The great exchange

In my reading I've come to Mark 1 and one of my favorite stories in the bible. It's a very short story...not much said about it, but it's heavy with impact to me. I always slow down as I read this story because I love the message it communicates. Join me in the crowd as we watch what unfolds....
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Mar 1:40 And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."
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This very action was completely contrary to the law. A leper was required to move from family and friends and live alone. If anyone came near who was not a leper the law required that the leper announce, "Unclean! Unclean!" so that those coming near would know not to get too close. This man did the forbidden, he came unannounced to the very feet of Jesus! When the crowds saw him I'm sure the outcries and insults were loud and emotional. How dare he come here unannounced. But his plea was an amazing one. Listen to his words over the cries of the crowd, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
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Mar 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and *said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."
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Now stop just for a moment and read those words again....moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. I can just see the faces of the crowd. Surprise, amazement, shock...how could Jesus touch a man covered in leprosy? I can hear the outcry, the shock. Now Jesus is unclean as well! Now Jesus has made himself an outcast. But he frames his touch with these words, I am willing, be cleansed.
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Then it happens, in a moment, with a touch that changed everything for this outcast man...
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Mar 1:42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
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Immediately, instantly, right then his life was completely different! Not only was he healed, but Jesus had touched him! I believe that Jesus' touch was meant to heal two things- his body and his mind. A man who had not been touched in years was touched by Jesus. The compassion of that touch changed everything. He was a different man!
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Mar 1:43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away,
Mar 1:44 and He *said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
Mar 1:45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.
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And here is the great exchange- the man who was a leper and outcast to the unpopulated areas was now whole because of Jesus' touch and I can just see him hugging everyone he saw and telling them his story. His life was completely changed, and a great exchange happened. Now the outcast was welcome back into community, and the healer took his place....Jesus is now the one in the wilderness, in the unpopulated areas.
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The story of the leper is my story. It's his touch when we were in our sins that cleansed us, made us whole and gave us new life. And with his touch he took our sickness and sin on himself. He took our sin and sickness and gave us his life. The story of this leper who experienced the touch of compassion of Jesus that changes everything is my story, it's your story. It's the story of the great exchange.

Dangerous Pathway

Have you ever noticed that the path we walk in our lives is a lot like this? It's not always easy, there are pitfalls, you have to watch your step....sometimes you wish this was a 4-lane highway and not a broken path....but one thing about this life that is true...it's never boring!

Lights and music by God

I wish you could have heard the "music" last night. It was amazing. It was as if God had recruited the whole percussion section from the orchestra and put on a show, both light and sound. It started with the snare drum of a lightening bolt close to us, then you could hear the kettle drums as the rumble rolled off in the distance. It went on like this for over an hour. It was a better concert than you could get with a $100.00 ticket. What was interesting to me was the ongoing rumble of the thunder and the sound of the kettle drums over and over again. Mixed with it was the rain on the roof dripping on the patio. You could almost hear the rhythm as it all worked together to provide an amazing concert....lights and music by God.

Praise in the desert

The measure of our life is not the circumstances we face, but how we face them. --me

Today I got to spend time talking to two of our missionaries, one on the phone from Germany and the other online in another place. Both are going through some real changes and challenges.

The lady I visited with tonight in going through the sudden reality of a physical illness that is not life threatening, but will involve ongoing pain for the rest of her life. We talked through her situation and the reality of her life. Even with real health issues she still has the choice of how she will respond to this in her life. We each get that choice...how will we respond to the things of life? James said, " Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials....," but the verse that came to my mind as I talked with this dear lady was a verse from the book of Job. Of all the characters in the bible he made some of the best choices in how he responded to what happened in his life. He said, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him."

We may not be able to change the circumstances of our lives, but we can change our words, our focus, our hearts....we can praise him even in the desert.

Recapturing the passion

I got a great e-mail from a good friend of mine today. He was very encouraging, but also directive in his wisdom. He was kind, but did share that he's looking forward to the "old me" blogging again. I do understand his thoughts. One thing I have noticed is that when a person has a problem be it physical, financial or personal, they become the center of their known universe. I know I have done that in my own life through this injury and recovery. My whole focus has been on ME.

I know that's entirely normal, but what I have lost, very honestly, is some of my passion for God. Don't get me wrong I still love the Lord, read the word each day, pray and care about people, but I have lost that spark, that passion for my walk with God. It slips away so easily...something happens in our lives and suddenly everything is about ME. Quietly, subtly my love for God and my passion for him fades. My focus is on me and my problems. I know that has shown in my writing because I know it shows in my life. I do know what I have lost and will get it back, but through this time my focus has been on ME, not God. It shouldn't be that way, but like Peter I let the winds distract me and I took my eyes off the Lord....and began to sink.

I watch this same thing in others as they go through crisis. It may be cancer, financial problems, job loss, it really doesn't matter what it is, but when my focus moves from my relationship with God to my needs, wants or fears then something slips away. Like the nation of Israel in the wilderness we focus our attention on our need for water and miss completely the God who is there. I think this is a dilemma we all share.

Recapturing the passion, reigniting my relationship with God is most important. In fact I know that God wants it more than I do, so it's not far from me. It's moving from me being the center of my universe to once again making HIM the center of the universe. The bible is full of stories of both men and women working through this same struggle. I'm not the first, and won't be the last. It's part of our walk with God. I will again see his face and rest in his fellowship.

I'm working on it even now......

I could have had.....

It's funny how a simple commercial speaks to a host of situations. The V8 commercials have created a number of copies, but the message is clear- you could have had something better. I'm finding that many of you are asking about that very thing...the choices I could have had versus what others offer. What I'm speaking about specifically is the topic of law and grace. The church still struggles over the conflict between law and grace. Many are still trying to blend them, so in the days ahead I want to discuss the issues of law and grace, and focus (humorously I hope) on this theme- "I could have had grace." I know that I will raise a lot of questions so ask them. What I want to do as we work through this is make it clear that you make a choice- law OR grace, pick one, you can't mix them. So what we will try to do is work through what they mean and discuss the liberty we have in Christ. It should be fun!

Monday's cartoon

Photo dictionary: TRUST

Saturday's cartoon

Your turn...

Ok, it's your turn. You pick the topic of discussion, ask the question that has been burning in your head, tell me what you want us to talk about. It's your turn. What would you like to discuss?

Resting in the Lord

I have often tried to describe our rest in the Lord's care and his provision...what it looks like, how to do it.....but nothing could explain it better than a photo of a baby resting in the care of its parents. No worries, no cares, no thoughts of despair, no fears of what might happen....just trust. Today, let me allow the children to teach us what it means to rest in the Lord.
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Lord, thanks for being our ever loving, caring Father. Thank you for always taking care of us. We rest in you and smile today because you are watching over us. Thank you

"It's so you!"

One of our sweet ladies in the church, Susan, came by the church today to bring me a gift. She said she saw it and had to get it for me. She told me, "it's so you!"

I love the shirt. I think I'll wear it to church on Sunday, what do you think?

Marching to Rephidim, part 2

Yesterday I left you in the middle of the desert with the nation of Israel in a place where there was no water. They were led there on purpose by God. Let me make this clear- they were led to a place where there was no water. There were 2,000,000 of them with millions of animals, and God led them to Rephidim on purpose....to a place where there wasn't any water.

Did I make that part clear yet?

Why?

That's a most important question to ask. Go back with me a few chapters to a shepherd in the wilderness who comes upon a burning bush. It's the same Moses who now comes to this same wilderness with the nation of Israel in tow. Why did God bring them here? Here's the reason,

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Rephidim), the mountain of God.

Let's skip down the visit with God a bit to this verse,

Exodus 3:12 And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain."

God led them to this very place to meet with him, to worship him!

But here is what they saw,

Exodus 17:2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?"
Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

All they saw was a desert with no water in sight. What they missed was the fact that God was there waiting for them! In the next few verses God resolves their water problem,

Exodus 17:5 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
Exodus 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

This Horeb is the rock I posted in part 1, the rock that was split in the middle. God provided water, but they had missed the opportunity to ask a really important question, "Lord, why are we here?" They completely missed God in their thirst for water! How often I do that. I miss God in the midst of my "needs."

So, as an expert in wilderness spirituality, let me suggest that when you come to a spiritual desert and find that you have no water the next thing you say is most important. Having been here many times let me suggest this as your next response,

"Hello Father, I see we are in the desert without water. What are we working on today? How can I best glorify you through this time in the wilderness?"

Marching to Rephidim, part 1

There is a passage of scripture that I often go to for comfort and reminder. It's a very strange place to go for such things, but it has proven to provide them to me. It is part of the story of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. They have left Egypt, crossed the sea on dry land, and are being led by God with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In the middle of this odyssey we come to this passage,
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Exodus 17:1 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD.....
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Day by day, led by the cloud and the pillar, they are following God's leading...following him and trusting him. Then, in this short verse we find these words,
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and they camped at Rephidim...
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They camped here by God's leading! But you must see the end of the verse to understand how important this passage is,
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and there was no water for the people to drink.
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When this passage first became clear to me this last phrase stopped me, and my response was, "WHAT?!?! You took them to a place where there was no water? And you took them there ON PURPOSE!?" Yes he did.
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And he will lead us to places like this....places in the desert where there is no water. Dry places, places where we ask, "why did you bring me here?" That will become clear in the following segments, but let me make clear that dry places are in God's plan for our lives. When you find yourself at your Rephidim know that it didn't happen by accident, God has led you there. He's working in your life....he has a plan......stay tuned for what his plan was for Israel.....tomorrow....

Passions and Pearls

I've been thinking about our passions lately. Now most would immediately think about physical passions when the word passion comes to mind, but that's not what I'm referring to here at all. When I speak of passions I'm speaking of those things that drive us and give our lives purpose. It's a passion for health that will make one person diet and workout to create that perfect body. It's a passion for success that will drive another to work long hours to climb the corporate ladder and find wealth.
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Passions often direct a whole host of decisions. If you know what a man will die for you will know what his passions are and what he's really living for. But I find that we are in a time and culture when few have a passion for anything. Few will invest their lives for a noble cause, for a goal beyond this life. Jesus told a very short parable that describes passions. In his series of parables in Matthew he said this,
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Mat 13:45-46 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
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Here is a man who found something that changed his life. He found one pearl worth everything. It was of such value to him that he sold EVERYTHING to buy it. Do you realize what a passion this one pearl created in this man? He literally changed his life to possess this pearl. He gave up everything to own this prize. Now that's passion!
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I've been thinking about this parable and another man's passion I will mention in a moment. I've been thinking about it because I don't see passion of this kind in my world anymore. I don't see men or women so passioned by something that they will give everything to own it. But there is one man who modeled this. There is one man who voiced this same passion and lived it out. Here are his words,
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Php 3:7-8 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
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His name was Paul. His passion changed the Gentile world of the first century as he shared his faith in Christ and his passion to know Christ with everyone he met. His passion was to know Christ. He pursued it with such zeal that he literally exchanged everything he had to get this one great pearl- a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. His passion changed the world.
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So all of this has been swirling around in my head for days now and I wonder.....what am I passionate about? What will I give everything to have? Does anyone know what I'm passionate about?
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I know what pearl I have given it all to purchase, but do those around me know? I have literally passed up millions of dollars in business to follow Christ and don't regret it at all. I have that great pearl worth it all.
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So the discussion today is what are you passionate about? What pearl will you "sell it all" to own? Do you even know what your passion is? Just a few thoughts from another man who wants to know Christ.