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Category Archives: 1 Corinthians

Acts 8:1-8

17 Apr

8 Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

Acts 8:1-8

Dear God, this passage from Acts actually plays into the verse of the day from Bible Gateway:

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

We are all foolish and we have no idea what you are up to, whether we believe in you or not. For Saul and the other Jewish leaders at the time, Jesus’s message as carried by his followers was foolish, but those who were being saved through that message knew what was coming from you out of it.

What strikes me about this passage is how those who thought they were winning were actually losing, and those who thought they were losing were actually winning. None of them had any idea in real time what what happening around them.

I know that Paul would look back on this time (when he was still Saul) with tremendous regret (1 Corinthians 15:9). I am sure he was horrified at what he did to persecute Christians before his own encounter with Jesus. And, frankly, I’m not sure anything less than the encounter he had on the road to Damascus would have converted him. When he was Saul, he thought he was winning and fighting the good fight for you. He was ignorant. In fact, he was losing because he was scattering your believers out of Jerusalem and spreading the message farther.

The people who were being persecuted probably felt like they were losing. I can imagine conversations between husbands and wives or friends and how they made their decisions to leave Jerusalem. I’m sure there was a lot of fear. Children were being uprooted and moved. Their friends were in prison and likely beaten or tortured.

So I’ve made that point there. The question for me today is what in my life feels like loss but is actually accomplishing your goals, and are there things where it feels to me like I’m “winning” when I’m actually losing? There are certainly sorrows that I lament every day. Are those “losses” somehow being used and redeemed by you? There are also areas of great success. Are any of those actually pitfalls that I should not embrace but discerningly question?

Father, at the end of the day, well, I just have no idea. I’m too small-minded. I’m too ignorant. But I’m here to worship you this morning. I’m here to submit to you. I’m here to try to do what you want me to do today. For the things that look like losses, I will look to you and see if there is anything for which I need to repent or if they are situations I should simply submit to. For the things that look like wins, I will try to critically look at them and discern if there is anything I need to do to see through any personal benefit I’m receiving (whether materially or emotionally) and determine how to worship you best through it. Holy Spirit, please help mem with all of this today.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Acts

 

Lent Day 44

28 Mar

Dear God, Maundy Thursday. The Last Supper. The bread/body, wine/blood. The washing of the feet. The betrayal. The blood from sweat. The prayer to take the cup. The anguish. The healing. The prayer for our unity. So much happens. Thank you.

Here are today’s verses from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer. Ironically, I have not hardly read the commentary from the book. Maybe 10% of it. I’ve almost exclusively just used the passages each day. Maybe I’ll go back and read it when I’m done.

  • AM Psalm: 102
  • PM Psalms: 142, 143
  • Jeremiah 20:7-11
  • John 17
  • 1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32

Psalm 102 – When I started reading this psalm, which contains the introduction, “A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD,” I thought of Jesus praying this psalm. The pain and the anguish. May I never forget the fully human nature of Jesus as he faced this. He didn’t get a divine intervention from this pain. He was fully you, but he was also fully Mary. Oh, Jesus, thank you.

Psalms 142 and 143 – Again, I imagine these words layered over Jesus’s experience nearly 2,000 years ago. The lament. The dread. The fear. The love. The submission. The devotion. The determination. The strength. The self control. The kindness. The goodness. The faithfulness. The patience. The gentleness. All of the fruits of the Spirit on full display that night. Amazing.

Jeremiah 20:7-11 – Jeremiah had moments of feel very rejected. Each day I fill out a 6-question survey on how I’m doing emotionally and physically and share it with a friend. It’s on a scale of 1-5, and the idea is to be able to see how your friend is doing at any given time. It has proved to really bond this friend and me together over the last 18 months. I have a tendency to use “4” as a baseline, bump it to 5 if things are fully engaged at that level in that particularly category, and let it drop to 3 or even 2 if it was a bad day. Most days are 4s and 5s, but sometimes I give a 3, and a few times I’ve given a 2 on some of the questions. I can imagine that Jeremiah had a lot of days that were filled with 2s. The path you had for him was certainly contentious and full of rejection by man. His pain was real. But your presence and comfort to him were real as well. Just as it was to Jesus as we began his final journey to crucifixion.

John 17 – Ah, the prayer at the Last Supper. I knew this chapter even before I opened it. Jesus prays for himself, Jesus prays for the disciples, and then he prays for all of us, including me. He will do more praying later in the garden–anguished prayer–but for now he is covering us in prayer. Father, answer those prayers, even today. Use things in our world that are happening in your Church that concern me, and redeem them for your ultimate glory. Bring us all to repentance for our idols. Help us to look only to you for our path forward.

1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32 – I need to be sure to find some time tonight to take your bread and drink your wine. I need to remember the body and the blood you gave for me. And the idols Paul mentions in 10:14. There is all kinds of idolatry. Anything that we look to for our fruits of the Spirit–especially peace (in my opinion)–instead of you. Our government? Our economy? Our spouse/significant other? Our children? Our job? Our reputation? I’ve been guilty of all of these and more. Please help me to be free from idols, look only to you for my peace, and help my friends and your Church to have our eyes opened to its idols, repent, and return to you.

Finally, I want to pray for a couple of friends experiencing the deaths of their mothers and one who lost their spouse, all this week. For the woman who tragically lost her spouse two days ago from an accident, please strongly support her in every way. Support her through this terrible time. Provide every need so that, ultimately, she might find rest in you. And for her children as well. For the two friends who lost their mothers this week, please comfort them. There is no one like Mom. Please help them and comfort them as, even at their older ages, they are motherless for the first time. Help them to find their rest and peace in you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and everything that the next 72 hours represents, and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 28, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Jeremiah, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 33

17 Mar

Dear God, I’m here to worship this morning. There are so many things running around in my head. It’s Sunday morning, so there are a couple of church things running around in my head. Then there’s some work stress. Then there’s family stuff. I’m still mourning the loss of a friend and thinking about her family. But in the midst of all of this, what I need to do is worship you. “Oh, God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you. I will seek you in the morning. And I will learn to walk in your ways. And step by step you’ll lead me. And I will follow you all of my days.” (Step by Step by Rich Mullins and Beaker) Lead me this day, Father. Step by step.

Here are the passages from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer.

  • AM Psalm: 118
  • PM Psalm: 145
  • Jeremiah 23:16-32
  • John 8:31-9:1
  • 1 Corinthians 9:19-27

Psalm 118 – It ends the same way it began. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever” Lots of stuff in the middle, but this is the truth that bookends my life.

Psalm 145 – Lord, let me be someone in this generation who will commend you and your works to the next generation.

Jeremiah 23:16-32 – Oh, please help me not be someone who speaks and teaches things that are against you. Keep me from error and heresy. And give me the courage to speak against heresy when I see it. But please make my words align with your truth. Do not do anything false in me.

John 8:31-9:1 – Such a provocative scene between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. It’s almost hard to read.

1 Corinthians 9:19-27 – Oh, Lord, help me to run this race. Help me to carry your message of reconciliation between us and yourself to everyone around me.

I offer all of these prayers to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 17, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Jeremiah, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 19

03 Mar

Dear God, yesterday was a good day. I participate in this app called “We Tree” that has you give your daily “pulse” on how you’re doing mentally, emotionally, and physically (not spiritually), and then you have confidants you share it with. There is a pastor in our town that I check in through this app almost every day. I am supposed to rate myself on a scale of 1-5 in six different areas and then say what I am grateful for and where I need help. As a point of principle, I try to only use a “5” when it is a day where that topic is as good as it gets. Well, yesterday was 5s across the board. After a couple of tough weeks, it was nice to be able to share that. But I don’t want to overlook the prayers that you answered to make yesterday so good in several ways. Thank you Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, for loving me and all of us so much.

Here are the verses for this third Sunday of Lent that Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer has for me.

  • AM Psalms: 93, 96
  • PM Psalm: 34
  • Jeremiah 6:9-15
  • John 5: 1-20
  • 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Psalms 93, 96 – It’s easy for me to overlook the culture of the times these psalms were written. The people back then had many gods and there were gods for everything. Look at the Greeks. Gods for love, the ocean, etc. It was wholly unique to have one God that supplanted all of these other gods. I wonder what kinds of “psalms” were written by these other cultures to their gods. I know there had to have been. In humans, there is a natural desire to worship you. It’s baked in at some level. Even then Native Americans had spirits they worshipped before they were told about the one true God. So that’s what I thought about this morning as I read about you being “robed in majesty.” Or Psalm 96:4-5 when it said, “For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

Jeremiah 6:9-15 – Oh, Lord, help me to be found faithful to you in any given moment. Sharing your love. Praying, serving, persuading, and suffering for your name.

John 5:1-20 – I don’t think I’ve noticed this before, but, off of the top of my head, I cannot think of a time when Jesus proactively went to someone and healed them. It seems that someone was always asking to be healed before Jesus would respond, but, in this case John tells us, “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?” The event was so much of a surprise to the man that he didn’t even know who Jesus was. From his perspective, a complete stranger had just walked up to him and casually healed him: “The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.” Give me your eyes to see so that I might proactively notice suffering and offer your healing with your power.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 – Modern American Christians tend to think that sexual immorality only came about with the sexual revolution in the 1960s. But whenever Jesus or any of the apostles write about immorality, sexual immorality is usually the lead-off hitter. It’s insidious. And now our society and the modern church is grappling with the LGTBQ+ issue. Where do we draw the lines? Well, this is nothing new. Help me, Lord, to worry more about the soul and discipleship of the person than their sexual activity. I firmly believe that if they can be brought into relationship with you then the Holy Spirit will work out any sexual issues they have just like he has worked them out with me.

Make me, Father, the man you need me to be for the world around me today.

I offer this prayer in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 3, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Jeremiah, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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1 Corinthians 2:6-16

02 Feb

Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard,and no mind has imaginedwhat God has preparedfor those who love him.” But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Dear God, I listened yesterday to a podcast where they were discussing the role of the Holy Spirit. There’s just so much we don’t know or understand. I told my wife later at dinner that I’m convinced that when I get to the after life I will see everything so clearly and I’ll say, “Oh, of course! It was all right there! Why didn’t I see it?” Kind of like a murder mystery movie when you watch until the end and then you go back and watch it again, seeing everything you missed that explained it all right there. That’s what I think my first moments of the after life will be like.

I guess my point is, I’m not so wise. I’m not so discerning. I’m not so faithful, holy, or righteous. I’m not so loving, forgiving, or humble. I’m not so patient, kind, or good. I’m not so gentle, faithful, or self-disciplined. I’m not so peaceful or joyful either. So what am I? I am so loved by you.

I also told my wife about my experience on Christmas Even sitting in the balcony of the church and looking down upon the congregation. It felt like I was seeing them with your eyes. Your loving eyes. Here they were. All kinds of people sitting there with all of their flaws, sins, and humanness. But there were there on Christmas Eve and early Christmas morning. Some were drug there by their families. Some were there out of guilt and obligation. I somewhat fit into the latter camp since I had already done a Christmas Eve service earlier that day, but I wanted to be there to support my wife and experience her singing a great solo. But as we all sat there, your Holy Spirit moved among us, lived in us, united us together, if only for those two hours from 11:00pm to 1:00am and you smiled. You smiled because Jesus gave your righteous awesomeness access to our inadequate, impure lives. But oh how you love us. Oh how you smile.

Father, even now as I sit here and imagine how you are looking down on this human sitting in his study and typing on him computer to you, I can feel a bit of your smile. I can feel your Holy Spirit sitting with me and ministering to me. I can feel you love in my heart. I can feel joy. I can feel peace. Now help me to take this tomorrow and be kind, patient, and gentle. Help me to be faithful, good, and self-disciplined. Do it all so that your kingdom might come and your will might be done through this flawed human on earth as it is in heaven.

I pray all of this in Jesus with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 2, 2024 in 1 Corinthians

 

1 Corinthians 6:15-7:6

27 Jan

The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible For Grown-Ups by Ned Bustard. The Image is called “Psalm 1: Slow Dance“ and was created by Steve Prince.

15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” 17 But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

7 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 

1 Corinthians 6:15-7:6

Dear God, it’s interesting that Bustard paired this image with this passage since the passage is from 1 Corinthians and the image includes Psalm 1 in its title. For reference, Psalm 1 says:

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

4 But not the wicked!
    They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
    Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
    but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Frankly, I initially feel like the image better fits with 1 Corinthians that Psalm 1, but let me spend some time with it and see what I see. So what do I see Mr. Prince showing me in his image?

  • The couple appears to be black. That seems intentional.
  • There is a crucifix on the wall. I suppose they are Catholic.
  • The way the wood floor is drawn makes me think the house is more of a shack.
  • I see a radio against the wall, and records underneath it, although I don’t see anything capable of playing the records. The record showing its title says, “Love.”
  • Although there is a lamp on the table, the light bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling with a string as its switch is very prominent. Another indication the house is a shack.
  • They are barefoot. It does look like there are shoes coming out from under the bed or whatever that is on the left side of the image. I suppose they belong to one of the dancers.
  • It looks like the TV is on in the room through the open door and the news is playing.
  • The expressions of the couple could be interpreted in several ways. Perhaps all are correct. They seem tired and droopy. They also seem focused on each other. Blocking out the rest of the world, including the news.
  • A wedding picture that is presumably theirs is above the radio. They look dressed formally in the picture. If that is her, her hair is very different from the picture to the present.
  • There is a symbol I don’t understand on the man’s sleeve.

Going back to Bustard’s use of the 1 Corinthians passage here, this makes me think of commitment. They’ve come a long way since their wedding day. My wife and I were talking yesterday about how things always change from what a couple dreams their lives will be and how things actually turn out. It almost never works out like you think it will. Ours certainly hasn’t. There is disappointment. There are also pleasant surprises. No one sets out looking for pain, but pain will always come. And even if you brace yourself for it, you’re never ready for it when it hits. It can be hard. But there is a peacefulness that comes with this commitment to each other. The mutual submission Paul describes. We are not our own. We were bought with a price.

Now, let me look at what Bustard says about this piece. Here is what he says:

A married couple is dancing in their bedroom to a love song that is playing on their old stereo phonograph. In the next room a television is blaring, but separating them from the noise of the world is a wall bearing a symbol of their covenant vows and a symbol of the faith that covers their marriage. A sliver of the ceiling shows two intersecting barrel vaults forming a “groin vault.” The groin vault in this print symbolizes the pelvis regions of the couple’s bodies: the two complimentary vaults stabilize the building as the two complimentary pelvises stabilize the marriage. The wife is wearing a translucent negligee for their time of coming together. A runaway slave motif can be seen o the husband’s pajamas, symbolically alluding to the fact that–in spite of the great pain and separation African Americans have endured generation to generation–these two have still found love.

So I missed the whole pelvis vault thing, and I still can’t make out what he’s describing. And I didn’t know what that image was on the man’s sleeve, but now I do. Interesting.

Father, as I move into this day, you have given me a wife. You have given me a wife to not only love, but to make me a better man. To make me into the man you need me to be. So I give you this day, but I give this day to her as well. Thank you for this rich blessing in my life.

I pray all of this to you in Jesus’s name,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 27, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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1 Corinthians 10:1-15

22 Sep

10 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.

9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15 You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true.

1 Corinthians 10:1-15

Dear God, I am teaching a Sunday school class this week and I want to pass one something that you have been teaching me over the last three years: identifying and getting rid of my idols.

In modern America, I don’t have little statues I worship. We’ve reasoned ourselves beyond that. Some people have even “reasoned” themselves beyond you. But what even those people don’t realize is that they have reasoned themselves into something that they will look to for their fruits of the Spirit. Especially for their peace.

Maybe I should start there. Maybe I should start with what it is that makes worshipping you and loving you, even in the midst of trials, so amazing. When I go to Galatians 5:22 and consider the fruits of the Spirit, I think that peace is that special thing we are looking for in our lives. Peace within ourselves. A stillness in our souls.

I think the heart of the message is in verses 7-10:

“Do not be idolaters, as some of [the Israelites who left Egypt in Exodus] were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.’ We should not commit sexual immortality, as some of them did–and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did–and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel,”

This paragraph makes me wonder why I do this. What is it that drives me to idols? What is they offer me that I should only and can only find from you? I think the answer is peace. Yes, by worshipping you the fruits of the Spirit will naturally grow in me and out of me: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those are amazing things for anyone to exhibit and give to others, but all but two of them are outward-focused. Joy and peace are part of my internal make-up. They are the well that is in me. And when I am truly in relationship with you, your joy and a peace that passes all understanding is what grows in me.

So what if all temptation is designed by Satan to pull me into seeking joy and peace apart from you? Could this possibly be the center of any sin that tempts me? If I want to steal something or take something that isn’t mine, do I think the having of that thing will bring me some level of peace or joy? If I am tempted to kill someone, do I think the elimination of that person will bring me peace or joy? If I commit adultery or even look at pornography, is there something in my brain telling me to find joy there? The same goes for just about any other sin. Slander/gossiping. Lying. Unforgiveness. Even skipping the Sabbath.

When I was growing up in Baptist and Fellowship of Christian Athletes circles, one thing they used to tell us about was our “God hole.” I would hear people say that we all have a “God hole” in our hearts that nothing else can fill. And our temptation is to look at the world and try to find things in the world to fill that “God hole,” but nothing ever fills it. Only you do. As I sit here and think about this now, and as I’ve thought about this topic all week, I wonder if that God hole isn’t simply the joy and peace that only comes from you because you are the only thing in all of the universe that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Making you my God and rejecting these temptations fills my “God hole” (i.e., gives me peace and joy) completely and can keep it filled regardless of my life circumstances.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, as I pray this morning, it feels like you are teaching me that temptation is all about directing me to one idol or another and leading me away from you and looking for alternative things to put in my “God hole.” It’s amazing how effective the temptation is. I wonder why that is. But let me just start my repenting for my idolatrous heart. I am sorry I look to anything else at any time of day or day of the week that will give me something only you can give. I am sorry I try to make myself and my pleasure my god. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your presence.

I pray all of this in the name of the one true God, my Father, my Jesus, and my Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 22, 2023 in 1 Corinthians

 

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1 Corinthians 5:9-11, 6:9-11

22 Jul

The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups compiled and written by Ned Bustard. The image is called “The Monkey and the Bride” and was created by Ned Bustard as well.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11, 6:9-11

9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer[j] yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Dear God, I read this passage and then I spent some time looking at this image. What did I see?

  1. A woman bent over
  2. A monkey riding on her back as if riding a horse and using her hair as reins (the monkey is holding a banana with his/her tail for good measure)
  3. I see a broken piggybank below her
  4. There is some kind of portrayal of a round man next to the piggybank. Is this gluttony? A false god? Not sure, but it doesn’t seem good
  5. Is that a church in the backgroud, down the road? The Holy Spirit fire coming out of the top?
  6. Certainly, there is a dove representing the Holy Spirit (triangle for Trinity) offering the woman a crown

One thing I didn’t notice without Bustard’s description of the piece is that the woman is “bruised and battered by the ravaging effects of sin.” Isn’t it funny that the part of me that is still sexist expects the sinful person to be portrayed as a man and not a woman. I just don’t think about women being in sin as much as men. For example, when I think of alcoholics, I think of men and not women. My wife visits a treatment center for women once a month, and when she first started doing it I was just having a harder time thinking about the women being so flawed. What it is about me that sees men as much more flawed and sinful than women? Is it my knowledge of myself and knowing how awful I can be? How awful men can be?

Regardless, there is the Holy Spirit in the bottom of the picture, positioning himself where the woman can see him. Not flying in from above, circling the woman. Not waiting over by the church. No, Bustard put the Holy Spirit on the ground, right below her, right in her line of sight, offering her the crown that you offer to all of us and a path to your community (the church). Will she accept? Will she reject the monkey, confess the things that bring her shame and then move towards your peace? Or will she continue to walk on by, rejecting the Holy Spirit’s offer?

Father, this is the part when I try to put myself in the woman’s place. What monkeys are riding me and using my hair as reins to control me? Are they the sins of sexual immorality, greed, or idolatry? Maybe it’s the sins of lethargy and self-indulgence. Even today, I’ve had all day to spend with you, but I waited until a slow moment in the afternoon–after 4:00pm–to break from my own selfish agenda and discipline myself to sit here. But I am here now. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for nudging me and bringing me in here. Thank you for the freedom you offer me from the monkeys/demons that want to destroy me and steal the joy you have for me. Thank you for…well, everything.

I pray all of this through the grace of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2023 in 1 Corinthians, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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1 Corinthians 15:54-57

20 Apr

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory?O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Dear God, I have to admit that death stings. It still does. Especially when it’s young and tragic. Is there hope? Yes. Is there comfort? Yes. But it can really, really sting.

Maybe I should focus on how it’s swallowed up in victory. When listing what I was grateful for this morning to a friend, I simply wrote, “God wins!” You do win. You do guide us and provide for us. But I do still get sad at senseless loss.

Right now, there is pain in our community. Can you use this to bring a greater healing. Can your victory swallow up death? Can you use this to unite your church and minister to our youth? What are you calling me to do?

Father, I truly believe your victory swallows up death. I do. Help me to know what role you have for me to play in your world. Help me to know how to do it for your glory. And give comfort to those who have experienced terrible, tragic loss.

In the name of my Triune God, I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2023 in 1 Corinthians

 

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

17 Apr

God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:30-31

Dear God, I just read most of this chapter, starting with verse 18. It’s all about your wisdom and our foolishness. So as I sit here and think about how grateful I am for my connection to you through Jesus, and how you are my only thing in which I can boast, I wonder how should I pursue wisdom and knowledge.

My temptation is to still seek wisdom in the world’s way. To make “smart,” “wise,” and “rational” decisions. But somehow I need to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and your still small voice than that. I need to tend to the soil of my heart and make sure it is clear of thorns and rocks so that you can grow a good crop within me.

Father, help me to continue to turn loose of the cares of this world and the pursuit of wealth. My soil isn’t terrible, but it could be better. Help me to be mindful of you today.

I pray this in your holy name,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2023 in 1 Corinthians

 
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