Ashes to Fire – Clinging to Jesus

We went on a walk yesterday, which was the day after Easter, and along the side of the road was an empty plastic egg.  The candy it  once held was long gone and the empty egg discarded.  The celebration, the large crowds in the pew, new Easter dresses and the bright splashes of pastels quickly fade away as well.  There’s a story in the Bible that tells how Mary in all her excitement of recognizing the risen Jesus was hugging him or touching him, to the point that Jesus told her to not cling to him.  Are we clinging to Jesus?  Will we hold on to the reality that Jesus really is alive and with us?  Earlier Mary was in a frenzy because she thought someone had taken her Jesus away.  She believed his body had been stolen, and now that she had found him, she was not going to let him go.  Are we clinging to the Resurrected Jesus?  Or could it be that all that is left are the trappings, the once a year remembering, the empty shell of Easter…if we cling to anything at all? 

What are you feeling and experiencing in the days after Easter?  What did you learn or experience that you can take with you in the days and weeks after Easter?

Ashes to Fire: A King, A Savior

Waving of palms!

Palm branches are raised and waved, and then the branches are laid to the ground to create a path worthy of reigning royalty.  Jesus rides in to cheers, applause, and shouts that He is a king.  The first clue that something is missing is that instead of riding in on a white stallion, He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt.  It won’t be long until the scene turns to darkness and a lonely cross where instead of shouts of praise there are hurled insults; instead of waving of palm branches there are pounding of nails.  There is a crown!  But instead of gold and jewels there are thorns and torn flesh.  Jesus is our King for sure, but He is also our Savior.  Instead of sin there is forgiveness.   Instead of sorrow there is joy.  Instead of death there is life.  Instead of a grave there is Resurrection.  May you experience this King and Savior today.

Ashes to Fire – Resurrection Eliminates Smell of Death

You could see their fingers begin to pinch their noses as the stone was rolled to the side.  I am sure there were heads shaking in disbelief, and yet there was enough curiosity that people waited around to see what happened.  We don’t know exactly how much time there was for the smell to waft through the crowd, but enough time for Jesus to talk to his father and the smell of death to get around.  Scanning those gathered you would have seen people give that startled jerk when Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”   Their eyes got big, and jaws would have dropped when they saw movement inside the opening of the tomb.  There probably was an audible gasp as Lazarus emerged, and strangely the smell of death was no longer around.  Lazarus was alive!  Resurrection power won out over death, as it would again 3 days after Christ’s death on the cross.  (see John 11)

I wonder how many people missed this miracle of resurrection power because they did not want to experience the smell of death?  How many thought that Jesus was crazy for wanting to open up the tomb?   It is important for us to remember that resurrection only takes place where there is death.  If we want to see resurrection power we will have to go to those places where the smell of death hangs around.  The kind of death caused by sin, injustice, bitterness, unforgiveness, violence and all the other stuff we plug our noses to.  Go into the neighborhoods and hang out with people who are experiencing death because of those things, and it will be there we will hear the shout of Jesus.  We will hear him because that is where He is…right where the smell of death is, because He is The Resurrection that eliminates the smell and death itself.

Ashes to Fire: Sacrifice of Praise and Prayer

Last night I reflected on a prayer by John Wesley that said, O Lamb of God, in this evening sacrifice of praise and prayer, I offer you a contrite heart.  Give me grace, throughout my whole life,  in every thought, and word, and work to imitate your meekness and humility, through Christ, my Lord, I pray.  Amen.  As I read that prayer, and then the second or third time finally was praying that prayer, the phrase sacrifice of  praise and prayer kept hanging me up.  Wesley offered up a contrite heart.  A contrite heart is a heart of remorse for sins one has committed.   It comes from the Latin and means ground to pieces.  Crushed by guilt would be another way of describing a contrite heart.  Does that describe my heart?  Does it describe yours?  There needs to be times in our lives that we recognize that in the presence of Christ we come up short, or more accurately…come up sinful!  We don’t want to hear that do we? (See 1 John 1).  It may be that what we need to first offer up as a sacrifice is our pride.  Here is the good news; the prayer asks for grace.  Give me grace!  Christ answered that prayer by his own sacrifice.

Where do I go?

Have you ever felt like running away and hiding?  When we feel threatened and weak the feeling of flight rather than fight often takes over.  The picture of someone hiding out is a strong one, and conjures up images of confined dark places with someone cowering in fear in the shadows.  The Psalmist provides a description of hiding out that is in sharp contrast to the one just mentioned.  Psalm 61:3 says, For you are my refuge, my strong tower.  The place of refuge or hiding in the bible is one that provides perspective and grand views.   The place we are to go when threatened and feeling weak is to a tower, or a rock that provides a view (see Psalm 61:2).  High in the tower we are able to look around at the landscape and see the possibilities and the perspective that God has on any circumstances that have caused us to seek a safe place.  What was once thought to be scary and dangerous, may really be something quite small and less than menacing when seen from the heights of a tower, especially one built and inhabited by God.  So where do I go?  I go to the rock of my salvation; I go to God himself, my protector and my shelter.

Ashes to Fire – Blessings

Today’s prayer begins, O Lord, I thank you for all your daily blessings… Maybe it’s the human condition or due to the amount of bad news that is at our fingertips and before our eyes every day that causes us to dwell on the negative around us, in others, and yes, even within us (sorry for the long sentence).  We are called daily to recognize blessing.  It is a blessing that God is mighty, that he calls us his own possesion and that there is a rest for us…for me (see Psalm 50:1-2, Deuteronomy 9:29, Hebrews 4:9-11).  When we read the story of Nicodemus and his encounter with Jesus in John 3 we think that Nicodemus was blessed to have met Jesus even if it was in the dark of night.  But remember later on it is Nicodemus who is taking Jesus down off of the cross.  I wonder if Nicodemus thought that was a blessing?  It will only be after the resurrection that Nicodemus realizes the blessing it was to care for Jesus at the cross.  Lord, may I recongnize the blessing of being with you in dark times and in your presence at the foot of your cross.  I long for resurrection!

Ashes to Fire – Week One

Lord God, send the Holy Spirit to be the guide of all my ways and the sanctifier of my soul and body.  Save, defend, and build me  up in your love, through Christ Jesus my Lord.  John Wesley’s prayer remains the needed cry of today…send the Holy Spirit.  My heart yearns to be led by the Holy Spirit.  During this Lenten season of looking forward to the cross and Christ’s resurrection there remains the need for the cross and resurrection to be a part of today.  May my soul and body be set apart, cleansed, and empowered for this day.  It is easy for my mind to race and worry in an attempt to conquer what lies ahead, when this moment and this day is right here and is what needs to be cared for.  May I daily be refreshed and filled by the Holy Spirit.

Coffee Talk with Linda Richman

Join us on Sunday, February 13th @ 5:30 PM for the ”Starlight Dinner.”  Check out the video of the live promo that took place on 1/30/11.  The audio is a little shaky for first 15 seconds then is good.

 

Who do you say I am?

This last Sunday, the question was posed, “Who do you say I am?”  It’s the same question that Jesus asked his disciples while people were worshipping their pagan gods all around them (see Matthew 16:13-20).  I believe that Jesus is still asking us that question even though there is not a temple to the Pan god in our backyards.  Although, consider that Pan was believed to be the one responsible for fear and panic in the lives of people.  Is there something you fear?  Is there anything causing panic in your heart and mind?  In the midst of fear or panic Jesus takes us aside and asks us, “Who do you say I am?”  As we answer that question it leads us to another, “Do I trust Jesus?”

Do I trust Jesus with my fears?  HE is our peace.

Do I trust Jesus with my church?   HE builds it.

Do I trust Jesus with my finances?   HE is our provider.

Do I trust Jesus with my relationships?  HE is the one who reconciles.

Do I trust Jesus with my past?   HE is our redeemer.

Do I trust Jesus with my sin?  HE died for them on the cross and forgives.

May we all come to know Jesus as the son of the living God and trust HIM completely with our lives and all that we are.

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how Cafe ZNC did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,600 times in 2010. That’s about 9 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 17 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 121 posts. There were 9 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 284kb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was November 2nd with 52 views. The most popular post that day was Learning From Clouds.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were zillahnazarene.org, mail.yahoo.com, facebook.com, en.wordpress.com, and mail.live.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for clouds, handprints, clouds pictures, moving clouds, and narnia the last battle.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Learning From Clouds November 2008
1 comment

2

Real Treasure November 2009

3

Watch Messages April 2010
2 comments

4

The Truth Behind the Truth February 2010
1 comment

5

Begin the 40 Day Adventure January 2008