What rebellion gets

I like this keen insight from author William Weedon:

And this is the rebellion which God punishes in humanity time and again (temporal punishment) and that also deserves, even demands eternal punishment.  This rebellion actually insists on receiving hell.  "Go away God and leave me alone!" the sinful rebel screams.  It actually asks for hell - being removed from God - foolishly imagining that it would be heaven.

From "Thank, Praise, Serve, Obey," page 84

Ten Really Weird Things Said to Pastors

 I was surprised when I asked Pastors on Twitter to share some of the more unusual comments they received. The response was huge. I've narrowed it down to the following. The parenthetical words after each comment represent my off-the-cuff commentary.

• "You need to change your voice." (Yes ma'am. I'll try to have that done by next week.)
• "Your socks are distracting." (I understand. I'll stop wearing socks.)
• "We need to start attracting more normal people at church." ((So, you will be leaving the church, I presume?")
• "I developed cancer because you don't preach from the KJV." (Major medical announcement! New carcinogen discovered!)
• "Your wife never complements me about my hair or dress." (There could be a reason for that.)
• "If Jesus sang from the red hymnals, why can't we?" (I think you are mistaken. He sang from the blue hymnals.)
• "The toilet paper is on the wrong way in the ladies restroom. It's rolled under." (My guess is that it is still functional.)
• "Why don't you ever preach on Tim Tebow?" (Be patient. I will be preaching a six-week expository series on him in the fall."
• "You don't look at our side of the sanctuary enough when you preacher." (That's because you are on that side.)
• "You don't have ashtrays in the fellowship hall." (Yes we do. They are right next to the spittoons for your chewing tobacco.)

From Don Ginkel's "Church Press Newsletter," May 2021 - reprint of a posting by Thom Rainer

Receiving rather than giving

Our spirituality is, first and foremost, much more a matter of receiving rather than of giving.  It is God's doing.  Our spirituality involves us in the receptive descending of the triune God, an act of condescension in which God the Father comes down to us and gives us the Holy Spirit through Jesus and His Word.

"Grace Upon Grace," John W. Kleinig, page 61

What Jesus brought to Zacchaeus

And that's what happened to Zacchaeus when Jesus sat at his table.  A sinner was called to repentance that day.  Before it was all over, Zacchaeus promised to give back half his possessions to charity, with special provisions to pay back anyone he had cheated.  "Today salvation has come to this house," Jesus announced (Luke 19:9).  And so it had.  Salvation walked in the door when Jesus walked in.  Salvation sat at table when Jesus sat down.  And whenever Jesus spoke, salvation was speaking.  And what Jesus used to say was always a variation on what He said at the home of that little man in Jericho: "the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost," (19:10).  Wherever Jesus is, you see, there is forgiveness of sins.  And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.  That's what it's all about, this Christian faith.

"Dying to Live - the Power of Forgiveness," Harold L. Senkbeil, page 93 

Not the old Passover meal

But a meal in the New Testament times was a high point of establishing and cultivating a relationship.  Eating together was true fellowship.  It involved time, conversation, honesty, and friendship.  When someone was welcomed at the table, that person was considered a friend and equal, someone honored and cared for.  So, on the night before His crucifixion, when Jesus provided a meal, it was an amazing and meaningful gift.  It brought the blessing of lasting fellowship.  It was the ultimate expression of being truly present.  This was not the old Passover meal.  This was a new covenant as Jesus promised to be truly present in the bread and wine - present for the purpose of our salvation (my emphasis).  After all, when you look closely at God's track record, when you realize the way He has worked throughout time, when you see that He wants to continue working in our lives as He has throughout history, then the Lord's Supper makes much more sense.  God is gracious enough to be tangible in our world.  He refuses to be merely an idea.  Beyond our cognitive apprehension of God, He gives us His tangible presence for the purpose of our salvation.

"The Life You Crave,"  page 170

Who you pointing to?

One ought not talk about oneself, it might hide Jesus from view.

From "Hammer of God," page 179

A Prayer

Lord, as a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants our soul for You.  Our soul thirsts for You, for the living God.  We hope in You because only You have the final say in our lives.  Lay Your hands on us through Word and Sacraments and we will live forever with You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

From "Portals of Prayer," Wednesday, April 14