Joy Lutheran Church Ocala, Florida

One of the most challenging things about writing this weekly blog is thinking up a title for the piece that will capture the reader’s attention and give a hint of the topic. So, what does the title “Titles” mean? 

Well, I was thinking about the various titles that we call God. Way back when, the people did not say God’s name. Like the Harry Potter Books’ chief villain “He Who Must Not Be Named.” Only with a totally opposite meaning, ancient people would not speak the name of the Yahweh because of awe and respect. No one spoke Voldemort’s name out of pure, unadulterated fear. 

We have titled God with many elaborate names Emmanuel, Light of the World, Savior, Name Above All Names, Yahweh, I Am Who Am, Adonai, Abba, Anointed One, Bread of Life, Holy Spirit, Great High Priest, God Almighty, Passover Lamb, Prince of Peace, Son of the Most High, Jesus Christ, Father and on and on. Yes, I looked up these titles and there are still many more that I could list.  

How about the title of Friend? Do we use this loving term when referring to our time with God? Here a little story to think about: 

We were watching a mystery show the other night. One of the suspects used time with a friend (Jesus Christ, although not named at the time) as their alibi. The lead detective replied, “Well, have him contact me for verification.” “I’ll have him get in touch with you,” replied the suspect. Later in the show, the lead detective mentions that he hasn’t heard from the suspect’s friend yet. “Well, maybe you haven’t been listening,” answers the suspect. It is later revealed that her friend is Jesus Christ, and she spent time praying in the chapel for her husband the murder victim.  

How often do we refer to Christ as our friend? Does it seem too informal to be appropriate? Do we pray to our Friend for our friends that they will hear God’s words and have peace in their hearts? Isn’t Christ the ultimate Friend? 

Christ Jesus loves us unconditionally, will listen to us without complaint or impatience, will provide the comfort that only a divine unprejudiced love can provide. All we must do is ask and trust. Throw yourself into the arms of God and let Him take away your fears, your sadness, your pain.  

Call Him your Friend- a beautiful title. 

Terri 

Here’s another question of Jesus for us to ponder.  “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Mark 8:36).  

This is a question that can be considered at a lot of levels. In purely practical terms, what is your life worth? One night my father’s car wouldn’t start. Since he was only a block away from home, he decided to push the car back to the house rather than get help. He pushed it a short distance, had a heart attack, and died on the spot. Maybe it would have happened even if he hadn’t pushed the car, but I don’t know. Problem is, I would probably do something just like that because I hate asking for help with anything. What is a life worth?

The context of Jesus’ question, however, gives it another dimension. He was talking about discipleship and the dangers of following him. You could lose your life for being a follower of Jesus. But preserving an earthly life could cost eternal life. What is that life worth?

But there is yet a third way of looking at the question. What is life worth right now without God? Set aside the possibility of persecution and forfeiting eternal life. What is a purely material life without any spiritual qualities to it worth? That’s really the question for the present age where so many pursuits diminish the spiritual quality of life and take us farther away from God. Are those pursuits worth it?

So, what’s a life, your life, worth?

Read Mark 8:34-37 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

When my grandkids were little, they spent the entire summer with us at the lake. I started each summer with an ample supply of colorful childrens’ Band-Aids, ready for needy little cuts and scrapes. Grammy’s Band-Aids were fun! If a little guy needed some attention, he had only to come to me with his boo-boo, real or imagined. That little finger might have looked perfectly fine, but if one little Band-Aid made him feel better, then a Band-Aid and a hug were always ready and waiting.

I’m thinking that my prayers to my heavenly Daddy are sometimes like that. Now some of the concerns we lift in prayer are desperately real. But sometimes mine are just the invention of a worrisome mind. Sometimes I’m more concerned about the “what ifs” than the situation of the here and now.  And so I am anxious, fearful and worried.

Yet, even when I come to God with my “imagined boo-boo,” He’s ready to listen and offer His help. You could say He’s always ready with His heavenly band-aid. For He comes with His comfort,  the reassurance of His unconditional love. And that makes my world OK again.

Take your anxieties to your Lord.  He will listen, because He loves you unconditionally.

Originally posted by Judy in September 2018

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

I am “cheating” today, relaying to you what was passed on to me once upon a time…

1. Jesus instructed us to make disciples and of course to be disciples. In sharing faith (evangelizing), we as Christians are transformed.

2. Discipleship is linked to evangelism.

3. Being an authentic disciple means we may get it wrong sometimes. 4. Morally messy churches are still a reality. Notice I said “still”. Read I Corinthians. They had the same kind of broken people churches we have today. We are still authentic, because that same acknowledgment of brokenness makes us that! Do we want to be Pharisees? I didn’t think so.

5. Maturity takes time. Unrealistic expectations on new disciples right off the bat confuse and crush them. It may take months, even years. Share with them the love of Christ in a spiritual community. Teach, show, relate to them; be their accountability partner.

6. It’s not about you. It’s about Jesus.

7. Love. Unconditionally, to the best of your ability.

Pastor Art

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”  Matthew 25:40. When we help someone who is in need, we are also serving Jesus.

One who personified such a life was St. Peter Claver.  Born in Spain in 1580, he volunteered for the Spanish colonies and was sent to Cartagena.  For six years he lived with the Jesuits and studied theology before being ordained as a priest.  During those years he was deeply disturbed by the harsh treatment and living conditions of the black enslaved people who were brought from Africa.   Cartagena was a slave-trading hub and 10,000 slaves poured into the port yearly, crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul that an estimated one-third died in transit. Although the slave trade was condemned by the Pope, it was a lucrative business and continued to flourish.^[6]

Claver headed for the wharf whenever a slave ship entered.  Boarding the ship, he entered the filthy and diseased holds to minister to the badly treated, terrified human cargo.  After the enslaved people were herded from the ship and penned in nearby yards, he joined them with medicine, food, bread and lemons.   It is estimated that during his 40 years of ministry, he personally baptized 300,000 slaves.

In honor of St. Peter Claver, the people of the Republic of Columbia declared September 9^th as National Day of Human Rights.

Serving the “least of these” is just as essential now as then.  We are not called to work on slave ships, but whatever our calling, let’s perform it to the glory of our God who showers us with his unconditional love.

Judy

For many years, the expression of “Let Go and Let God” has appeared on bumper stickers, cards, social media posts and used in conversations. It is one of those statements that is short and to the point.  We, as flawed humans, do tend to “hang on” to stuff.  Mentally and physically “stuff” clutters our minds and hearts and lives and can truly inhibit living in the moment. Listening to some folks can sometimes be quite taxing.  They see nothing good in this world and fret and stew and complain constantly. Others are hanging on to physical “stuff” they just can’t seem to donate or get rid of. The clutter is insurmountable. Let Go and Let God reminds us quite succinctly to drop the complaining, clean out the clutter and RELEASE it all to God.  Your complaints are known to God already.  Your concerns and worries He is quite aware of too. Give them to Him. He loves you so unconditionally and knows you since you were formed in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139).  Now, strengthen your faith, by trusting God to clear your mind of complaints and fill it with thanks and appreciation for LIFE. Allow Him to guide you to donation centers or trash receptacles for the “stuff” that clutters your home and yard.

Another way to say it, or reiterate this need for RELEASE is something I just read. I don’t know who wrote it, but I thought it quite clever: “If you want God to open and close doors, you need to let go of the doorknob.” This holds so much truth.  Stop hanging on to complaints, worries and “stuff.” They are not your support.  Let go of the doorknob, so God can enter into your thoughts and heart and fill you up with HIM. He is all you need. Trusting and having faith in our heavenly Father will allow you to release the door knob and believe that He will take care of you, mind, soul, and body.

Jill

We often think we know what is best for ourselves, but do we?  We pray for what we WANT and not what we NEED and then wonder why God doesn’t answer our prayers.  He does answer our prayers, but just in a manner which is best for us.

Here is a Buddhist story that exemplifies this very issue.

A farmer wakes up one morning to find that his horse has run off.  His neighbor comes by  and says, “Too bad.  Such awful luck.”

The farmer says, “Maybe.”

The next day, the horse returns with a few more horses. The neighbor congratulates the farmer on his reversal of fortune. 

“Maybe”, the farmer says.

When his son tries to ride one of the new horses, he is thrown off and breaks his leg.  The neighbor offers condolences.

The farmer answers, “Maybe.”

And the next day, when the army officials come to draft the son and don’t take him because of his broken leg, everyone is happy.

“Maybe,” the farmer says.

I have heard stories like this before. They are beautiful in their simplicity and surrender to the universe. I wonder if I could be attached to something so detached. I don’t know. Maybe…

This story  tells of a simple man who submitted to the belief everything happens for a reason and it not always for the worst. He didn’t immediately assume the world was treating him unfairly, but waited patiently for what was going to happen next. I wish I could be more like that and trust that everything happens for a reason. I’m working on it though and the longer I live, the more I recognize instances I call a “God thing”. We experience God’s unconditional love for us everyday in all the “God Things” we experience.

In Jeremiah 29:11 we read these words. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God’s greatest plan was the birth and death of His Son, Jesus Christ who gave His life so we all have a chance for forgiveness and salvation. We are so blessed.  Thanks be to God!

Patty

 In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (6:10-20), he instructs them to “Put on the whole armor of God…” Hmmmm, I was struck by this order and excited by the words that follow this admonition. 

He goes on to explain that by wearing the whole armor of God, we can stand against the “schemes of the devil.” Isn’t it so? The devil plagues not only the world, but our own personal lives. The devil is the trickster that deceives us into believing that our lives should be lived in ways that are not always in accordance with God’s will for us. The devil wants to be God and will do anything he can to bring us to the same desire. 

Do we concede? Do we take off our defensive armor given to us by God, who loves you unconditionally, and give the devil his due?  

Don’t! Keep that armor in place and remember that God always has your back. God wants you to be happy joyous and free! It may seem that at times this is an impossible feat, but it will happen. With this armor of God, one that does not weigh you down and keep you imprisoned in hate, you will flourish in ways that cannot be imagined.  

Give it a try. Turn your will and your life over to the care and protection of God and see what happens. Also, read Paul’s letter to the people of Ephesus which he wrote to them in chains-from jail. He had his armor of God in place. Do you? 

Terri 

Jesus frequently asked questions. I count 30 questions in the first eight chapters of Mark alone. Occasionally, the question is only to gain information, like when Jesus asks a blind man if he can see anything while he heals the man. Often Jesus poses questions to thwart the scribes or Pharisees when they are challenging him like the time they say that he casts out demons by Beelzebul and Jesus asks, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” Sometimes Jesus puts a question to his disciples as a rebuke as when he asks them, “Do you not yet understand?”

But then there are the curious questions that I think are posed to us as well as the persons in the narrative. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:16). What does it matter what a person calls Jesus? Everything!

In the Gospel of Matthew the only person who calls Jesus Rabbi, is Judas. The only persons who call Jesus Teacher are his opponents or someone who doesn’t do what Jesus tells him. In other words those people who see Jesus only as a teacher have got him wrong. On the other hand, Peter calls him the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus in turn says Peter is blessed because he calls him this.

So the question is put to us. “Who do you say that I am?” What do we answer and what does that answer mean to us? What would it mean for us to call him Lord for example.

Think about Jesus’ questions.

Read Matthew 16:13-19 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

Did you first learn those words from reading comic books?

They are resurfacing on all the current movies about superheroes, transformers, bigger-than-life comic heroes on the mega screen for all to view.

I fantasize that these “power” words were first used by God during His creation frenzy. ZAP and the oceans roared over the earth. KA-POW the animals are now roving, running and checking out their new surroundings.

We may not use those words but the amazement and awe are the same when we are presented with our newborn, or a precious grandchild to just rock and cherish. Our first raise or promotion at a job we love; perhaps holding our well-earned diploma in our hands. The mountain top experiences of our lives are punctuated with these onomatopoeias: “Words that imitate a sound.”

We are not permanent dwellers of mountain top experiences. The reality is we wander through dark valleys sometimes, knowing those ZING BLAST ZAP occurrences will reoccur. It is God who leads us through the valley. If we put our trust in Him, He will lead us and bring us to His powerful KA-POW blessings.

The 23rd Psalm is a reminder we may have memorized from our youth, or heard over and over again as we grew. I will fear no evil because my God is with me. As we learn lessons in this life and move from valley to mountain, unconditional love from our creator is KA-POW to-the-max!

Originally posted by Jill in September 2018