absolutely human.

The conception of Jesus was miraculous, extraordinary, unusual.

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

The Holy Spirit overcame her and she conceived the Son of God.

We see that his birth was NOT miraculous.

Luke 2:6-7 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem, and while she was there, as the verse says, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth.  The surprising thing about that sentence is how unremarkable it is. I mean, this is the Messiah, the Savior, the SON OF GOD. You would expect his birth to be a little more remarkable. We would like a few more details. If one of us women were to visit with Mary, we would ask her how long she was in labor, did she have an epidural or natural birth, was Joseph attentive…Those are questions we would ask about just any birth. The birth of a King should be much more special. We want to know more.

But we have no details, except that they were in a stable because there was nowhere else for them to 

stay. Remarkable that God became flesh but had to be born in a stable. 

Luke 2:21-24 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.  (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord")   and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

Jesus was circumcised. God became a human baby boy and submitted himself to be circumcised. Because that is what the law required for male babies. He and his parents did the normal things for Jewish babies. His parents brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Really. But, he was the Lord. Mary and Joseph presented him to the Lord because the Law of Moses said to do that. They offered the appropriate sacrifice for the son of a poor family, just as the Law required. They just did the normal things that Jewish parents would do. 

The Bible does not say much about his childhood.  Maybe because he had a normal childhood.

Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Jesus grew. He grew physically and intellectually and relationally.

The only story from his childhood recorded is when he was 12 years old and he went with his family to Jerusalem. His parents lost him, and found him in the temple.

Luke 2:46-47 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

He was in the temple listening and asking questions, and answering questions. Maybe unusual, but a very normal thing for a young Jewish boy who loved God to be doing.

Luke 2:48-50 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress."   And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"  And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.

Jesus answer to his parents is remarkable. He had to be in his Father’s house. This is an unusual response. What is surprising to us, I think, is that his parents WERE so surprised. Even when Jesus said that he had to be in his Father’s house, they did not understand what he was talking about. Mary and Joseph knew who he was. The fact that they did not understand seems to indicate that Jesus just seemed like a normal boy to them. I don’t mean to imply I think he pulled shenanigans of any kind, that he was ugly to his parents or disobedient. But, he lived a normal boy life with his parents.

Luke 2:51 52 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

He went home and lived a normal life. He was a boy who submitted to his parents and did the things that 12 year old Jewish boys were supposed to do. And he grew. He continued to grow physically, mentally, and relationally.

What is so unexpected about this normal human life that Jesus lived?  Who would think that a King would live just like everyone else? The Jews were looking for something else, a King who looked like a king and lived like a king.

Happy NEW Year

Don’t you love new beginnings? I always look forward to the start of each new year because we have the opportunity to say goodbye to the year before and open a new page. When God created our earth, he established a lot of do-overs, because He knew we would need them. Every day is a do -over, we get a new start. Every Sunday brings a new week, every month we can start over, but the first of every year is a really big new beginning.

God has an affinity for things that are new. Look in the Bible. God says that He will make a NEW covenant with us, He will give us a NEW heart, and a NEW spirit. He provides NEW mercies for us every morning, and He puts a NEW song in our mouths. He makes you a NEW person, with a RENEWED mind, and a NEW life. Jesus provided a NEW and living way to go to the Father. God even says that everyone who comes to Christ is actually a NEW creature!

God will create a NEW heaven and NEW earth, with a NEW Jerusalem. And finally, He says, "Behold, I make all things NEW."

When God uses the word new, He means more than we understand. The Greek word translated “new”   is “kainos”, “of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of”.  We talk about getting a new car, but the new car is the same in essence as the old car. It is new In the sense that's it has just been made, but in essence it isn't new at all. In the same way, a new baby is the same as billions of other babies that came before.

When God makes something new, it is new in it's very essence. When Jesus was born, he was a new baby in every way. Before Jesus, there was God, there was man, and there were angels, and fallen angels. Jesus was a brand new thing. He was fully God, and fully human, NEW.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new." When we give our lives to Christ, we are born again. Not just get a fresh start at life with our sins washed away (although we do get that, Hallelujah). We become a NEW creature, New in essence, a human being with God living inside. Before Jesus came, that was something never before seen. NEW! Don't Forget, you are a NEW creature, a very special kind of being, not just human, but a human with God mixed in!