Author: pastor.gerooney@gmail.com

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” I Corinthians 15:54

Paul, the author of this letter, was a Jewish scholar, a Pharisee, obsessed with interpreting and obeying the laws of Moses to the extreme. He joined those who hated and crucified Jesus, then promptly began persecuting Christians. That is, until he had an up close and personal encounter with The Risen Savior. (Acts 22:7-10)

Part of Paul’s education and practice would have been debate and reason.  In this passage Paul speaks like a litigator. If you believe this, then you must also believe this.  Not a bad pastoral strategy as he was addressing issues of false teaching, sexual immorality, social discord, you name it, they struggled with it.

The Resurrection of Jesus is the single most important event in history.  If you do not believe this one fact, then everything else is in vain, futile, hopeless. BUT!!!! If you believe nothing else but this, THEN everything changes and life is transformed into eternal living hope.

Death is no threat to those who will not die. We win, the end!

Life is Beautiful,

Gretchen

Samuel the prophet erected an alter, Ebenezer or Stone of Help, to memorialize the Philistine’s defeat by the Israelites. This became a place to look back, remember God’s mighty work, and find strength for the future. God was, is and always will be faithful. I Samuel 7:12

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Keith and I didn’t actually raise our second child, we just rode the wave hoping to manage speed and direction as best we could. Melissa exited the womb with a solid sense of her own autonomy. We informed her we had to provide life sustaining necessities, but food and air quality were at our discretion, so proceed with caution.  As she ended her junior year of high school and her senior year began, she made it clear there were no plans to attend an in-state university.  I should insert here, when she was twelve she grew angry with me and applied to a boarding school in Boston. Sometimes the wave is a tsunami!  Anyway, she submitted applications, made college visits, and prayed for God’s direction. Unbeknownst to us, her wonderful high school counselor (Mr. Lannie McConnell) encouraged her to apply to an Arkansas college in order to secure various scholarships she would forfeit if deadlines passed. Miss Moxie pretended to ignore solid advice, but secretly contacted one of the most academically elite and financially demanding schools in Arkansas.

First semester, senior year ended and the second began. Friends were making acceptance announcements, but Melissa did not feel a clear call. March arrived with Keith and I growing impatient. Right before spring break, Melissa took off to Bethany, Oklahoma for a recruitment weekend at Southern Nazarene University.  She felt her answer would come. On Sunday evening car tires crunched in the drive and I waited at the door for a big announcement.  Instead, a teary eyed girl walked into my kitchen and laid her head on my shoulder. “Mom, I just don’t know what to do.”  Holding her, I inhaled the scent of my precious child and reminded myself that she was God’s before she was mine.  Then, I told her she had some junk mail. She loved keeping the college brochures that came, so I saved them all.  She reached for a big manilla envelope, opened it and black and orange confetti rained down. Melissa looked up with a countenance of peace I will never forget. She grinned and said, “I think I’m going to Hendrix. I hear my answer!”   Dad came in about that time and we all began flipping through the pages of scholarship offers, financial obligations, mission opportunities and black and orange confetti…….. In the presence of the Holy Spirit.

With confirmation and great excitement, Melissa embarked on four rigorous years of challenges, triumphs and a failure or two. Hendrix was her glass slipper, designed perfectly by her Creator.  Soon she was off to graduate school.  She studies theatrical costume design, the call she feels, but hears regularly her fate will be a position at Olive Garden. Sometimes, the load of a waiting future is heavy and she asks me, “Mom, did I do the right thing, did I make the right choice?” So, we return to that alter in the kitchen, our Ebenezer, and remember, God was faithful then, He is now and He will be tomorrow, just obey.

Build an Ebenezer or two (or a million).  Return often and take someone with you. Tell them of your miracle and a faith that knows another and another is on the way.

Love,

Gretchen

Christ redeemed us from the use of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Galatians 3:13-14

The early Judaic Christians wanted to make the gentile believers heirs of Abraham by following Mosaic Law, strict adherence to a kosher diet, celebration of festivals and circumcision.  The problem with this connection to Abraham and Moses is that they were generations apart. God entered into a covenant with Abraham so that all nations (men) will be blessed. Moses delivered the descendants of Abraham out of slavery. In freedom they became the Jewish nation with laws to set them apart and guide them.  Throughout all this time, God still planned for a Savior, from the nation, to come and rescue all men from the finality of death and separation from God.

Laws are a tricky thing.  We understand them to be defined boundaries designed to keep us safe and working together for the greater good.  However, in the hands of men, laws become something entirely different.  Laws evolved into restrictions that totally suffocated the freedoms they were intended to protect. Paul is wading through this quagmire of traditional legalism and leading the way to complete and total freedom in salvation.

Christ took on our sin, the curse that doomed us all to eternal death. By dying and living once again, He paid the price so that Abraham’s blessing is available to each of us. The blessing? We are family and we get everything the Father has to give, specifically complete freedom from sin, sorrow and death.

Love,

Gretchen

They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand. Then they knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. Matthew 27:28-29

Jesus called Himself The Son of God. This declaration by someone other than The One True God is considered blasphemy, a crime punishable by death. Fair enough, but there was plenty of evidence to the Truth. However, justice and facts weren’t the issue, the extreme evil in the heart of man was. Jews, Herod and his soldiers, Pilate and his soldiers, priests, elders and scribes took part in the sport of humiliate (they stripped Him naked) and torture (thorns were crammed into his scalp and face). They thought they were bringing Jesus down from His high horse………He was patiently waiting for love to have its final word.

I’ve always wondered if those people went home that night proud of themselves. Did they feel all big inside, being part of a riot that ended in someone’s death? How did their children, sitting across the room, look at them. Did they fear the adults so free and loose with their fists and spit, or did they hail them as heroes? Did any of them want to rewind time and have a do over of that day? Was there any life changing regret? Thoughts on these answers matter to us today because they define character and the motivation of our own actions toward one another. It’s easy to pick out the wrong doers at the crucifixion, but if we withhold love’s chance and opportunity, we stand in the shadow of the cross, not the Light!

For these vicious hate filled men, and women, Grace was never out of reach until their final breath was drawn. In fact, when Jesus drew His final breath a soldier that had played a part in the day’s events came to believe. RIGHT THERE IN LIVING COLOR, AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS a murderer was humbled, confessed and found eternal life.

I am so relieved that God is Good, He is Love. We must cautiously, with determination, guard our hearts against all things but love and goodness.

Happy Friday!

Gretchen

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. John 12:12

Jesus and His disciples had come to Bethany, the home of Lazarus and his two sisters. It was Pentecost, Jesus’ last, the beginning of passion. Because Lazarus had been resurrected by Jesus, they had both achieved what we would call Rock Star status.  Everyone knew of them, especially Jesus. They wanted to meet Him and desired to connect with Him somehow.  He was an everyday man that left things better than He found them. Word traveled and crowds gathered.

Among the general population, Jesus and His disciples were adored. The multitudes looked to them as a great hope and future for themselves and their nation.  The religious leaders couldn’t stand it! Their self centered instinct to preserve their power turned to deep fury. The hatred they harbored and fed became all consuming. With every ounce of energy and influence they had they spewed fear and perverted half truths, completely changing the direction of public opinion. In the end, Jesus was crucified by an angry mob that had hailed Him just a few days prior.

Yes, prophecy was fulfilled and Jesus became the Christ, the Lamb of God, just as He was meant to do, but that doesn’t justify man’s behavior.  Hatred is deadly and there is no excuse for it.  Love cannot be nullified. Love when the crowd loves, hate when they hate? NO! Choose love, only…..always!

Love,

Gretchen

Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  Luke 24:45

Everything to do with God’s plan is about Grace and Mercy and it is Amazing!  But the perfection of timing in the lives of people is the greatest expression of love from a very personal and intimate Savior.

Jesus spent His final days on earth drawing His friends close and explaining what was to come. He had to tell them, but they didn’t have any reference to attach understanding, except the same prophecies that were being rejected or misinterpreted by the Jewish authority.  They only had their faith, and that was enough.

Some things you just never understand until experience opens your heart and mind.  Jesus didn’t say, “Well dah!” He reacted in love and brought those with faith into understanding so that they too could love and celebrate as Jesus does.

Have a great Wednesday,

Gretchen

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

The Roman church began at Pentecost when gentiles witnessed the miracle of the Gospel spoken for everyone’s ears.  Romans is Paul’s letter with the purpose of keeping anything from polluting the purity of salvation through Christ alone.

Condemnation is a very ugly word.  It means you have been accused, found guilty and now the worst possible consequences will become your fate. This is the reality of Jesus’ death by crucifixion. Except, He was not guilty, we were. The mistake wasn’t wasted, it was quite intentional. You can call it time served. Jesus served our time in the grave winning victory over death. It’s over and done with, just believe and His innocence is yours too.

Love,

Gretchen

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” Mark 11:10

Jesus’ fate has been sealed. Old Testament prophecy will soon be played out in God’s language of love, not the words and actions of human authority. The streets of Jerusalem were filled with people gathered for Passover, the Jewish festival celebrating the emancipation of the Hebrew slaves, when Jesus rode into town on a young, unbroken horse. They recognized Jesus as King of kings, but Prince of Peace was lost on most of them. Peace wasn’t their goal. An earthly reign of human power to settle old scores and dole out justice according to man’s perspective was the objective of the religious government of this day.

People knew a savior was coming and expressed faith that Jesus was that Savior. He rode into Jerusalem to throngs of people shouting, “Hallelujah!.”  If they believed John that Baptist was a prophet, and they did, then they had to accept Jesus was the Messiah, which they wanted to believe, but the church authority discouraged and began a smear campaign to malign Jesus’ good works and Holy name.  Why? Because it threatened their life style, their comfort and their right to abuse according to their prejudices. 

Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a colt, not a war-horse. He came to save the world through love.  Love begets peace, joy, patience, forgiveness, self-control and total contentment, an earth as it is in Heaven.  Let go of your expectations and entitlements and let the world become what God created it and you to be.

Have a Great Monday,

Gretchen

Fall Uphill

My husband has been riding motorcycles since he was a preschooler.  His bike is just an appendage, maneuvering it is as natural has walking and breathing. The world rocketing past in a blur brings him rest and restoration. Testing his agility and speed against others, that’s part of the exhilaration. Years ago when he began racing, one of the more seasoned riders always broadcast at the starting line, “If you’re gonna fall, fall uphill.” There’s a phenomena, called off-camber, every rider must learn to overcome. It is not always practical or possible to go straight up or down a mountain side. While winding up a trail the rider must fight gravity pulling him and his bike down the mountain. The trick is to concentrate on leaning toward the uphill, keeping the bike moving and finding secure places to put your feet down if you absolutely must stop.

The summer after we were married Keith surprised me with a small dirt bike to call my very own.  Who needs roses and chocolate? I smiled the bewildered smile of a woman wondering where the white picket fences were hiding, but I hopped on and kick started that little machine anyway.  Keith had dreamed of wedded bliss where he and I, husband and wife, would spend endless hours riding through the backroads and forests of places far and near.  Me? Climbing roses on white fences!!!!  But I also desired to be Keith’s dream girl. Three days after receiving my gas burning bundle of fun, I was carried to the mountainous countryside near Greers Ferry Lake, Arkansas.  The trails were predominantly narrow, with a steep bluff to one side and mountain side to the other.  I was frightened and overwhelmed. Keith just kept saying, if you start to fall, fall uphill.  Ummmmm. Thanks, but WHAT?!

There was a huge gap between Keith’s practiced and perfected ability to spot and plan for events that would need feet on the ground and my inexperience. I was so engulfed in the many functions of shifting gears, balancing, correcting speed and avoiding immovable obstacles that I panicked and made many mistakes.  My bike spent more time on its side with me kicking dust in frustration, than it did flying through the woods as Keith had imagined. It was disappointing and painful for both of us. To put it gently, I failed terribly at biking.

The trick to remaining upright and moving forward is leaning toward safety and security, and putting your feet on something stable. Successful Christian living is the same.

           Turn you ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Psalm 31:2-3

People that live victoriously aren’t just the lucky ones.  They work hard at making strong choices, always knowing where they’re heading and making sure they are focused on higher, solid ground.

I would like to add, while the racers are out in the wilderness chasing the wind, no rider ever goes down helpless and hurt except that many stop and assist, or in some instances, comfort until medical professionals arrive. At the end of the day, someone always brings the injured rider’s personal gear to the truck, securing it and getting it all home.  Why? Because you just don’t let bad things happen when you have the power to help.

When the way becomes treacherous, find The Rock and solid footing. Fall uphill and if you miss, good and capable help is on the way.

Blessings,

Gretchen

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.  Philemon 1:7

It was the practice of the conquering Roman army to capture the brightest and best among indigenous peoples and sell them into slavery.  Such was probably the case for Onesimus, slave of Philemon, a wealthy, prominent citizen, friend and convert of Paul’s. 

This single chapter book tells the story of Onesimus, who stole money from his master and ran away.  Probably out of money and destitute, he went searching for Paul while Paul was imprisoned in Rome. Onesimus became a Christian and Paul loved him like a son, but they both knew he was the legal property of Philemon. Even though there were great consequences for runaway slaves, the decision was made to do the ethical and Christian thing, Onesimus must humble himself and return to his rightful owner, trusting Philemon will do the right thing and give him his freedom and make him a brother in Christ rather than one man’s captive.

Peace among people is more important than property. Paul decision was centered relationships rather than the legal system. He trusted Philemon, a man sharing his same faith, would act in love and mercy, proving that the human Onesimus was far more important than enslaving someone for personal gains.

Never underestimate the power of your single act of love. People everywhere are watching and it just might be the game changer they’ve been looking for.

Happy Weekend!

Gretchen