Author: pastor.gerooney@gmail.com

He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of Heaven , who made the sea and the dry land.” Jonah 1:9

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, a world power that was annihilating the Jewish nation of Israel when God called Jonah to go and save the very people who were destroying His home. Is it any wonder He didn’t want to go? 

Tarshish is thought to have been in Spain, so it you look at a map, it is clear that Jonah, already a prophet and statesman, had no intention of going anywhere near the hated place God called him to. However, his identity was solely as a Hebrew who worships the LORD.  Jonah’s boat ride to Tarshish was caught in a turbulent storm and Jonah knows why.  He voluntarily allows himself to be thrown overboard where he knows God’s plan will proceed one way or another.

God wanted Assyria to repent, thus, ending their blood lust for conquest and possibly preserving Israel as a nation. Jonah wanted the citizen’s of this hated nation to suffer the full wrath of God. He had no compassion for them!  God……….wanted peace among His beloved creation and salvation for ALL men. Jonah’s personal grudge and prejudice had to be put to rest.

It is difficult to have enemies when you realize how badly God wants them to know His love. And like Jonah, you may be the only way they will ever hear learn.  Then consider; a world with no enemies is a pretty sweet place to live.

Love,

Gretchen

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

The Temple area, the sacred place of worship, representing God’s presence among His people, had been made into a shortcut to town, a convenient market place and currency exchange where a chosen few were able to prosper at the expense of the less fortunate. With tremendous authority Jesus cleared the temple of these evil doers.  People obeyed and the Pharisees and Jewish counsel took offense.  They believed that the foretold Messiah would be a political conquered, not a humble servant of mankind. This Jesus just wouldn’t do, so the rejection began.

There was a man named Nicodemus, a prominent citizen, a Pharisee. He had observed Jesus quietly and in the night, discretely went to ask questions that his educated mind couldn’t reconcile. He was not turned away because of his secrecy and cowardliness. Instead, he heard the human voice of God’s own Son speak the most wonderful words known to man. “You don’t have to perish, come, have eternal life.” Nicodemus chose to believe.  Years later he stepped forward and away from his own colleagues who had just had Jesus crucified, and with a friend named Joseph, asked for their Savior’s body. They took Him to a tomb He would only need for a weekend.

John 3:16, the first scripture I ever committed to memory, because somebody cared enough to inform me that I was heir to the greatest, most profound love I would ever know, and when all other imitators of love had very nearly destroyed me, this Love saved me.

Go Share This Good News,

Gretchen

 

Here is a republish from the early days of my blog.  I hope you don’t mind the summer rerun.

One of the most difficult things I’ve experienced as an adult is the realization that my parents are mortal. My eyes were opened several years ago when my mother suffered a terrible heart attack. Not recognizing the early signs of heart disease, mom concluded that she felt just fine because she couldn’t expect to feel 21 when she was 67.  However, the day came when mother decided she might need to seek some medical advice (she didn’t have a doctor by the way). Having a high standard of hygiene and personal appearance, mom took a bath, shaved her legs, dried and styled her hair, put on some makeup, then did her finger and toe nails with bright red polish. A few hours later dad came home for lunch and found her sitting quietly in her chair, all fixed up and lovely but out of breath, gray and dying. 

The next hours brought life as I knew it to a grinding halt and humbled me with a lesson in how quickly life goes from predictable to unbelievable.  Mom had emergency bypass.  She met several medical obstacles. Her survival was a miracle.  My three siblings and I were scattered out across state lines and many miles, attending to our lives and those that depend on us, but we stopped and turned toward home. As we gathered, the Lord placed His hand over us and gave us comfort and safety as well as wonderful support groups to help us keep our lives and families going.

During the most frightening moments of my life I saw the absolute best that God had to give through community and fellowship. A group of people from my uncle’s church in Texas were passing through Arkansas and went a few miles out of their way to come and comfort us. Our church families, a very diverse group, never left us lonely.  Extended family and friends stood vigil and held us up when our strength was spent.  Even today, in these words, I am so very grateful.  God is good.

The point of this story though is this:  My dad became the ultimate super hero.  He never left my mom except to bathe, eat and take care of their personal business that couldn’t be done by phone.  As mom lay unconscious and we awaited news from the doctors, dad assured us “He was the daddy and he wasn’t abdicating anytime in the near future, we’re going to be okay.”  He also said as he gazed at mom’s still form hooked to wires and tubes, “She’s just as beautiful today as she was the day she became my wife.” Preserving her dignity became his supreme objective.  As mom healed and came back to us he assumed some duties that others were expected to perform, even paid to do.  Why?  Because they were intimate things and he didn’t want his bride to be embarrassed. He protected her self-respect at all cost and constantly reminded her that she would forever be his precious girl. 

Love does not dishonor others, it always protects, hopes and perseveres. Love never fails.  Paraphrased from I Corinthians 13:5, 7 and 8.

Love establishes and maintains dignity. It is a gift worth giving and receiving. Mom and dad, thanks for everything!

Love,

Gretchen

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;” Romans 3:10

Hebrews, actually a sermon, was spoken to Christian Jews who seemed to have a degree of formal education. Persecution was the experience of early converts across the Roman Empire in the years before Jerusalem fell.  Their faith was wavering and they were considering a return to the traditions of their youth, Judaism. The author of Hebrews tells that Jesus is the fulfillment of the ancient Priesthood, making the perfect sacrifice once and for all, Jesus the Lamb of God.

The speaker compares these people to the Hebrew children of the Exodus, who see God do miraculous things, but at the first sign of discomfort or insecurity, they forget their faith and fail to trust and obey.  For these there was no promised land, no place of peace and rest.

Traditional Jews depend on their strict laws and the act of circumcision (the physical attribute that sets them apart from all others on earth) to assure them the favor of the LORD. However, it is not these things, but the fact that they were given charge, or keeping, over God’s word.  He told them, and showed them, His love and character so that they could bless all nations.  Their Righteousness does not derive from who they are by birth, but who they chose to be in rebirth.

There is no way to Heaven other than faith, which brings Holiness and perseverance.

Happy Weekend,

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. Psalm 1:1

“Blessed is_________.” The opening words of Jesus from His sermon on the mount. This is a Beatitude.  It is not a suggestion, but a direction that will keep your life on the right path.

The way of the wicked is a person’s life’s choice:  The things they do, the places they go, the words they say…… the manner in which they engage with their spouse, and children, and neighbors…….It’s not an afternoon lunch date with a little venting on the edgy side, it is their ideal, their life’s standard, and it will end in destruction.

This Psalm contrasts the way of the righteous and that of the wicked.  There are two ways, not three, no road down the middle with a little of the best from each side blended in. The enlightened trail blazers from the beginning of humanity till now have tried to build one but it is not to be. Chose the path of righteousness, it is already full of faithful footprints and fellow sojourners that will encourage you, lead you, walk beside you and sometimes push you up a hill, but they will be with you until your journey’s end.

Love,

Gretchen

The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the LORD so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.  I Corinthians 2:15

The citizens of Corinth held themselves in high esteem.  As a neighboring city to Athens, Corinth was home to scholars, orators, and litigators.  Arguing for the sake of arguing had become an art form and the early church was not spared such enlightened minds.  Paul, a scholar himself, teaches that debate and logic are not the way to the throne of God, or great faith.  God’s ways, especially grace and mercy, do not make sense. 

In dealing with early Christians that have always relied on their mental acuity to excel and advance their social standing, Paul taught that humble, blind, faith was the secret to wisdom and insight when it came to understanding Jesus’ unselfish act of love, His resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We are not unlike our ancient friends.  Knowing and understanding grants security and autonomy. Releasing control is perceived as weakness or lack of motivation and ambition.  The world does not shine brightly on unquestionable trust in something as abstract as an intangible God. But as Paul states, it is the mind of Christ we must seek and emulate. Explaining Jesus isn’t the answer, accepting Him and walking in His ways is. 

Have a Great Day,

Gretchen

P.S. I encourage you to read all of chapter two to better understand Paul’s context, frustration and letter.

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Job 38:25-26

The book of Job is an Historical poem. This story is true, not legend as some have suggested.

Job became famous because of his misery. In one day he was crushed by a mountain of disaster. His camels were stolen and his herdsmen were murdered, the same for his oxen. 7000 sheep and their attending shepherds were killed by a thunderstorm. His children, all ten, perished in a cyclone. Job himself was struck by a hideous and painful disease, probably leprosy. People everywhere knew of Job’s calamity and they talked….a lot.  Theologians and scholars, as well as nosey neighbors, all had something to comment.  It didn’t help or change anything.

Job grieved and anger was a big part of the process.  He asked the hard questions, “What did I do to deserve this!?” “Why are you picking on me?!” “Why don’t you just let me die!?  Job’s friends speak and analyze God’s motives and Job’s character. Job defends his righteousness, so his friends inquire of secret hypocrisies. Finally, God speaks and Job finds perspective. God ends Job’s story with love, not condemnation and Job’s joy is restored beyond measure.

This book isn’t about suffering, its about who God is when suffering comes. When sin came into the world, death became a part of man.  But death does not define God!!!! This is important!!!  In a desert where no man may ever go, God waters the land and a flower miraculously blooms for a few short days………just because He’s God. He can and will do what it good!

Human nature struggles with the inequities and injustices of life. How can a good God allow such horror and pain? And then God Himself came from Heaven, in the form of Jesus, to be a partaker in our suffering. Not because man needed answers, but because He is a good God and we needed love.  That’s who He is, that’s what He does.

Have a Great Day!

Gretchen

Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

Imagine for a second that you live on Uranus. Here, the sun looks like a very bright star.  There are no radiant sunrises with a promise of a fresh new day, nor glorious sunsets, giving rest for a day well spent.  That’s what it’s like being in a far outer loop…..dirty, hopeless, dark and cold. We want better and so covetousness becomes our motivating force.

James, Jesus’ older brother, became leader of the Judean church and wrote this letter to Christian Jews scattered by persecution. His epistle gives an encyclopedia of Christian ethics, but most importantly he implores: You must chose daily to come near to God and seek His heart and mind. You cannot value the standards of this world and please God.

There is no pecking order with God so don’t covet.  We are all of highest worth and loved beyond measure.

Basking in the Sonshine,

Gretchen

Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll – are they not in your record? Psalm 56:8

The world is a mixed up place. Life is really hard to manage by yourself, but when you add everyone else’s crazy, things spin out of control.  People get hurt and its hard to forgive. People hurt others and don’t feel remorse.  Some wounds are minor, others are life shattering. King David knew his share of disappointment, despair, self-destruction, and the misrepresentation of facts and motives. Sin, his own and others, created grief, but he refused to live in the legacy of defeat.

Although he will be Israel’s next king, Saul, the present king was jealous and attempted to kill David. David spent many years running, hiding and fighting for his life. He most certainly grew weary, but he stood on the solid foundation that God was God, and when God is for you, nothing can overtake you. This Psalm is not a pity party, but a song of great confidence. David can leave his enemies in God’s hands. 

God does not like or approve the hurt you have experienced.  Man will patronize with words like, “Only the toughest are chosen to endure.” Or, “God wouldn’t have sent this if you weren’t able.”  On and on goes the list of words that don’t help. God is not sending the pain, sin is!!! God is the Healer, Comforter, Prince of Peace, Advocate, Love! Let God take care of your enemies just as David did, and start living in victory and joy!

Love,

Gretchen

Since the summer before we became parents, until today, Keith and I have traveled to many amazing and enthralling places, but the ribbon of highway often takes us to battle fields where Americans who came before us died, because they stood for the conviction that all men should be free. Here are a few of the stories we heard and experienced, that forever changed us.

Among the rolling hills and along the Tennessee River and the Mississippi/Tennessee state line, stands Shiloh National Military Park. We visited there the summer we were expecting our first born child. White grave markers extend as far as the eye can see. Swords, bullets and cannon wounded or killed 23,746 Union and Confederate soldiers in two days. It is said that during rainy weather you can still smell the stench of bodies that lay in the heat on those late spring days, waiting to be buried. My feet touched where their blood spilled. I cried and begged God to stop hatred and war. He said, “Let it begin with you, don’t hate.”

Years later, on July 4th, 2001 (just weeks before 9/11) we took our daughters to York Town National Historical Park to watch fireworks over the James River.  As we carried our blankets and picnic down a small ditch and up a short climb, then down and up again and again, we realized we were hiking the trenches men had dug to safeguard themselves against enemy fire. My heart stilled. This hallowed place was both a Revolutionary and Civil War battle field.  As earth’s eternal spin hid the sun’s rays, and the stars began to shine on a perfect evening, a military choir serenaded us with many wonderful, patriotic choruses, but when they began God Bless America, I couldn’t breath.  I held the hands of my children knowing the cost someone else paid for my privilege. I asked God to protect them from the storm clouds of dissension that could bring about another war and rob them of the blessings they enjoyed.  God said, “Let it begin with you, teach them to love.” 

In the same summer we traveled a small distance to Gettysburg, PA, a quaint town that has preserved our Civil War history beautifully. We viewed gunshot holes in bed posts and stepped into cellars were civilians hid. We journeyed across the battlefield, and made our way to the National Cemetery.  It was my mistake to believe that only casualties of the war between the states were enshrined there.  Keith quietly asked me to look down.  I didn’t understand until he said, “Read the date.” I did, “December 7, 1941.” (Pearl Harbor) Then he said, “Do the math.”  I did. The soldier was only 16 years old when he drew his last breath for me and mine. This young patriot lied about his age and joined the navy hoping his life would mean something more.  It does, it means everything! I asked God to make life mean something better. He said, “Let it begin with you, be brave.”

Finally, I have been to Arlington. There are no words. Even as we gave our respect to those who were entombed there, new graves were preparing to receive those who deserve this honor and much more. I asked God to make me worthy. He said, “You are worthy, be honorable and noble.”

The ears I speak to will never hear my humble gratitude, but I say it anyway. “Thank you!”  To those that gave their life so that I could bask in a freedom like no other on the face of the earth, “Thank you.”

Have a Blessed Weekend,

Gretchen