Tag Archives: Easter

He Has Risen – April 5, 2021

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We just enjoyed a grand Easter celebration because Jesus is alive. But it shouldn’t be a once-a-year celebration. Jesus is alive. Think about that a moment. Two thousand years ago, something happened that changed the course of human history, so much so that most of the world determines the date by the man whose death and resurrection caused that change. Today, secularists changed the name of time from BC and AD to BCE to CE. However, the calendar divisions still coincide with Jesus’ birth as described by the calendar developed by Dionysius in 524 AD under Pope John I. They can change the name, but they cannot change the fact.

Jesus’ resurrection proved him as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. God’s promised King of all creation to bring freedom and rule over all the world. In Jerusalem, the political and religious leaders thought they defeated the uprising Jesus led with his band of followers proclaiming him Messiah when they nailed him to the cross. The resurrection proved them wrong. But Jesus’ uprising did not want to overthrow Rome or even the priesthood. He brought peace, forgiveness, and hope to the world. The promises God gave Abraham, David, Moses, and Israel in his covenants with them. The message they were supposed to share with the nations to bring others into the family of God, expanding his kingdom to all people.

Since that day, Christians have heard from non-believers that Easter is just a story, Jesus’ followers made it up to keep the revolt alive. Just look at the differences in the gospels, they say. Of course, they disregard the fact that if all the testimonies are identical in a court of law, the opposition will tell you the witnesses were coached. No one sees an event or talks about a traumatic event the same way. Without some trivial differences in the testimonies of witnesses, juries must conclude serious doubt. That’s what we see in the gospels, trivial differences. The event is the resurrection. Who got to the tomb first, whether the angels were inside or outside the tomb, whether there were one or two angels, how the linens were arranged, these are trivial compared to the fact that a dead man was no longer dead, but alive just as he predicted.

Then some would not believe it because the first who saw the risen Lord were women. The gospels reported Mary first seeing the risen Lord in the garden at first thinking him the gardener. In that culture, a woman’s testimony wasn’t considered trustworthy. If the gospels writers wanted to make up the story, they would use men, not women, to tell of the resurrection. We notice by the time Paul begins telling the story for the church, the women’s testimonies are left out, the disciples’ and other followers’ testimonies support seeing the risen Jesus, but not the women. Why? Women’s testimony would cast doubt on the event in his culture.

Then we have the martyrs. Why would ten of the eleven disciples, Paul, and thousands of others willingly go to their death, refusing to renounce their faith in Jesus and his resurrection if they did not believe it? All they had to do was say the words, and they could save their lives, but they did not and would not do so. For those who were Roman citizens, death came quickly as they were beheaded. Rome could create indescribably horrible torture for those who were not Roman citizens before their end finally came.

One such form of cruelty described by the historian Josephus, a Christian would hang by one hand over a pack of hungry dogs while they jumped and clamored over one another to eat what flesh they could. If the victim didn’t die, they would haul them back to the prison cell to be brought out again to feed other animals or tie them to horses and pulled apart. Still, they would remain loyal to Christ. Incredibly, their suffering and death often spurred others to come to Jesus because of their unshakeable stand for him.

So, what did Jesus do that caused the world to change so dramatically? Why would the calendar and the world turn upside down because of him? We read the words Peter spoke to Cornelius and his household in Acts 10 that describe part of his work.

Peter began to speak: “I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to.You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.You know of the great event that took place throughout the land of Israel, beginning in Galilee after John preached his message of baptism.You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him.We are witnesses of everything that he did in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem. Then they put him to death by nailing him to a cross.But God raised him from death three days later and caused him to appear,not to everyone, but only to the witnesses that God had already chosen, that is, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from death.And he commanded us to preach the gospel to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.All the prophets spoke about him, saying that all who believe in him will have their sins forgiven through the power of his name.” (Acts 10:34-43 GNT)

Jesus came as the human God wants all of us to emulate. Paul tells us in Philippians that he did not exploit his divinity but set it aside and became man to fulfill man’s role as the reflection of God, the embodiment of God, to draw all men to the kingdom. Jesus came announcing peace. He wasn’t the warrior king the Jews wanted in a Messiah, but the King of kings bringing peace and justice to all nations prophesied by Isaiah. He went about doing good, healing people of every sickness, and driving out demons. We hear little about demons in our day. The world will tell you they don’t exist. It’s all part of the story, make-believe. Indeed, some of the issues the middle-ages thought they dealt with were mental illnesses, but we went too far in the other direction, I’m afraid. I believe there exists a spiritual realm we cannot see in which spiritual warfare continues between good and evil, and we behave as willing players on one side or the other. We stand either on God’s side or not. We have a choice, but we cannot stand in the middle; there is no middle ground.

Then Jesus died on the cross, according to the scriptures, as Paul says. It’s much easier to see in hindsight than with foresight, which I think is why Jesus had to explain the scriptures about himself to the two men on the road to Emmaus on that first Easter morning. Now we can look at scripture and see all those verses that tell us his suffering, scourging, death on the cross, the casting lots for his robe, and so many other points in his life that fulfill prophecy. He did what Israel and no other self-proclaimed Messiah had done or could do.

What did his death on the cross do? Once and for all, he made a way for us to break away from the power of idolatry, whatever that idol might be. Today, it is most likely to be money, power, or sex. Those are the big three. Those might be absorbed in jobs, material things, family, position, pornography, affairs, or anything you put in front of God. But Jesus’ death on the cross, his lifeblood cleansed the place where God and man meet on earth. And his sacrifice means we can come into God’s presence repentantly and our sins will be passed over, forgiven, because of the blood spilled on our behalf, just as the angel of death passed over the houses of the Israelites at their Exodus from Egypt. We are freed from the power of evil. Free to worship God as we should.

Jesus’ resurrection vindicated him from the Jewish leaders’ accusations and others who discredited his role as Messiah. Those who followed the scriptures believed the Messiah could not die, especially before returning the Israelites from exile and seeing God return to revisit his people. His presence had not been seen in the Temple since Ezekiel’s vision of his glory departing the city and stopping above the Mount of Olives. Messiah would restore the dwelling of God and return his glory. But this Jesus died on the cross. The empty tomb, his bodily resurrection, proved his victory even over the power of death.

Jesus did one more thing with his resurrection. He pulled the future into the present. Some Jews and other pagan religions believed in a resurrection at the end of time when God would judge our actions in this life, and we would be rewarded or punished for our deeds. Jesus brought that future into the present with his resurrection. No others have or will experience it until the end, but he brought the ‘age to come,’ as the Jews refer to it, into the present. As Paul described him, he is the firstfruits of the resurrection, and we will follow him with renewed bodies into a renewed creation at his coming again.

The kingdom has come. God’s spirit dwells in those who believe in him for salvation. Heaven and earth come together in us as heaven and earth came together in the Garden of Eden and the tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple in Jerusalem. One day, Jesus will return, and the New Jerusalem will appear; the new creation has begun, and we who believe in him are part of it. Our mission is to share the message of his life, death, and resurrection. We are to share the announcement of the new creation coming and that we can all be part of the kingdom he ushered in by his actions on the cross and that first Easter morning.

Every day is a day to celebrate the fact that he has risen, and he is coming again. In the meantime, share the message that Jesus is now and always will be King of all nations, Lord over all powers and people, Master of everyone and everything. Let us worship him in renewed strength, giving him all the glory he deserves as we await his return.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Scriptures marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation®: Scriptures taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

The Hour Has Come, March 22, 2021

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The scripture under consideration this week gives us some interesting points to explore as we approach Good Friday and Easter. It comes from the gospel of John, chapter 12.

Now there were a number of foreigners from among the nations who were worshipers at the feast.They went to Philip (who came from the village of Bethsaida in Galilee) and they asked him, “Would you take us to see Jesus? We want to see him.”So Philip went to find Andrew, and then they both went to inform Jesus.He replied to them, “Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified.Let me make this clear: A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat—all because one grain died.”The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to me, will find true life and enjoy it forever!If you want to be my disciple, follow me and you will go where I am going. And if you truly follow me as my disciple, the Father will shower his favor upon your life.

“Even though I am torn within, and my soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue me from this hour of trial. For I have come to fulfill my purpose—to offer myself to God.So, Father, bring glory to your name!” Then suddenly a booming voice was heard from the sky,

“I have glorified my name! And I will glorify it through you again!”The audible voice of God startled the crowd standing nearby. Some thought it was only thunder, yet others said, “An angel just spoke to him!”Then Jesus told them, “The voice you heard was not for my benefit, but for yours—to help you believe.From this moment on, everything in this world is about to change, for the ruler of this dark world will be overthrown.And I will do this when I am lifted up off the ground and when I draw the hearts of people to gather them to me.” He said this to indicate that he would die by being lifted up on the cross. (John 12:20-33 TPT)

Some translations say Greeks came to Phillip, but to the Jews, all foreigners were Greeks or Gentiles; the terms were synonymous to them. It’s like our phrase when hearing a foreign language or explanations that are intellectually challenging and exclaiming, “It’s all Greek to me.” These men may have been proselytes to the Jewish faith, or they may just have heard about Jesus’ miracles and wanted healing, food, or answers. Maybe they believed he could forgive and longed for freedom from sin or perhaps just curious about this man who raised so many questions among the people.

Phillip went to Andrew, and the two took the request to Jesus. We might have thought Jesus would say yes or no to the request or would have gone to the foreigners to give them an answer to the quest. Instead, we get what seems a rather peculiar response.

“The time has come. I’m about to be glorified. Unless a grain of wheat is buried and dies, it is alone. But if it dies, it will produce a harvest. If you love your life, you will lose it. If you hate your life in this world, you will keep it for life in the age to come. If anyone serves me, they must follow me. Where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor them.

Now I’m troubled, but I came for this hour. Father, glorify your name. Now, this world’s ruler will be thrown out when I am lifted up from the earth. And when I’ve been lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”

What a strange answer to give Phillip and Andrew when the Greeks came to see Jesus! Throughout the gospels to this point, Jesus had continually told those around him, “My time has not yet come.” At the wedding in Cana, in conflict with demons, when Jesus told some he healed not to tell who healed them, and so many other instances. After his first confrontation with the Pharisees in Jerusalem, Jesus kept his ministry outside Jerusalem to avoid both the religious and political leaders there because ‘his time had not yet come.’

Jesus knew his death would coincide with Passover. It seemed he looked to a particular Passover. We might think he would aim to go to the cross on the day of atonement to look at the somber ceremony the Jews held for the forgiveness of sins each year, but he did not. He marched toward the Passover for a reason. In the Protestant church, we miss the meaning because we don’t understand the long, rich history of the Jews and why Passover held such a powerful meaning.

We know it marked the Exodus from Egypt, but the celebration meant so much more to the Jews, and we forget the early Christians, including Jesus, were Jews steeped in that history. Passover marked freedom from slavery. Freedom from the power of an evil King, Pharaoh. It marked the passage from death to life with the crossing of the Red Sea. It also brought the remembrance of their sin and death in the wilderness. Their sin wasn’t because of bad behavior but because of idolatry.

The word sin means missing the mark. Their failure to worship God. Their failure to be the image-bearers of God he gave them as their vocation in his covenant relationship with them. They missed the mark in their vocation. Their sin of idolatry kept them from the promised land until they cleaned up their act in the wilderness and learned to worship God in the tabernacle as he directed in the tablets of the law. Then they crossed the Jordan and began the conquest of the promised land.

But again, they missed the mark of the covenant, and God finally sent them into exile into Syria and Babylon, not because of bad behavior, but because of their idolatry. They failed in their worship. They gave power to idols rather than keeping the authority God gave to humans in having dominion over the world. Gods of wood and stone, crafted by men’s hands, were given power they did not earn but were given to them as men worshiped them. Idolatry polluted humanity, including the Jews, finally driving God’s people into exile.

The tabernacle, the ark, the mercy seat was the place God would come to meet with man. The lifeblood of the animal sacrifice cleansed and purified the altar and the mercy seat. It wasn’t the killing of the animal God wanted. It was the access to the purifying blood to place on the mercy seat. We know from medicine today that it is our blood that purifies our bodies. It carries the toxins and impurities to our liver and kidneys, which act as filters to flush them out of our system. Without blood filtering the cells throughout the body, the toxins we produce would kill us in minutes. Blood from the sacrificial animal cleansed the mercy seat where God met unclean humans, a picture of a future time when God would meet man at the cross with his life’s blood cleansing that sacred spot to bring us out of exile.

The blood was never for the forgiveness of sins. In the atonement sacrifice, the priest symbolically placed the people’s sins on the scapegoat’s head, and another priest led the animal out of the camp into the wilderness. The sin offering individuals might make throughout the year atoned for wrongs committed unwittingly or unwillingly, wrongs they didn’t know they committed. Committing a behavioral wrong knowingly meant harsh punishment, often death by stoning with the accuser casting the first stone.

Jesus and those around him knew all this. They lived it every day as part of the burden carried by the corrupted Jewish covenant. But when Jesus answered, he saw the cross. He knew the evil powers would soon break. The cross would overcome sin. He was the light of the world; he had almost completed his vocation as God intended for humanity. Jesus was about to take back the power of those idols through his death on the cross. His innocent death would usher in a new Passover; the power of forgiveness would find victory over the power of evil and the curse of death.

Jesus’ hour has come. The world is invited. The cross will bring victory, freedom, forgiveness, and power through God’s spirit. His vocation will find completion in the cross. Jesus knew more suffering would come, both to him and his followers, but that is the way of the cross. That is the way of love and forgiveness. The powers of evil, of idolatry, will not give up easily. They will fight. But Jesus moves steadily toward the cross because he also knows what lies on the other side.

The cross is in front of him. But so is Easter.

You can find me at richardagee.com. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Love Wins, March 15, 2021

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

I’d like to share with you the lectionary from John. I comes from chapter 3:14-21.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.

But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (John 3:14-21 NIV)

We draw closer to Easter. Our meditations focus more on the cross, and the day Jesus ushered in the beginning of the end and new creation, the restoration of heaven on earth as at the beginning of God’s beautiful creation. This week’s lectionary included one of the most recognized verses in all the New Testament, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.”

We use the verse in evangelistic services to win others to the love of Christ. We use it to comfort people in times of crisis. John 3:16 demonstrates the all-inclusive nature of a loving God. He leaves no one out of his love. The verse gives us hope amid overwhelming despair, knowing life exists beyond the few years we spend in these frail fleshly vessels. The promise of eternity for those who believe in Jesus as Messiah, Savior, Lord, and follow him gets us through the difficulties of life in ways that are hard to explain at times. John 3:16 stands as a monumental verse in scripture.

However, we often disassociate the verse from the two that come before it, even though intricately tied together. The preceding verses introduce a story from Numbers that Jesus recalls, and the New Testament writers record only this one time. The story does much to explain the role of the cross as Jesus marches toward his death.

The Israelites grumbled about the steady diet of the manna God gave them as a source of food in the wilderness. God had enough and sent poisonous snakes into the camp that began biting and killing some people. The people approached Moses, admitted their wrong, and asked him to intervene to God on their behalf. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and erect it on a pole in the camp center. Anyone who looked at the serpent would live.

To you and me, that sounds like a pretty silly cure for snakebite. It did to many of them, too, I’m sure. But if you believed God and looked at the pole, you lived. If you didn’t, you died. The difference became so apparent among the people that the serpent became an implement of worship in the Temple that later King Hezekiah destroyed, grinding it into dust, finally ending the practice,

Soon, the political and spiritual leaders prompted by evil forces, unbeknownst to them, would lift Jesus up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Not to cure snakebites, but to cure the sins of those who believed in him once and for all. But it requires believing, just as it required believing for the Israelites in the wilderness. The cross was the culmination of Jesus’ vocation – death, the final task completed. Jesus taking his last breath. A picture of evil winning at six o’clock Friday evening. But that was only the end of the beginning. New creation happened next. The Kingdom came. Heaven and earth met. Jesus, the resurrected King came alive from the tomb and defeated the enemy of humanity. He won.

What we need to understand about John 3:16, then, is God didn’t punish Jesus for our sins as some might think. God gave Jesus as the only one who could live humanity as he intended it. Jesus lived out the vocation God gave Adam, but Adam failed. He gave the vocation to Noah, but Noah failed. Abraham failed. Moses and the Israelites failed. The Israelites looked for a Messiah who would bring them out of exile and looked for God to return to the Temple to dwell there. They never recognized Jesus as the embodiment of God in human form. The Messiah, God, the suffering servant who would fulfill the prophecies in ways unexpected by the political and spiritual leaders corrupted by a broken world.

God gave himself in perfect humanity, in perfect love, to live out the vocation he gave to humans who could not carry out his plan, so he did it himself. He lived a life of love and suffering and sacrifice, bringing heaven to earth in unexpected ways to dwell with us. The interesting word used is not dwell or live with us, but he tabernacled with us, temple words, God coming to meet man words. On earth as in heaven words.

The passage we shared shows us God loves the world like he loves the Israelites. The world lifted his son like Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, but rather than living a few years by viewing the serpent, we can live eternally by believing in the son. God so loved the world he came in the form of humanity to save it.

In the wilderness, believers lived, non-believers died. Both had the same opportunity. Both could look at the serpent if they chose to do so. Believers chose to look at the serpent lifted up on the pole because they believed it could cure them. Non-believers never made an effort and died in their tent. Only one group found life.

The light came into the world. Believers in the light found life. Non-believers remained in darkness and death. Both have the same opportunity. Both can have life, but only one group will receive it. Only those who come out into the light and have their deeds exposed can find forgiveness for their deeds. Only those who believe can find life. Those who do not believe are condemned already because they refuse to come out of their darkness, and like the Israelites who failed to believe in the wilderness and stayed huddled in their tents, the poison will kill them.

Does God desire that we suffer and die in our sins? No. It’s why he came in the first place. He so loved us that he came. He took the world’s sins upon himself. But covenants have two sides. He did the hard part; he died on a Roman cross for us. He asks us to lift up our eyes to the cross and believe in him. Meditate on this short passage this week. What does it mean to you? Let it soak into your soul as you understand what Jesus did for you on the cross that day 2000 years ago.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scriptures are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

For God so loved he used his great power, April 1, 2019

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We are in the middle of Lent. Not the kind of tiny little balls of cotton that stick to your clothes, but the kind that has all but been forgotten in the Christian in terms of its original purpose. When Lent began almost two millennia ago, the church used it as a time to introduce new converts to a period of study to ensure they understood what the faith really entailed.

By the middle of the fourth century, Christianity had leaked into some of the ruling class and some tried to claim the faith without understanding what the faith really was or what it meant. Lent ensured new baptismal candidates really knew about Jesus, knew about lostness without him, and knew the real cost of the commitment of following him. So here we are looking at Lent, preparing for Easter, examining ourselves in light of who Jesus is, the salvation he brings us, and the price he paid and our commitment to him because of it.

This morning in my devotions, I ran across these words: “In the beginning, there was power.” I’d never used those words about the creation story myself, but of course they are true. We understand the incredible forces resident in our universe. We understand because of our scientific knowledge, how the sun continues to shine and give us the light and warmth we require to survive. The fusion explosions that continually fuel the sun and enable life in this very narrow band of our solar system in which we thrive provides enormous energy.

We sometimes discuss nuclear power and how little fuel it takes to power cities with the energy those plants produce. They are certainly dangerous when not properly controlled because of the radiation they can produce, but the raw energy that can come from those tiny amounts of material compared to every other form of energy production is phenomenal. Someday we will figure out how to harness that power more safely and use it worldwide as our best sources of power instead of fossil fuels and other lesser forms of energy production.

But back to creation. Can you imagine the power of the sun times billions of stars like it stretched across our galaxy that we call the Milky Way? Now can you imagine billions of those galaxies like ours stretched across the universe? Our God made those. The Bible tells us he just spoke them into place. Out of nothing. His imagination and his voice created those powerhouses. Just like that. He spoke and it was done. His power created all there is. Some would have you believe it all just happened. That given enough time, all the universe would shape itself into what we have today because of the laws of physics.

The problem with that theory is the thermodynamic property called entropy. Left alone, things tend to become more chaotic, not less. Enough monkeys on enough typewriters will not produce a novel. They will produce nothing but garbage. It’s like the parts of a watch put into a bag and shaken. You’ll never get a watch, only bits of metal that look more like sand than a watch over time. The universe and the power needed to keep it in place requires a designer, a creator. It didn’t just happen.

And where did the raw materials come from in the first place? Now there is a good argument with the “it just happened crowd.” Something had to generate all the atoms that made everything begin. All those hydrogen atoms in the sun that smash together into helium atoms that smash together into larger atoms that smash together into larger atoms that then smash together into molecules that smash together to make something you can see, like water and dirt, had to come from somewhere. So where did it come from unless someone or something created that first hydrogen atom in the first place. Something coming from nothing? Think designer. Think creator. Think God. Think power beyond our ability to think or imagine. He spoke it into place.

The trouble we have today is we are sometimes to smart for our own good. We have discovered all these neat scientific rules to explain how things work. God gave us a pretty nice brain sitting in that bony skull. We only use about 10-15% of its capacity other scientists tell us, but that’s beside the point. The part that we use often makes us rather inquisitive. We want to know about things. What they are. How they work. How we can use things better. What alternative uses can we make of them?

Our inquisitive minds helped us discover all those physics principles, but we didn’t create those principles, we just discovered them. That’s a very important point. We didn’t make the rules. God did. Scientists didn’t cause the world and the universe to operate the way it does, they just discovered some of the mechanics to explain how they work. And they keep modifying those rules because we learn more about them everyday because we still understand so little about how everything really works together in this vast universe. Scientists have a hard time agreeing on things a lot of times. It wasn’t until the late 1500s that we figure out everything in our solar system revolves around our nearest star, the sun, instead of revolving around us! That was a pretty self centered view of the world, but that’s just who we are.

So here we are in the middle of Lent. Three more weeks until Easter. And the thought of the day is “in the beginning there was power.” Power that puts the universe around us into place. Power that creates the laws of physics that keeps order in that universe rather than letting the law of entropy drive those celestial bodies. Power that put this tiny planet in just the right place to sustain life. Power to create that life on the blue planet of our solar system and sustain it. Power to create man and give us the capacity to think and reason. Power to love us and want a relationship with us.

Power to clothe himself in flesh and live among us as an example of how to live and love in community with others. Power to heal and feed thousands. Power to teach what God’s plan and purpose for us. Power to willingly die on a cross to show us the extent of God’s love. Power over death. Power to burst out of a sealed and guarded tomb. Power to appear to over 500 people after his death. Power to ascend to heaven in a cloud. Power to sit at the right hand of God and intervene on our behalf. Power to forgive our sins.

In the beginning there was power. Elohim, the Almighty God. The God of creation. God is the same as he was in the beginning. God will be the same when time stops and eternity stretches on forever. God’s power is beyond our capacity to understand. God was, is, and will be. The Great I Am never changes. His power is available to those who love and serve him. He created us for that purpose. He demands and desires our love. Our devotion. Our worship. He is God, after all. There is no other. He holds the power of creation in his hand.

In this season of Lent as we prepare to celebrate Easter in just a few weeks, think of God’s power. We will sing of his power on that day. Power to overcome death. We will hear sermons on that day. Power to burst forth from the tomb. We will gather to worship the one who demonstrated his power on that first Easter morning 2000 years ago in just a little while. But in these moments. In these few days leading up to our celebration of Easter, take some time to contemplate what God’s power really means. Imagine who he is as Elohim, the Almighty God of creation. Yet came to sacrifice his life that you and I might experience abundant life through him. He shares his incredible, unimaginable power with us, so that we might share his story to those we meet that need his powerful touch.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

It’s coming, are you prepared?, March 4, 2019

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

It’s hard to believe the season of Lent will begin this week if you are hearing this podcast the week of its release. Lent is something much of the protestant world has forgotten, unfortunately. It has long been part of the Christian Calendar of special remembrances and festivals, but when many of the current protestant denominations grew out of the Catholic and liturgical faiths, we sometimes threw the baby out with the bath.

Why do I say that? Why do I think we need to take a look at the Christian Calendar presented by some of the more liturgical fellowships? What is so important about those dates that we should drag them out of the closet as fundamentalists or charismatics? Are they necessary for our worship? No. Are they required to keep us on track with God? No. Are they critical to our study of Jesus and what he has done for us? Again, I’d answer no to the question. So why am I bringing it up the day after what has been named Transfiguration Sunday and just a few days before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten Season?

First, let me say that it has only been in the last couple of decades that I really let the Christian Calendar take root in my own life. And even so, many of the special days remembered by the Roman and Eastern Orthodox Churches will not be a part of my celebrations for a variety of reasons. But there are some that I think are good to embrace as remembrances of what Jesus did for us. And those fundamentalist and charismatics will agree that some of the calendar events are indeed special.

Who would argue that we should not remember Easter and its immediate predecessor Good Friday? Or how about Pentecost, the birth of the church? Those are predicated on Christmas, so shouldn’t that day be a part of our celebrations?

So you see, we do pick and choose what parts of the Christian Calendar we will celebrate or use as part of our worship. It’s just that in the last couple of decades, I’ve learned more about how the early church fathers used some of the special days to teach their congregates about the events of Jesus life and how they should emulate him in their daily walk. We must remember the majority of the early Christians were uneducated. Many could not read or write and even if they could, they didn’t have access to scriptures or books or literature to help them know who Jesus was, what he did, or how they could find peace in his forgiveness.

Consequently, the church provided special days to remember events in the life of Christ and the church to share the story of his life to the masses. The argument for why we don’t observe them from some is many were taken from pagan holidays and transformed instead into Christian holy days. I don’t disagree. But is that wrong? To transform something that was perhaps an evil practice and make it a holy one? If that’s wrong, then perhaps we need to look at ourselves. Jesus transforms this evil, sinful person into his likeness when we ask forgiveness and follow him. So why can’t we use some of those worldly things, transformed, for holy purposes?

Remember the dream Peter had about the banquet God provided of unclean animals? What God has made is never unclean. God makes all things good. So all 365 days of the year are good because God makes them. If we can use some tools to better remember what he has done for us, then isn’t that a good thing even when Satan tries to twist them into something bad?

Well, there is a little of my thought process to tell you we should embrace some of the calendar we have sometimes forgotten. One of those times is the Lenten Season. It begins with Ash Wednesday which this year falls on March 6. It began as a time of preparation for new Christians before their baptism. In the New Testament, believers were sometimes baptised immediately after their conversion. In the latter part of the first century, especially before Constantine became a believer and declared Christianity freed from persecution from his throne, believers began to desire baptism on Easter.

By the time Constantine became emperor, the church also had a problem with young believers not really knowing what they signed up for. The disciples were dead. Jesus had ascended. There were no authorized canons to show this is what the church believes is the definitive word of God. And they couldn’t read it anyway. It was necessary to teach these new Christians and make sure they knew the cost.

So the early church fathers like Ignatius, Origen, Hippolytus, Ambrose, and Augustine all recognized the need for a time of preparation before baptism into the church family. Kind of like doing the ground school training before you let the student pilot solo behind the controls of a plane in flight. Do they really believe and know what’s coming?

It wasn’t long before the standard preparation time became 40 days to coincide the 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert preparing to enter the promised land or the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his ministry and fighting the temptations of Satan. Baptismal candidates would spend 3 hours a day for 40 days with their teacher, not counting Sundays, days to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. In a nutshell, the church wanted to make sure they knew about Jesus. They knew about their lostness without him. And they knew the commitment they were taking, the cost of being a follower of Christ.

Jesus told us to count the cost before launching into something and the cost of being a Christian is everything. He said if you don’t die, you can’t live. If you don’t take up your cross and follow him, you’re not one of his. It takes everything to be a Christian. In the early church persecution was real. We sometimes think we are persecuted in this country because someone points a finger at us and make snide remarks.

In the early church, Christians couldn’t shop in the open markets. They were all dedicated to pagan gods and you had to bow to those gods to enter. They couldn’t get jobs. Most of the jobs were owned by those who wanted to kill Christians, not help them. They often lost their property, confiscated by the religious leaders or the state because of their “rebellion.” The often lost their family. Either because of shunning when they accepted Christ as Savior and no longer upheld the pagan rituals of their family’s traditions or the state took their children because of the “abuse” by these rebellious parents. And sometimes the cost meant death.

The cost of being a Christian in the early church was everything. If the candidate wasn’t prepared to give up everything, including their family and their life, then baptism and the church were not for them. Lent was that time of study and preparation for baptism in the early church.

After Constantine, however, the church discovered the preparation for baptism were a good time for all the congregation to be reminded of their commitment. It was a good time to prepare for the most important event in the history of Jesus’ time on earth. In our culture, we have managed to make Christmas really important with all the celebrations and presents. But I think we have really made Christmas in this country about money more than anything else.

Easter is really what Jesus’ life was all about, though. He came to give his life as a sacrifice for you and me. But if had just died on the cross, he would not have been remembered. He would have been another good man who rebelled against the Jewish leaders and the Roman government and he lost as evidenced by his crucifixion. If his tomb had stayed sealed on that third day, there would be no New Testament. There would be no early church. There would be no days to remember. It would be over.

But it didn’t end there. Easter came. The tomb opened and he walked out…alive. More than 500 people saw him over those next 40 days before he ascended into heaven. His early kingdom has grown exponentially and men and women are willing to die for him even those he left this place on a cloud 2000 years ago. Easter is what Jesus came to do. Yes, he came to die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. But more than that, Jesus came to live again to prove he has power of death and the grave. He has the power to transform us into something better.

Easter is coming. Lent is almost here. How will you prepare? What will you do to know Jesus? What will you do to know you are lost without him? What will you do to know the commitment you make when you say yes to his will? What will you share with those around you that are on their way to an eternity without him? How will you show others just what Jesus means to you as you prepare to celebrate his resurrection in a way you have never celebrated before, fully prepared to worship the risen Lord this Easter.

The impossible story, March 26, 2018

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 27; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 183 through 189

This week we read about the unbelievable for too many people. It’s the thing that makes them pause and say, “It just can’t be true. It’s not possible. The story is just a story.”

What are we talking about? This week we read about the resurrection. We read the reaction of those closest to him who also recoiled at the thought that it was possible even after watching him do the impossible and them telling them it would happen. We watch Joseph and Nicodemus gently remove Jesus’ broken body from the cross and take it to Joseph’s newly finished tomb. We watch from afar as they race the clock before the sun sets to do some minimal burial preparation of Jesus’ body because nothing can be done on the Sabbath.

We hear of the disciples cowering in locked rooms discussing what they will do now that their king has died. The one they put their trust and hope in lies in a tomb. How could it happen? How could he be the One to rescue them if he is buried in a grave? What happened? Just a few days before, the crowds waved palm branches and cried out their Hosannas. Now he’s dead.

Then we see the Sanhedrin worry about these rebel disciples and the revolt that might arise if they steal Jesus’ body from the tomb and declare that he really did rise from the dead. We watch them plead with Caesar to put his seal and a guard on the tomb so no one would tamper with the body and continue the “farce” this teacher kept up.

We listen to the story of that first Easter morning when the angels meet the two Marys at the tomb and announce that their Messiah rose just as he said he would. We try to empathize with Mary Magdalene as she grieves and begs the “gardner” to tell her where he has taken her master’s body.

But the realization of what has happened begins to dawn on Jesus’ followers. Jesus calls Mary by name and she recognizes her risen Lord. She races back to tell the disciples the good news. Peter and John race to the empty tomb and find the linens collapsed on the bier. Those linens contain no body. The guards recovered from their faint race to tell the priests what happened. The Sanhedrin make up a story to protect the guard.

Two disciples walk toward Emmaus, puzzled by the events of the day, don’t recognized their master walking with them until they sit down to eat and he reveals himself to them. Have you ever wondered about that? I have. I think they were looking for a bloodied, crucified, disfigured man. The one they last saw hanging on the cross. Broken. Bruised. Bleeding. Flesh hanging in strips from the flogging he suffered. Instead they saw the risen Lord. Refreshed. Restored. Resurrected. Perfect. Except for the scars in his hands and side so he could later show Thomas.

Would I have reacted any different? Would I have thought Jesus anything other than a ghost when he suddenly appeared behind closed doors if I were one of the disciples that night? Would I have recognized a restored Jesus if he walked with me on the road to Emmaus? Would I have thought Jesus rose from the dead instead of being stolen by the gardner?

I sometimes we look at “doubting Thomas” and give him a hard time. I think I’d be a lot like him. It takes faith to believe in the impossible. Jesus told them some incredible things over the three years he was with them. He also told them some hard things. “You must eat my flesh and drink my blood to have any part in me.” How do you accept that in the culture you’ve lived in all your life?

If you live you lose your life, you must lose your life to gain it? How does that make sense when you hear it for the first time?

But there it is staring at you. The empty tomb. The reports of the disciples. The more than 500 people who saw him over the next 40 days. The fact that no matter how hard the religious leaders tried to squash the story, people kept it alive. Not just that, thousands upon thousands have been willing to die for this One person. No other figure in all history has changed the world the way this one man did.

All the things people through the centuries have tried to do to stop the message or discredit the story have only served to strengthen it. The risen Lord. The impossible story. It isn’t just a story. It truly is God’s story. His plan to bring us back into a face to face relationship with him. He is a holy God. So much higher in his thoughts and ways that the only way we could come near to him was for him to come to us and become the perfect sacrifice for us.

Hard to believe? So is the perfect balance of nature around us. So is the uniqueness of a snowflake. So is the diversity of humanity around our world. So is the warmth and light of the sun. So is the miracle of birth. All those things are impossible. So is it so impossible that God so loved us that he came to live among us in human flesh so that whoever believes in him will not perish but will live eternally with him?

Impossible? He tells us and shows us in his actions it is not. All things are possible with him. The empty tomb on the first Easter morning is just one more demonstration of the impossible to show us his love for us and his desperate desire to restore an intimate, personal, face to face relationship with each of us. All we have to do is believe.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Music exit

The emotions of childbirth (John 16:19-22), April 12, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Childbirth is filled with emotion. It starts out painfully, but ends with great joy.
Scripture
1. John 16:19-22
2. Jesus: Are you trying to figure out what I mean when I say you will see Me in a little while? I tell you the truth, a time is approaching when you will weep and mourn while the world is celebrating. You will grieve, but that grief will give birth to great joy. In the same way that a woman labors in great pain during childbirth only to forget the intensity of the pain when she holds her child, when I return, your labored grief will also change into a joy that cannot be stolen.
Devotional
1. If you’ve never witnessed a childbirth first hand, I have to tell you, it’s an incredible event.
  1. My wife is a Registered Nurse and the first several years of her career worked in neonatal care
  2. Witnessed a lot of births
  3. Cried every time
  4. I saw my own children being born
  5. Words can’t describe the experience
2. But for my wife
  1. Both kids were a month late
  2. Don’t let mothers do that today
  3. Both were good sized kids over 8 and 10 pounds
  4. Pregnancy and especially labor with those two was not fun for her
  5. Neither labor was short 36 and 24 hours of intense pain; no C-section
  6. An emotional roller coaster, though
  7. Pain followed by indescribable joy
3. That’s what the disciples were about to go through
  1. Master arrested, tortured, and crucified
  2. Buried in a borrowed tomb
  3. But then comes Easter
  4. That joy cannot be stolen
4. Unlike those Jesus raised from the dead:
  1. Widow’s son died again
  2. Jairus’ daughter died again
  3. Lazarus died again
  4. Jesus rose never to die again
5. Easter is just around the corner, but we can celebrate every day
  1. He is still alive
  2. He lives in us
  3. We can celebrate Him when He lives in us
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Farewells can be good or bad (John 14:28-31), April 3, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Farewells. Sometimes we like them, sometimes we don’t. But there is good and bad with every farewell. Jesus tried to tell His disciples about the good in His.
Scripture
1. John 14:28-31
2. You were listening when I said, “I will go away, but I will also return to be with you.” If you love Me, celebrate the fact that I am going to be with the Father because He is far greater than I am. I have told you all these things in advance so that your faith will grow as these things come to pass. I am almost finished speaking to you. The one who rules the world is stepping forward, and he has no part in Me; but to demonstrate to the cosmos My love for the Father, I will do just as He commands. Stand up. It is time for us to leave this place.
Devotional
1. In the military, we had a lot of events we called hail and farewells. In fact, we had them almost every month.
  1. Nature of military moves
  2. Someone always coming or going to fill spots in the units
  3. Welcomed the newcomers, said goodbye to those leaving
  4. Sometimes sad to see the old-timers leave
    1. Good leaders
    2. Contributed to the unit in exceptional ways
    3. Good friends
  5. Sometimes happy to see them go
    1. Just the opposite
    2. Poor leaders
    3. Tried to climb the ranks on the backs of others
    4. Thought only of themselves and not their fellow soldiers
2. Jesus talked about His farewell
  1. Good that He was leaving
  2. In face, wanted them to celebrate the fact that He was going back to His father
  3. Didn’t understand how they could celebrate His departure, especially if it meant the death He predicted
3. In just a few days, though, they would be doing exactly that
  1. In a few days, we will not mourn Jesus’ death on the cross, but celebrate His sacrifice
  2. In a few days, we will celebrate an empty tomb, His resurrection and power over death and the grave
  3. In a few days, we will celebrate His return to the Father, because He proved His promises true then and now
  4. In a few days it will be Easter and the Christian community celebrates Jesus’ resurrection in extraordinary ways
4. But we don’t need to wait a few days to celebrate
  1. He also promised a Comforter would come to be with us and in us
  2. He promised this Comforter would also teach us everything He taught while He walked among us
  3. He promised this Comforter would empower us to do what He did and more if we let Him loose in our lives to work for His glory and the glory of the Father
5. What are you waiting for? Go do some celebrating for Jesus’ farewell today!
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

What would you do? (Matthew 28:9-10) July 2, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 17-18

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 28:9-10
Jesus (greeting the women): Rejoice.
The women fell down before Him, kissing His feet and worshiping Him.
Jesus: Don’t be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. Tell them I will meet them there.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

You’ve probably seen the popular TV show, actors portray different scenes in public and hidden cameras watch unsuspecting bystanders to see what happens as the action plays out before them. You know the punch line – “What would you do?” Sometimes the actions are pretty bizarre and we would like to think we know how we would react when put in those situations. But do we?

Put yourself in the cemetery on that first Easter morning. You go to the tomb to finish preparing the body of the man you thought would lead your country to freedom. You listened to His words and just knew He was must be the Messiah, but then He was arrested and killed like a common criminal. All your dreams are dashed. But you still want to carry out this last act of respect.

The guards are laying around the tomb either unconscious or so terrified they just can’t move. The stone is rolled away from the entrance. You see an angel sitting on top of the stone. The tomb is empty. Then the angel talks to you and tells you not to be afraid. What would you do? I’d probably be scared out of my gord no matter what the angel said. He just took on a whole Roman squad by himself and rolled away a stone too massive to for any man to move alone. And did it all without getting a speck of dirt on him.

I bet I’d fall on my face in fear. But then Jesus appears, but His skin is no longer ripped to sheds by the thirty-nine lashes He took. His brow shows no sign of the crown of thorns that pierced it. The bruises are gone. The blood that covered His body when you laid Him in the tomb is gone. The almost unrecognizable figure of a man that went into the tomb three days ago is not the same figure that stands before you now.

No, this is the same Jesus you walked with and talked with every day. This is the One who sat with you and explained the scriptures so perfectly. This is the man who loved everyone and taught you to love even your enemies. This is the man you thought you’d never see again until the final resurrection. What would you do?

I would probably faint dead away. I’d probably just fall on my face and pass out cold from the instant fear that ran through my whole body. That’s what I’d probably do. I’ve seen some really strange things in my life and been in some pretty scary situations, but to see Jesus resurrected on that first Easter mornining? Not sure I’d be standing up.

But Jesus says, “Rejoice!” “Tell my brothers to go and meet me in Galilee.”

Wow! I don’t think John Quiñones could put anything like that together. But if he did, I wonder what kind of response He would get? I’m afraid today he wouldn’t get much of one. People would assume it’s some sort of Hollywood special affects or slight of hand. Folks would look for those hidden cameras thinking that since this couldn’t be real, there must be some wizard behind the curtain and start looking for him. I’m not sure with all the SciFi and fantasy worlds we create for ourselves as entertainment, many would even see this scene as the incredible, historic, supernatural, spiritually awakening invitation for all mankind it really was.

But it happened. Jesus spent enough time in the grave to assure everyone in Jerusalem He was really dead. The Roman soldiers who crucified Him testified to it and they knew their job. They had no doubt about His condition when they took His lifeless corpse from that cross. When Joseph of Arimethea put Jesus in his tomb, no one doubted He was dead. No pulse. No heartbeat. No breath. Bled out. Dead. And even if He was alive, He certainly couldn’t have move that stone and walked around three days later after the physical ordeal He went through. Even with our modern medicine, He would spend months, maybe a year or more in the hospital recovering from His wounds. Walking around talking in three days? Healed? No way. Alive? Impossible.

Jesus told the women who came to finish their burial ritual to rejoice. And they did. They fell at His feet and kissed His feet and worshiped Him. Any question they had about His being the Son of God disappeared in that encounter. He was God incarnate.

Then Jesus gave them a job to do. Go tell My brothers I’m alive and I want to meet them. You know He gives us the same message to tell others when we recognize the incarnate, resurrected God of the universe in Jesus, the Christ, the Anointed One. When we finally figure out who He is and let Him be Lord of our life, He tells us to rejoice. Then He tells us to go and tell His brothers He wants to meet them.

Have you told anyone lately that Jesus wants to meet them? He has risen. He is alive. The message is clear. So what will you do?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.