We continue this week to pause a moment throughout this  season of Lent to go beyond the words and look at the places that are a part of Christ’s journey to the Cross.  Just a quick search gives me 24 places to look at. But on this day I picked out three. Nazareth, Bethany and Gethsemane. I start with… Nazareth because that was His “boyhood home”,  (Luke 4:16). Jesus was often referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth”. In Bible times people were often identified by their native area or place of residence. The man who carried Jesus’ cross was called Simon of Cyrene, noting his name and his place of residence. After having fled to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod, Joseph returned and settled his family in Nazareth. When we read Isaiah 53; and Psalm 22 most commentaries read that Jesus the coming Messiah would be of humble origin and would be despised and rejected. I am going to skip over some of the discussions had by some commentators and just make note of the fact that when… note that the following is taken directly from gotquestions.com  …. Matthew says, therefore, that the prophecies were “fulfilled,” his meaning is that the predictions of the prophets that the Messiah would be of a low and despised condition and would be rejected, were fully accomplished in His being an inhabitant of Nazareth. It was here that a major event in Jesus’ life occurs. As an adult, He returns to Nazareth and at the synagogue He confesses to be the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s words, Luke 4:1819…18 “The Spirt of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, (19) to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” …

To those in the synagogue that day he also said … “but I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.”(Luke 4:24)   

 Bethany, located on the eastern side of Mount of Olives, was the hometown of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, close friends of Jesus. Jesus visited there often and when Lazarus died he was raised from the dead by Jesus (John 11:1-45). Bethany was not that far from Jerusalem and it is here that everyone got to see Jesus’ divine power as the Son of God, as Lazarus raised up by Jesus. But something else happened here that is often not mentioned. The biblical phrase “Jesus wept”…John 11:35  is the shortest verse in the Bible, occurring in the context of Jesus’s arrival in Bethany after the death of his friend Lazarus, where he wept with Mary and Martha over their grief. The humanity of our Lord was there for all to see. One last note before we move on to Gethsemane. Bethany is also the place from where Jesus ascended into Heaven. 

Garden of Gethsemane   One way for us to better visualize the location of the Garden and its close proximity to Jerusalem is to consider this…It is just across the street there.  Gethsemane literally means “oil press,” the garden is located on a slope of the Mount of Olives just across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem. Don’t be misled by the name Kidron Valley it is not that expansive. A garden of ancient olive trees stands there to this day. As written in John 18:2, Jesus went there often with the disciples to pray. The garden was where on the night before His crucifixion Jesus was betrayed. There are four accounts of this in scriptures, Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-52, Luke 22:40-53 and John 18:1-11)  reading these will give an accurate picture of that night in full. What happened that night in the Garden of Gethsemane have traveled through the centuries. We often refer to it as the Passion of Christ… There have been books, music and movies made of that event in that garden and are the prequel to cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for being in “The Pew” this week, please come back.

Life is Good

jk

 

Welcome to the Back Porch… bit windy here on the plateau today but since moving here I can say it is the  only place I have lived for any time where the wind blows every day, that would be Amarillo Texas. Consider this…Spam, not the unsolicited electronic messages and such, not that, but the kind that comes in a can! The name being a combination  of “spice and ham”…thus Spam. Most folks  do not visualize the can thing. I always have a few cans of Spam in the pantry along with some cans of Vienna Sausages. Now about that Spam…Hormel Foods claims this phenom and with pride. What exactly is it? It is a blend of pork shoulder, ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrite (a preservative). It is not on your list of healthy foods… it contains twice as much of the daily dietary recommendation of fat as it does of protein, and what about the health effects of salt and preservatives. Why hasn’t it been kicked down the road? It showed up in 1937. Made its mark as an easily prepared food, lunch meat and such but could be found on many tables during the lean times of the depression. There are a lot of things about spam most of us don’t know and most would ask “who cares.”  After World War II, more than 100 million pounds of SPAM were consumed by Allied soldiers. Ponder on this…Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev credited SPAM with saving the Russian army during the war. By 1959 over one billion cans of the product had been sold a figure that climbed to eight billion by 2012, the last year for which Hormel published sales figures. One more little thing…can you believe the company opened a museum devoted to the meat product at its corporate headquarters in Austin, Minnesota, in 1991…well best you believe. Todays Ponder is very simple…Why is that?

Jk

The Easter Story like the Christmas Story are known by most Christians and I would venture by many of those who are not of the faith also. I would also venture to say on the surface it is familiar ground for most peoples. But what do we know about the ground it covered? There is a bit of advice that is given to public speakers that goes like this… “know the room it will help you share your message.” Or the advice of book publishers, “it helps to know what you are writing about.” Consider this… to really understand the richness of the biblical writings and appreciate the Saints that carried forth the message of God and His son Jesus Christ “knowing the lay of the land will enhance your study.” So let’s get to know the lay of the land. First of all… it was not the most hospitable place to be as far as terrain was concerned. Palestine during the time of Jesus was part of the Roman Empire and was governed by Herod the Great. The Jewish people were subject to Roman law and customs, and there was tension between the two groups. Add to that the tension between the two groups among themselves and it gets a bit treacherous. Three very distinct facts about the area that Jesus would have walked in, the ground under his feet,  which I sometimes refer to it as the way to the cross. Adjust your sandals and let’s take a walk.

 

(1) Political situation: Palestine was part of the Roman province of Syria and it was divided into ten regions, Herod the Great was a “client king” of Rome, he was an ally of Rome who was allowed to rule in exchange for loyalty andstability and after Herod died, his kingdom was divided into five parts. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Palestine from AD 26 to 36.(2)situation:   The Sadducees were the political elite of Palestine, consisting of wealthy and influential Jewish aristocrats. The social institutions of Palestine included family, politics, and the economy. (3)Other thoughts: The Roman Emperor was called Caesar. The Roman Senate gave Herod the title “King of the Jews” and Roman imperial policy required Palestine to be loyal and peaceful.

 The Bible describes the historical situation in Palestine and is the most reliable source for the information we have today about the ground Jesus walked on.

Note: I have at the end of this blog listed my sources for this information.

For the next few weeks The Pew will attempt to go beyond the words in an attempt to get a feel of the land and challenges Jesus faced on the way to the Cross. I hope you will join us here in the pew.

Life is Good 

jk      

Sources

 [1] https://www.loc.gov/item/2009579463/

[2] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus/Jewish-Palestine-at-the-time-of-Jesus

[3] https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/ea/public/reresources/uploads/sites/2110/2016/02/Palestine-Religion-and-Romans.pdf

[4] https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney1/1-the-world-of-the-new-testament-journeys-b/the-rulers-of-palestine/

[5] https://study.com/academy/lesson/early-critics-of-christ-pharisees-and-sadducees.html

[6] https://www.logos.com/product/15711/palestine-in-the-time-of-jesus-social-structures-and-social-conflicts

[7] https://www.amazon.com/Palestine-Time-Jesus-Structures-Conflicts/dp/0800663098

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome…Pull up a chair, box or if it is all that is available…what God gave you to sit on. Got a good Ponder to work on. Weather is great and it is a good time to be outside. The games we used to play. Kids growing up in these times have a need to be entertained due to a lack of imagination. Ok, you have heard it before but in my younger years we always found ways to play and engage in activities, boys and girls…we learned early to fellowship if you don’t mind my using that word. Technologies had not advanced far enough to enable us to entertain ourselves. If we go back as far as the 1930’s most of our parents could not afford to by us manufactured toys, leaving most of us to make our own, share with others things like, hoops, marbles and skipping ropes. As time moved on and I know I might be repeating myself a bit, children played traditional games like tag, hide and seek, marbles, and hopscotch. Sports such as soccer, baseball, and cricket were also popular. Kids also often spent time exploring their surroundings, climbing trees, or playing in fields and woods. At school our playgrounds were rife with action packed games, Red Rover Come Over, Tag, Red Light and I am sure you know some I did not list. Now Ponder This… We made our own rules passed down to us over the years, enforced and policed ourselves…and yes it is true that every now and then we didn’t do a very good job and the best of intentions were carried out by a few of us rolling around on ground or in the gravel. I miss seeing the kids being kids. Ponder  This…   No one got shot, or cut up. Again Ponder This…Why?

Kurt

Do you ever ask why someone does something? Are you ever curious about why you do certain things? One area we all do things that are different than others…but same among many would be Church. To the non-christian or un-believer the next 43 days of the church calendar are one of those…they do what? Those who ask “WHY DO THEY DO THAT?…well at least they wonder why, we …most Christians just do it by rote, it becomes a habit, just something we do as part of our heritage. I kinda compare our behavior to that of what we do when we read the Bible. I use the term surface read which means not every thing stays with us. I include myself in this observation of humanities efforts to embrace the faith…we tend to miss the big picture. Join us in The Pew as we take some time to look at the liturgical calendar…Whaaat? A liturgical calendar is a cycle of seasons and feast days that guides the prayers and liturgies of some but not all mainline churches. It’s also known as the church year, Christian year, or ecclesiastical calendar.  The liturgical calendar was primarily observed by Catholics, but also by many Lutherans, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Anglicans. Note most Methodists follow the liturgical calendar, and some use the Revised Common Lectionary. The liturgical calendar is an annual schedule that commemorates certain days and seasons related to the history of salvation. I may have been a bit repetitive but that brings us to the first three of these dates on the calendar. We will list them in order.

Shrove Tuesday is a Christian holy day that marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penance leading up to Easter. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day. Number one on my list is Confession,  Shrove Tuesday is a day to confess sins. We need to talk more about Repentance in our churches these days. It is also the day many of us will allow a little indulgence before the season starts, more about that in a moment. It is a big pancake day because they use ingredients that people gave up for Lent, like eggs, flour, and milk. Now about that indulgence thing. Mardi Gras In France, Shrove Tuesday is called Mardi Gras, which means “Fat Tuesday” which you can do right here state side…in good ole New Orleans. The second on our list would be  Ash Wednesday…Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day that marks the beginning of Lent, a 46-day period of penitence and preparation for Easter. It’s a day of prayer, fasting, and repentance and usually occurs on March 5. Christians receive ashes on their foreheads as a sign of repentance and human mortality and the  Ashes are made from burning palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. Most all churches in many of the Christian denominations will have services on this day. In Old Testament times, people used ashes as a sign of repentance by sitting in them, rolling around in them, or sprinkling them on their heads. For our part here they are used to place the mark of the cross on our forehead. The third on our list would be Lent which Christians celebrate to remember Jesus’s 40 days of fasting and preparation in the wilderness before his public ministry. Lent is a time of self-denial, prayer, and penance that leads up to Easter. We should use this time to reflect on our behavior and consider how to live by Jesus’s teachings. We also should use this time to prepare for Easter by studying the Bible and giving up something we enjoy, such as food, drink, or smoking, as a test of self-discipline. It is also a time we should mourn Jesus’s suffering on the cross. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Eve.

Life Is Good 

jk

Rough on the Porch Today…So much so I have retreated to the office, any port in a storm. I created the Back Porch to be a place where I could ponder some things, keeping it simple and have a venue where I am free to kinda cater to my preferences. The Porch is open to anyone and their opinion. There is one caveat that while not a rule is really something of great importance… civility… in words and attitude is expected… no room on the Porch for  ideologues…Ok to ponder the motivation but important to remember that pondering does not include condemning or dismissing others opinion. Having said that…allow me to offer this ponder.

How did we get this point in our Government? After the President’s speech last night, I was left with a profound sense of disappointment that reason and hope can prevail at the table and all we really can expect is more of this agenda driven behavior from both sides of the aisle. I will admit that one side was past disappointing and more toward disgusting. I am not going to let this become a rant of my personal disappointment but just an honest ponder point… Why, how did we get to this point? One group sat stone faced and belligerent and displayed a 4D attitude  that recked of, Dissatisfaction, Disconnected from reality, Disrespect of their soundings and Disobedient to established protocol all only serving to feed their Hate of anything that stood in the way of their agenda. Those of us that watch the speech…which was the longest by any President other than Bill Clinton… saw a vision of America that was and wants to be again…in sharp contrast to what it has been and is right now. SOooo…

Ponder This…Which do you prefer?

jk

Time is a great motivator of change but some habits never change, one being dissent which is a definite motivator of disagreement. The life of a prophet was not an easy one, the hardships and danger were ever present. We must not overlook the truth that God in his mercy sent the ultimate prophet, His son Jesus Christ, as the means of reconciliation and salvation for all God’s creation. WE are living in a world of divisive dissent of many different forces. The Church is under constant pressure to conform to standards and behavior that are not in any way the will of God. Jesus came among us to bring the light of hope and salvation to a suffering world. It is important to note that Jesus, Son of God came to be among us in the flesh…God incarnate and like us He too would suffer the tribulations of this world and be susceptible to its injustices. There was much opposition to the early church, both from within and without from people, groups and the Roman Government. They tell us, that at the time of Jesus’ ministry there was this thing known as The Pax Romana. The Pax Romana, or “Roman Peace”, was a period of peace and prosperity in the Roman Empire that lasted from 27 BC to 180 AD. This time period included the life of Jesus and the early years of Christianity. More on that some other time. So…one of our Lord’s dissenters, was the Roman Government even in this time of the “Roman Peace”. There are two others which we will look at today.

The Pharisees were a Jewish group that followed a strict interpretation of the law and believed in oral tradition. They were active in Palestine during the Second Temple period, from 515 BCE to 70 CE. The Pharisees challenged Jesus in many ways, including questioning his authority, testing his knowledge of the law, and criticizing his actions. 

They were jealous of Jesus’ popularity with the people and they did not like his associations with people of questionable behaviors. In Matthew 12, the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to work on the Sabbath. They were insistent about asking Jesus about the law…Jewish and Roman law, hoping to trap him into something that could be used against him. They even at one time tried to lay hands on him after he had taught the Parable of the Wicked Tenants… Luke 20:1. They had no success in questioning Jesus’ authority, knowledge or trying to find fault with his ministry. But within the structure of Jewish tradition and law there was another group whose actions could be described as a form of dissent.The Sadducees were a Jewish sect of priests and aristocrats who were active in Judea from the second century BCE until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. They were a conservative group that held power in the Jewish community. These were the political elite of Palestine during the time of Jesus. They were were active in the daily activity of the Temple in Jerusalem and had a working relationship with their local Roman counterparts and they were  dominate in the Temple and the priesthood. They were rivals  of the  Pharisees who opposed their power. The Pharisees first concern was for a greater recognition of the oral Torah. In the end  they did not secure a lasting legacy. The Sadducees as a group ceased to exist after the destruction of Jerusalem, but the Pharisees’ legacy lived on. In fact, the Pharisees were responsible for the compilation of the Mishnah, an important document with reference to the continuation of Judaism beyond the destruction of the temple. In this way the Pharisees laid the groundwork for modern-day Rabbinic Judaism. Because the Sadducees were often more concerned with politics than religion, they ignored Jesus until they began to fear He might bring unwanted Roman attention and upset the status quo. It was at that point that the Sadducees and Pharisees set aside their differences, united, and conspired to put Christ to death.  (gotquestions.com)

Paul used the differences between the two groups to kinda “stay in the game” so to speak. Let’s wrap this up. Jesus had to contend with many things in his ministry but one thing I ran across that I offer for your consideration. The twelve disciples were with him right up until he was arrested, then even they fled or hid in the shadows, one even denying he knew him. Jealousy, fear of losing power and prestige among the people or the Roman Rule or law being challenged, all put Jesus in great danger. Almost forgot… a disciple means follower, eventually the 12 would be known as Apostles. Jesus had many followers, people followed him everywhere…I would dare to call it a “traveling evangelical event”.

Life is Good

Jk

 

What is Civility? “Civility is claiming and caring for one’s identity, needs, and beliefs without degrading someone else’s in the process.” We try to practice that very thing here on The Back Porch. Seems to me the word used here degrading someone else is rather mild judging from the discourses of the day. I am particular about my beliefs and hold to a reasonable path of conservative thoughts. To be fair and honest I don’t hold with the view that anything in moderation is ok. I don’t particularly hold with  inclusiveness just for the sake of social agendas. If you are wondering what direction this ponder going I will try to set that before you as best I can. Remember Rodney King from years back…  “can’t we all just get along” …or Mr. Rogers and going even farther back…Captain Kangaroo… “be nice”. Now if you remember the movie Road House (1989) … there was a line in that movie that I have always remembered. Patrick Swayze instructs his “bouncers to… “be nice…until its time to not be nice”. Well…it is time not to be nice!

I am 81 but I do still remember my grandparents on my mothers side…Democrat to the core. They loved Senator Kefauver…well any Democrat and they never changed. I was a small kid and I remember Pop, who worked for TVA as a sandblaster and in latter years an independent painter. The painter’s union there in Chattanooga at that time would not allow Pop to join. What did he do? He went ahead and paid union dues anyway…that’s all I remember about that, so what is the point here. Pop didn’t picket or demonstrate, cuss and just generally raise hell…he did something positive to make his point. I remember Speaker of the House Tip O’Neal, President JFK, Senator Humphrey and host of other Democrats and I am a Republican to the core. Gee whizz, I even tolerated Al Gore until he started hugging trees. So let’s ponder this. How did we get to the point that disagreeing with others requires a mouth  that can only spew forth filth and does such damage to the “Kings English” and does not have the capacity to discuss the issues with any degree of intelligence and knowledge of that issue. SOooo… PONDER THIS… Whats going on across that aisle?  

Jk

 

 How long has it been since you heard one of those Hell &       Damnation Sermons?…Why… I would be tempted to guess about a time a while back, when there were no cushions in the pew and many of those old pews had straight backs. I don’t mean to be harsh, times are different, people are different but somewhere along the way I once heard someone say…”the Lord is the same yesterday, today and will be the same tomorrow!”We spend a lot of time talking about sin, particularly someone else’s…that makes sense because there are none of us without sin…so we ought to recognize it easily. Just what is a sin? I have come to believe that it is anything that separates us from God. Now that leaves a world of bad out there all around us. “Let us go among the  heathens”.…that’s from a movie and was a line spoken by Ward Bond and is really not relevant here…just thought I would throw that in. Now you may not agree but those heathens… that be us!  What is sin, biblically speaking. Sin isn’t just a mistake or poor decision. It is much more than that. Sin separates us from God but He provided a solution in His son Jesus. God defines sin as any thought, word, or deed that breaks his law. God’s law is the absolute standard of what is good and right. God gave humans free will, so humans are responsible for their own actions. Now there are any number of ways to pursue this subject about what is the UnSpoken Truth. I don’t intend to lay out a list of what to do or as is typical of most Christian denominations that list of do nots.  As you have read above the only true standard to define SIN is God’s Law and the best place to do that would be The Word…the written word of God…The Holy Bible. I would like to add this caveat…read and pray over the word…seek an ongoing relationship with God. Scripture tells us that Abram, whom God later renamed Abraham was favored by God…because of the intimate relationship between them. Abraham had the privilege of walking and talking with God and Abraham was obedient to God in all things. Christianity is no easy path and the Bible spends a lot of time speaking about sin because it is a fundamental problem for humans. The Unspoken Truth concerns the fact that there will be a judgement…there will be no exceptions, sin has consequences. 

Sin brings lasting punishment.

Sin leaves humans to rely on their own resources for a solution.

Sin hinders a person’s relationship with God.

 The whole point of this discourse is an old man’s lament to the state of the church today. There is really only one very specific way to deal with SIN. We must confess our sins to receive salvation and maintain fellowship with God and we must strive to “walk in the light” by reflecting God’s perfection in our lives. A simple layman’s view…The need to Repent of our Sins.The Jewish people, God’s chosen people, got entangled in the law…their law and put forth a path of 613 additional laws…

The 613 laws are a set of rules that governed the Israelites’ day-to-day life, ceremonial worship of God in the Temple, and moral rules that summarized all of the Old Testament laws as to how people interacted with God and with each other. These laws were also the constitution of Israel and were necessary for running a righteous, theocratic government under Yahweh. According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments. 

christianity.com+2

God confronts sin with compassion, God offers redemption through Christ, and God calls people to repentance. There are still many churches that preach redemption first and Jesus Christ being the path to that, however,  Social activism is now a big part of many churches today and lessens and obscures the UnSpoken Truth.

Not Everyone Is Going To Heaven

Life is Good

jk

I am of the opinion that if “civility” could be put in a bottle and sold it would be out of business within the first year. I have reached a point where I just read the headlines to get an overall consensus of what is going on. Never…and I pause here to let you ponder over time gone by… never have I ever been so immersed in such a toxic atmosphere as we all wake up to each day. Even Uncle Remus…oh sorry about that I forgot that is considered racist to use that name…well anyway even he would have a hard time singing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” in these times. We have become a nation of “whiners and moaners” and  TSD has become a national motivator of this disease. I am fine with discourse that challenges others actions, has negative opinions…even if their actions are devoid of facts and only favor their agendas. For me civility goes a long way. When they shout, curse and vilify an idea or those presenting it…that to me simply highlights their lack of facts and education of the value of what they are disparaging. I am not going to devote a lot of time to this especially here on the porch…We come here to “Ponder” with no expectation of solving a thing. You know the rules that set up a good ponder, which is kind of funny as there are no set rules for having a good ponder. If you haven’t figured it out yet…It is really about “fellowship”…SOooo…Ponder This… There is a lot of wisdom in The Book of Proverbs. Here are three verses from Proverbs 29 to help  cope with these days ahead.

4 

By justice a king gives a country stability,
but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down.

11 

Fools give full vent to their rage,
but the wise bring calm in the end.

20 

There is more hope for a fool

    than for someone who speaks without thinking. 

Ponder That!!