Ken

As I've been preparing my Easter sermon, I've been thinking about life and death, and then life again. One of the best ways to understand the meaning of Easter is found in Romans 6.  In this great passage, the apostle Paul uses the act of baptism to drive home what God sought to accomplish in the death and resurrection of Jesus. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. -- Romans 6:4 When we respond to God's grace in baptism, we are experiencing our own death; in fact, we are being buried into death -- just as Jesus experienced when he was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb.  We are crucifying our sinful nature, counting ourselves dead to its desires and ways. But…

At this moment, I have multiple receipts in my wallet.  My wallet functions as my mobile filing cabinet, holding receipts for everything from pizza to office supplies (I can hear someone already, "There's an app for that!").  It may not be the most sophisticated system, but it works.  Most of the time. What is the purpose of a receipt, whether it is printed out or comes by email?  The purpose of a receipt is to confirm that the proper payment has been received. At the cross, Jesus paid our debt.  Through our sinful rebellion, we had rung up an astronomical debt with God.  A debt that we could never repay, no matter how hard we tried. In the resurrection, God printed out the receipt for our debt.  He provided proof that the payment had been paid in full. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel…

“From a spiritual perspective, getting lost is unavoidable. Human nature is fundamentally flawed by sin. If people live their lives apart from God and follow their intuitions, they stay lost. That is because getting lost — physically or spiritually — is easy.” -- John Kramp That is so true.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)has a long history of helping people win the battle with alcohol.  Within AA exists four paradoxes, four principles that on the surface seem to make no sense at all but actually make all the sense in the world.  They are ... We surrender to win. We give away to keep. We suffer to get well. We die to live. From a human perspective, no one ever wins by surrendering.  The one who surrenders is the one who has lost the battle and given up.  How can you keep what you give away?  Who wants to suffer?  Isn't that the opposite of feeling good?  Could it be that feeling good is not necessarily the same as getting well?  If you die, how can you still be very much alive? For someone who has gone through the AA process and found sobriety, these paradoxes make sense. They also should…

As I've been preparing for my Palm Sunday message (I don't actually call it my Palm Sunday message but that sounds much more official), I've been pondering this idea of giving versus getting.  Or, to put it another way, giving or taking. As the gospel narrative approaches the cross, it becomes obvious that Jesus was more concerned about giving than getting.  He tells his disciples that he came to "give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).  Even when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, he gave up his right to get his way. Generally speaking, there are two types of people in this world: people who give and people who take. A giver looks for ways to add value.  A taker drains away resources. A giver asks, "What can I do for you?"  A taker asks, "What are you going to do for me?" A giver…