John 19:28-42 A number of years ago on Good Friday I went with my dad to watch the Passion movie. He said he wanted to watch it to get "in the mood" for the Good Friday service he was to lead later that evening. To be honest I cried a lot and during that Good Friday service as we were having communion I couldn't keep the tears back. I kept thinking about how the movie dep...

John 19:1-16 In this passage Jesus is brutally flogged and dressed in a purple robe and a crown of thorns, made by the Roman soldiers. The ruling governor, Pontius Pilot ordered the flogging and then released Jesus to the Jews to crucify him. Pontius Pilot saw himself as all powerful and was oblivious to the all powerful God, Jesus, standing right in front of him. We see ...

"He is the way, the uncouth, and the lie."I still remember this satirical statement made by a fictitious demon-in-training, Wormwood, in a theatrical production based on C. S. Lewis' book, "The Screwtape Letters" which I saw many years ago.I found this to be a humorous play on words from Wormwood, referring to his "Father Below," Satan however I also know it reflects the ...

"No man can do properly what he is called upon to do in this life unless he can learn to forget his ego and act as an instrument of God." -W. H. Auden Allowing God to fill the throne in our hearts that our fallen nature screams should be occupied by us is the fundamental battle of sanctification. This desire for self-rule is the primary result of Adam and Eve's decision t...

John 17:1-26 Before I begin to write anything I pray. I pray that the words I write be from the Father; that the words are what He wants me to share. So, I prayed, read the John 17 and a few thoughts came to me. I wasn't going past a note or two. So, later I sat, invited the Holy Spirit; prayed for guidance and wisdom; read the chapter again and a few more thoughts came. ...

John 15:26-16:33 Dan and I had been married about six weeks when my "rose colored glasses" smashed into a zillion pieces. I thought I knew marriage would be hard, but I didn't expect it to be THIS hard. This many tears. Missing my family and friends this much. This lonely... My shame over not being perfectly happy with the man I loved made things even worse. Remember th...

John 15:1-25 In this part of the week's reading Jesus tells us that "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5) and that the practical examples of this truth range from our being enabled to take each breath which keeps us physically alive, to using the highest functions of our intellect. Yet one of the more profound paradoxes of our Faith is the reality that, while eve...

The shortest sentence in the Scriptures is "Jesus wept." It was on the occasion of His arrival at the home of Lazarus who had died four days before. He encountered the crying and wailing of those who had loved this disciple and was soon weeping Himself. In doing so the sinless Son of God ratified grief as the proper human response to loss. Elsewhere in the New Testament we...

John 12:12-19 If you've been a Christian for any amount of time, you've probably heard of the "Triumphant" or "Triumphal Entry". The Triumphant Entry is Jesus' entry into Jerusalem before His final Passover celebration there. We celebrate this today on PalmSunday. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, and a large crowd of Jews had come to see not only Him, but al...

John 12:1-11 Some of my favorite moments as a father are those when my children show me how much they love me, even when they look or sound ridiculous. They don't care what they look like or what others think, they just love us so very much and want to show it. Scenes of Matthew running to me with open arms, tongue hanging out, hair bouncing everywhere or Elise with her w...