Author: pastor.gerooney@gmail.com

If we confess our sins, He if faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from unrighteousness. I John 1:9

The scripture we know of as John’s first epistle, was a circular letter, written by John from his permanent home in Jerusalem, to the churches surrounding Ephesus. By the time John wrote this letter the pure teachings of Jesus had become tainted with opinions, blends of other religions and people’s personal agendas. This had to stop so John took action.

I am a kindergarten teacher.  I must break complex knowledge into its most simple parts to lay a strong foundation of life long learning.  I love my job because, when I reflect on how understandable and attainable the basic parts of life really are it is a total relief. It’s totally doable! This verse reminds us all that there is one very simple Gospel: Confession leads to forgiveness, forgiveness leads to righteousness…… AND the biggie!!!!! GOD IS FAITHFUL! It’s doable!

Love,

Gretchen

Out in the unwalled places, far away from the church doors, there are hearts that pray for the souls of the children, big and small, who never hear Jesus’ name except when used to defame His or someone else’s character. They never know of a Man that died for them, so they may have life and have it more abundantly. But, for them, there is someone praying, so someone must go.

Long ago I answered a call to ministry. I educated myself in appropriate Bible classes and studied the ways of the faithful that had gone before me.  My legacy included both my paternal grandparents and my own mom and dad. While in high school, a young man in our youth group also felt a call to ministry but he was a pest and I avoided him like a plague.  Oddly, we wound up at the same private fine arts college and suddenly those qualities I found so aggravating in our high school setting, became endearing in the context of my more enlightened and mature collegiate mindset. I married that guy, but it was many years before we actually began a journey into evangelism.

I have long been frustrated by people that need Jesus, know they need Jesus, but just won’t go to church.  Everything they need is inside those walls, but they won’t come in! Then one day I was in a town with no Wal Mart. Oh! The horror!!!  I made myself enter into a department store I was not familiar with. I was very uncomfortable and distracted. I didn’t know where anything was, and no one offered to assist me.  They didn’t have exactly what I was looking for, but I got a similar product to meet my need and I left, determined never to return.

Not long after, I realized much is the same with those that don’t go to church. No one volunteers for an unknown that has a dress code, behavior protocols (know to us a liturgy), strange faces and music you don’t know the words to. I wouldn’t go either if I hadn’t begun when I was too young to remember. I also began to understand that for every person on the planet there is a mother, or grandmother, a neighbor, teacher, someone, that longs for that being to find a loving world of hope and prosperity.  So, my husband and I went into the mission field in our own back yard.

One afternoon Keith met a friend of a friend. This person knew he was ministering and witnessing regularly to their common acquaintance. The friend shook his hand and said, “His momma’s been prayin’ God would send somebody. That somebody is you.”

There is not a more sacred, higher calling and no greater blessing than to be an answer to someone’s prayer.

And then I heard the voice of the LORD saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

Someone is praying so someone must go. Perhaps it will be you.

Love,

Gretchen

When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” Matthew 8:10

The Roman military was often brutal and therefore despised. They were the occupiers, the foreign agent of an oppressive government. But at some point, this Roman officer, the centurion, encountered a man named Jesus who was like no other person he knew. In desperation, he did not seek his own chain of command, or access the many gods he grew up knowing.  He found the true source of all power, Jesus.

Jesus is a first responder to human need. This man, a military leader of 100 soldiers, understood authority when he asked for the healing of his servant, even suggesting that Jesus did not have to leave his present place and attend his servant in person, knowing that at His very word, His will would be done.

The humble a faith of someone who should not know Jesus was unrivaled by those in the Jewish tradition. It is one thing to know that Jesus can do anything! But this man put his trust in the Sovereign supremacy of the Messiah.

Relying of God’s power is a facet of faith, but submitting ourselves to God’s authority and laying our hopes and dreams in His care is where real living begins.

Happy Saturday!

Gretchen

“Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Hebrews 12:13

Keep your eyes on Jesus.  The newly established church began with the roaring fire of the Holy Spirit, but immediately met with horrific persecution that became culturally acceptable and even desired among pagans and Jews alike. The going was tough for those that believed and awaited eternal peace. The goal was more than worth it and there was an assurance in knowing Jesus himself had already made the journey successfully.

Part of paving a level path is remembering your blessings.  Return to those praises and let them carry you through today’s sorrows or struggles. Today’s disciplines and defeats do NOT invalidate yesterday’s victories.  Discipline is a season of strengthening. It is not the definition of who we are, but what we will be. Respond with gratitude and move forward wiser and with righteousness.

Finally, this verse likens each of us to the lame. Choosing an appropriate path is our free choice and responsibility. A level path will result in correct and perfect progress forward!

Love,

Gretchen

When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. I Samuel 7:7

The Philistines were a world power when Samuel became prophet and priest. They had at one time captured the Ark of the Covenant, hoping it would bring them further imperial greatness, but unrightfully possessing this symbol of God’s presence among His people brought the LORD’s judgement and devastation so they returned it to Israel.

During Samuel’s time as judge, Israel has a revival, a real time of repentance and cleansing, then a threat comes, a challenge to security. God uses this opportunity to show Israel what He will do for those whose hope and faith is in Him alone.  Through worship, fasting and prayer, Israel defeats the Philistines.

The Philistines mistook a box as the source of power for the Hebrew people.  The Hebrew children mistook numbers for might. In verse 12 the term Ebenezer is used to name the place with an altar, a monument to God’s covenant love for His people and their reversal of fortune through obedience. Ebenezer means, “Stone of Help,” and didn’t mark a covenant made, but a covenant kept. 

                       

God alone is protection and provision. He alone is judge and He alone will settle matters of threat and justice. We can live in peace and rest because literally……God’s got this, whatever ‘this’ is.

Love,

Gretchen

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. Genesis 28:18

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible.  Up until this moment Jacob had relied on the God of Abraham and Isaac, his grandfather and father, to provide him with what he was ‘entitled’ plus a little more.  On this night, exiled for his behavior, under the stars and unsure of his future, Jacob finds himself as alone as anyone can be, and then, the One True God reveals Himself and becomes the God of Jacob’s own heart.

While sleeping with this stone for a pillow, Jacob dreams of a stairway connecting Heaven to earth.  God appears and transfers His covenant from Esau, the first born, to Jacob.  This rock, a symbol of permanence, became an alter of worship and Jacob became Heaven’s vehicle of continued promises and blessing. 

We often repeat what we know of God as it pertains to other people. This is an important step in developing correct understanding of His character and love, but someday it will just be you and God, and then He will become YOUR One True God. At this point, you will have everything your heart ever desired, especially peace and life ever lasting.

Love,

Gretchen

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” Mark 5:6-7

A fragmented personality at the mercy of a thousand different impulses was this man’s dysfunction and isolation, the result of an impure spirit. Along comes a Man with all the authority of Heaven and the demon bows. He knows who he has encountered, while looking for a place to run for, he pleads for his existence. 

The demon looks around and the best option he can deduce it to live in a swine’s body and mind. (Add a little sarcasm for emphasis). However, his ending was in sight anyway as wild animals do not fall under the spell of a demon’s chaos. They did what they do best, they went wild and ran nonstop to their death, thus sending the demon to his final expulsion anyway.

Pigs running into a lake must have given this healed man great assurance that his tormentors were gone forever. When you are overwhelmed with the things of this life, remember who’s boss! It’s not the one who’s minion chose a sty for a forever home.

Love,

Gretchen

But Samuel replied, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. I Samuel 15:22

Samuel was a prophet and priest to the covenant nation of Israel, a Theocracy. The world was a predatory place and to survive, a nation needed a strong presence, so God accommodated Himself to human ways and allowed this nation to have a king with the instruction to remember God.

Saul became Israel’s first king.  He celebrated some resounding military victories early on, but soon became self-important and prideful. Then out of pettiness he ordered his army to abstain from food and issued a death sentence on his own son. Finally, he took the role of priest and offered a half-hearted sacrifice. This act of deliberate disrespect for all God’s laws, was a complete offense and God withdrew His blessing.

By the time Samuel found Saul acting as priest by sacrificing, it was too late, but he speaks profound words to Saul in his grief at the failure of his beloved nation’s king, “God wants to reign in our heart. Where our heart goes, our bodies and our actions will follow.” (Gretchen’s paraphrase) 

Yes, there are things we do out of practice and tradition that reflect the God we love and serve, but if our heart isn’t connected, it means nothing and is in vain. 

Love,

Gretchen

In honor of Father’s Day, I thought I would share a story of a cold, dark night.  There was game board, a dad and his young children.

One Christmas when my older brother and I were in elementary school we were given a Monopoly game, so during the holiday break my family gathered around the dining table, broke the cellophane seal, read the rules, chose our tokens, distributed money and began traveling through a make believe world of high finance.  I went broke very early in the night.  You can look in my closet and discern that my desire for shoes and accessories in every shape and color takes precedence over any hunger I might have developed for fiscal awareness or financial prowess. But late into the night, big brother Greg and my dad were still going, accumulating real estate and banking rental income.  Sometime in the wee hours of the morning a victor was declared. Greg had to file bankruptcy and concede to dad’s more mature skill and wisdom. The legends of Jones Christmases tell that Greg cried, mom scowled the look of shame on my father and my father debated with himself as to the wisdom of annihilating his young son in a simple game of make believe success.

Each time the family comes together for any event or holiday, the story of the Monopoly debacle resurrects. At a certain stage in my parenthood I realized that dad didn’t particularly appreciate our musings.  Soon enough, my children were young adults and they too retold stories of their childhoods I thought long dead.  Then I grew old enough to revisit my decisions and motivations and came to terms with the fact that I wasn’t perfect but my children survived and are thriving, amazing people.

I am recounting this story today to say, “I’m a grown up now and I know how important it was to learn some things that needed to be taught at home.”

First, failure can occur in the securest of surroundings. Defeat is not fatal. It is a stepping stone to greater strength and knowledge.

Second, Grace and Mercy are gifts, a win is something earned. Know the difference.

Third, somethings need to die of natural causes, but just won’t. Let it GO!

Next, sometimes your heart is broken. Cry it out. Give others the right to their tears without questions or judgement.  A good cry heals many ills.

Finally, nothing good comes of petty behavior.  Be nice! Families see the worst of each other, but they should aspire to find and promote the genius each person holds.

No matter what version of this family legend is told, I know the real story. Bryan is the father of four pretty cool people and Greg is the father of two amazing, free thinking, adventurous young women. The evidence points to the fact that they are incredible dads.

The memories of my childhood become more poignant with every remembrance, for there was sunshine and laughter that emboldened my siblings and I to chase our dreams and we’ve found it’s true……..Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:8a.

Happy Father’s Day dad, and as always, thanks…….for everything!

Love,

Gretchen

“Do not stop him, Jesus said, “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.” Mark 9:39

John is rebuked three times in this passage of scripture and it all comes down to the order of authority, one over another.  “Who is the greatest?” Jesus is rewriting cultural norms into Christ’s Follower’s Norms. To be first, means to be last.  There has been no social model of this behavior, especially among self-serving and corrupt synagogue leadership.

John’s early thinking assumed only those closest disciples would have power to heal and cast out demons because they were chosen and knew Jesus face to face, breath to breath.

Jesus’ words are in the manner of discipline. The world was small and primitive and Jesus is aware His time on earth was ending soon.  He had to model and teach the gravity of love and compassion and John had to learn that Jesus was much bigger than a few moments in time.

It only takes a blink to become so wrapped up in our current crisis that we become the center of the universe.  All roads lead to and away from us.  John had this instant too, but he discovered, it isn’t who has the right to be the body of Christ, it matters that someone is!  Be that someone.

Happy Weekend,

Gretchen