Silent Night

My Christmas message is offered knowing many people are not able to be worshiping in a church this Christmas Eve due to the pandemic.  And just as I had Thanksgiving meal alone for the first time in about a decade, I realize there are others like me who are single and alone, or folks who cannot be with extended family due to the high coronavirus risk.  It is a challenging time for many of us.  I have prayed you would be encouraged by my message.

   On Easter, I worshiped God all morning in my room, which included doing what I do most every morning: Scripture reading and pondering, prayer, and singing.  I also journaled.  And after spending much time thinking about and relishing a big blessing from God in my life, I gained a special blessing.

   The morning included intense lamenting as the coronavirus catastrophe was swelling in the U.S.  And my friend Christel, who had a different health challenge for many years, was in much pain that very day.  She passed away five days later.  Honestly, Easter did not seem like Easter.  Our neighborhood road is ten times calmer when high school is out, but on any given day some cars roll down our street.  Surely cars passed by on Easter Sunday, but I did not hear a single one all day.  The silence was eerie.  Yet before going to bed that night, I had joy and peace knowing that Jesus is risen from the dead, and that He loves me!

   Easter was the central yearly celebration for Christians early on.  In early centuries the celebration retained the term Paschal Festival or Paschal Feast, “Pascha” meaning Passover.  (Pascha is still used by some Eastern Christians.)  The emphasis was on the sacrificial atonement of Jesus as the Lamb of God, expressed by Paul in I Corinthians 5:7-8.  Yet resurrection was also key.  Ignatius once referred to all Sundays, which he termed the Lord’s Day, as resurrection-day!  Anatolius of Alexandria called the Paschal feast “the festival of the Lord’s resurrection.”  There is a classic set of writings of early Christians, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson.  Doing a search for the word “resurrection” for simply the first three volumes, I got 650 hits.  Resurrection was a focus for the early Christians along with the atonement.  Thus the term Easter was embraced eventually, a Saxton word which denotes resurrection (which I know thanks to the scholar C.F. Cruse).

   Centuries later, Christians started celebrating Christmas.  Carols have long been one of my favorite Christmas expressions, and “Silent Night” is a staple.  Jesus was born in the middle of the night.  Since so many people were in Bethlehem to register for the census, a few folks were probably still awake being rowdy.  Yet when the shepherds went to see the baby, surely there was much silent reverence before that newborn.  The quiet reverence surrounding the manger where the Messiah lay would not have been eerie like the April 12th silence, rather the silent reverence was surely awesome.

   And think of all the blessed reverence there has been by Christians year after year for the past two thousand years for the birth of Christ.  I personally have been a part of Christians being reverent on Christmas Eve expressed by both a joyful noise in celebration, and in that powerful act of softly singing “Silent Night” with candles in hand.  Revelation 8:1 speaks of silence in heaven when the seventh seal is opened.  God remains holy throughout all ages.  We should heed the teaching of Scripture: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe…” (Hebrews 12:28).  Reverence for God is right even when so much in our world comes unglued in the midst of rampant sin.

   If you have never truly celebrated Christmas or Easter in your heart, you can.  That baby who was born in a manger was Immanuel, which means “God with us.”  And about thirty-three years later, Jesus was crucified on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitutional atonement for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death.  Then He was resurrected.  I invite you to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord.  You need to truly believe in Jesus.  The result is eternal life in heaven, and hope in this world.  Though there has been so much sickness and death and loss and hurt and animosity and stress and loneliness this year all around the world, the love of God is still available, and the love of God results in everlasting goodness.

Hunter Irvine

+   Take some prayer time.

- Tell Jesus anything you want to right now.

- Give thanks to God that even after such a challenging year for so many, we have a reason to celebrate Christmas, thanks to the love of Jesus.

I encourage you to now sing “Silent Night! Holy Night!”

Here is a link with lyrics to the song performed by Natalie Raynes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoF6eVNo-Zc

I hope your Christmas is blessed, because Jesus loves you!  love, Hunter

Matthew 1:22-23 Immanuel

Matthew 1:22-23   All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” –which means, “God with us” (NIV).

Isaiah 7:14   “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (NIV).

   Fitting that Matthew tells us the prophecy from Isaiah, since we learned last week the angel of the Lord said Jesus would forgive people of sins.  He is showing Jesus had the authority to forgive sins, since He was Immanuel.

   A big champion of what we now call The Nicene Creed was a church leader named Athanasius.  The scholar Dr. Chris Hall clearly explained in his book Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers that Athanasius refuted Arius with two key statements, the first being the fact salvation can come only from God.  Dr. Hall stated: “The Arian Christ, Athanasius insisted, could save no one.  No creature possessed the ability or prerogative to save from sin.” (1)

   Radically, the prophet Isaiah was saying in the 8th century, long before the birth of Jesus, the Messiah would be God!

   The picture on a Christmas card this year from my dad and step-mom is an old worn down barn next to a rolling field with low mountains in the distance.  An inch or two of snow covers the ground, and the sky is covered with clouds.  The photo was apparently taken near the Appalachian range of Pennsylvania, and reminds me of the Appalachian region in Virginia I am so fond of.  It looks really cold, yet I know that in mid-Appalachia, winters move on in due time.

   Having lived in Colorado for twenty-one of the past twenty-three years, the winters wear on me more as the years go by.  I miss the east coast where I grew up.  Though Colorado is not my climate of choice, I am thankful to live here now, because there are people here who love me.  For me, joy and peace comes not from a place, rather from who you are with.

   So even though I have had numerous rough circumstances ever since coming to Colorado to do ministry work, I have had joy and peace consistently, because all along God has been with me.  Sometimes, problems come in just like a winter storm in Colorado, and God seems hidden.  Sometimes God seems to be nowhere around.  Sometimes joy and peace seems elusive.  Yet God who is unseen is God who became a human being, beginning like all humans, as a baby.  There in the manager was Immanuel, which means “God with us.”  Jesus is still here today through the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all people who have given their heart to Him, and Jesus is speaking through Scripture which He inspired for humanity to learn from Him.

   Here on this fourth Sunday of Advent of 2020, in the midst of a long hard pandemic season, we can trust the revelation of Scripture that Jesus remains “God with us.”

Hunter

Question for pondering:   When do you feel closest to God?

- Take some prayer time.  Talk with God about your needs and your hopes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day upcoming this week.

(1)   Christopher Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 60.

Matthew 1:21 The Promise to Joseph

Matthew 1:21   "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (NIV).

   We saw in the start of the book of Matthew the seemingly boring genealogy is filled with the promises of God, rooted in Hebrew Scripture, which would be fulfilled by the Christ.  Now in this New Testament Scripture, Joseph got a wild promise from God!  The promise came from an angel of the Lord speaking to him in a dream.  And what was the promise?  That Mary’s baby will save people from their sins.

   I add the name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means “YHWH saves.”

   How did Jesus make it possible for people to be saved from sins?  Romans 6:23 states: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   Physical and spiritual death is the result of any single sin.  Jesus died in the place of people.  Jesus was the substitute for the wages of sin.  Receiving the atonement Christ made results in life.  That was His plan from the beginning.

   How can a person receive this salvation?  By believing in Jesus.  The great proclamation of the Reformation was that salvation is by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  To believe in Jesus is to receive His mercy.  When you believe in Jesus, you receive the mercy and grace He wants to give you, because He loves you.

   And the result is being baptized with the Holy Spirit, which means a journey with Jesus has begun.  And on that journey a follower of Jesus is enabled to live a life becoming more and more of a loving person.

   For me it is more comfortable to ignore the topic of sin.  Yet facing the topic of sin is how to be free from it.  And facing sin requires dependence on Jesus.  We all need mercy, and Jesus offers mercy.

   And we all need to improve.  Thus we need to keep relying day by day on the power of the Holy Spirit.  There is much in this world which seems normal, and much in this world which “everyone” else seems to be doing, but which result in hurts, be they slight hurts or huge hurts.  Sin is harmful, and ultimately deadly.  Believing in Jesus results in salvation, then relying on Jesus results in an increasing freedom from sin.

Hunter Irvine

Question for pondering:

1.)   What is one wrong thing you did this past week?  You can ask God for forgiveness.

- Take some prayer time.  With the current coronavirus surge, problems galore are continuing.  Just this week I learned of several people who were recently sick with COVID, or who are sick now.  Please say one prayer for people who are sick at this time.

Matthew 1:19-20 Joseph considers divorce

Matthew 1:19-20

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  But after he had considered this, and angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (NIV).

   My first thought: “Divorce is not an appropriate Advent topic.”  Yet it is a relevant Advent topic, because had the angel of the Lord not given encouragement and a revelation to Joseph, and had Joseph not obeyed the angel of the Lord, Jesus would have been born into this world having parents who were divorced.

   Matthew calls Joseph “her husband” in verse 19.  2,000 years ago in the Jewish culture, if you were engaged, you were legally married, which is why Joseph would have needed a “divorce” to end it.  So here they are legally bound and on the doorstep of the wedding, and then Joseph learns his wife is pregnant.

   Under the Mosaic Law, the sentence against Mary would have been death, as is stated in Leviticus 20:10.  Obviously the Jewish leaders were not following this regulation of the Mosaic Law which was surely unpopular.  But we learn here Mary would have been publicly chastised, and it would have probably been a stigma for her which may have resulted in not being able to get another husband of good character.

   Interesting that Matthew says Joseph was a righteous man, thus we know that Jesus had a special father.  Yet even he had decided to divorce his bride, apparently without talking with her.

   My parents are divorced, and I was terribly hurt by their long separation and subsequent divorce.  Once I started following Jesus, a healing process began.  I consider in retrospect that I was a follower of Jesus for about a decade before I was ready for a healthy marriage.  God gently worked to bring healing in my life.  Then in the summer of 2000, there was an incredible event of healing when I took the afternoon to pray on the grass beside the library where my parents first met.  That afternoon, I forgave my parents for the sins they had done which led to their divorce.  The result was awesome: the capability to live free from the hurt and anger which had resulted from my parent’s divorce.

   But much damage was done in my life which I still have to deal with all these years later.  For example, to this day I still have the dream of being married, though I remain single at an older age where most women I know have been married for a long time.

   And now I recall a fact I have not thought of in a long time: After my parents got divorced, Christmas time was a bit depressing for me.  In my youth, Christmas had been the most exciting family day of the year.  But once my family was broken, the special day was no longer the same.  I remember one year in college where I slept in rather than waking up on time with my younger sister to get presents.

   Praise be to God that once I became a Christian, Christmas swiftly gained a growing significance which was not tied to my past family Christmases.  Christmas became about Jesus, my Savior and Lord.

   As we continue with the Christmas story here on the second Sunday of Advent, please know we Christians still have hurts and there is nothing unusual about hurts from family.  If you have such hurts, you may need to talk with a friend about such, yet first and foremost it is best to talk with God.  Tell Him about your hurts.  Listen to Him for help and for healing.

   We all need forgiveness from Jesus, and we all need to forgive people who have hurt us, including our parents for those of us who were hurt by our parents.  Forgiving requires dependence on God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the One who is merciful.

   What better Advent activity than to gain more healing, so we may be better prepared for the blessings of Christmas after this extremely challenging year of 2020.

Hunter

Question for pondering:

1.) Have you ever had a disappointing Christmas?

Matthew 1:18 The Holy Spirit impregnates Mary miraculously

Matthew 1:18   “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

   Who is this Holy Spirit who impregnated a woman?  Jewish people reading this Scripture back in the first century would know.  In the first book of the Bible, in only the second verse, it states: “…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2).  And the Holy Spirit is mention on occasion as the Old Testament Scriptures continue, though sometimes the term “Spirit of God” is used.  Yet the Holy Spirit is not in a spotlight in the Old Testament.

   The Holy Spirit gained increasing focus during the ministry of Jesus.  John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).  In quite the dramatic way there in the apostolic era, the apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3-4).  And Paul stated a believer’s body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (I Corinthians 6:19).

   And going back to the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, this is drawn upon by the apostle Peter.  He explained that the prophet Joel foretold the Holy Spirit would be united with people (Acts 2:14-21).  And Peter clarified how the prophecy of Scripture, which included both the Old Testament and the New Testament books, involved people speaking for God “as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

   Yet even in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is often the member of our Triune God who does work behind the scenes.  Jesus gave the revelation that God is spirit (John 4:24), thus He is unseen.  Yet in addition to unseen fruit from the work of God, including the work of the Holy Spirit, there is fruit which can be seen if someone is willing to see.  For starters, as the special minister and author John Stott wrote in his book Evangelical Truth: “This truth that the Spirit delights to witness to the Son is much stressed in the New Testament…” (1)

   And the Holy Spirit is the One who works in a believer’s heart to make her or him more like Jesus in nature, while not changing her or his unique personality (2 Corinthians 3:17-18), a process termed sanctification.  The calling of a Christian is to be holy.  Genuine followers of Jesus, though not perfect yet, bear the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), which blesses other people, and even blesses themselves.

   Thus being humble yet all powerful, the Holy Spirit impregnates a virgin Jewish woman, which becomes the awesome event which starts our Christmas story.  The third Person of our Triune God impregnates a woman so God could become a human being.  Jesus was fully God, and Jesus was fully human.

   Though disputed by some of my brothers and sisters-in-Christ, Mary’s reproductive organs were not involved in this process.  Mary was not divine.  Had Mary been divine, she would not have been greatly troubled by the angel’s greeting (Luke 1:29-30).  Jesus was conceived fully by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit did a “miracle” which alone is cause for all people to consider the Christmas story.

Hunter Irvine

Question for pondering:

1.)   What is an expression of a “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) you saw this past week from someone, or the expression of a “fruit of the Spirit” which someone may have seen from you?

(1) John Stott, Evangelical Truth (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 88.

Matthew 1:16 The Anointed One

   This genealogy concludes with the key subject: Jesus!  Note Matthew states His name as Jesus and adds: “who is called Christ.”

   What does Christ means?

   Christ is the Greek word for “Anointed One.”  Messiah is the Hebrew word for “Anointed One.”  So what was this “One” anointed with?

   Under the Mosaic covenant, a person was anointed with olive oil.  I had some olive oil on my dinner this evening, and it served many purposes in Ancient Israel, including oil for lamps and being a healthy flavoring to food.  Now for the priests the olive oil for anointing included other ingredients added in.  Under the Mosaic Law, there was a “sacred” anointing oil recipe which is recorded in Exodus 30: 22-24.

   So who was anointed?

   People in three positions were anointed: priests, kings, and most likely prophets.

   Regarding priests, the LORD said to Moses, as is recorded in Exodus 30:30-31: “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.  Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.’”

   Regarding kings, we see kings being anointed with olive oil, such as David in I Samuel 16:13 and Jehu in 2 Kings 9:1-6.

   Regarding prophets, Scripture records the anointing with oil of one prophet, Elisha in I Kings 19:16.

   Incredibly, the Christ turned out to be all three!  As we learned last week, Christ is the King of kings.  As we learned from the book of Hebrews in the posting in September, Jesus is the eternal high priest.  And a teaching for another day is the fact Jesus is the Prophet foretold in Deuteronomy.

   And the Anointed One was expected.  God told Daniel the Anointed One would come, and even gave a time period which used Hebrew time lingo, which I learned from a Jewish Christian in a great book I read many years ago by Stan Tilchin.  At the time of Christ, people were anticipating the Messiah, which is shown in New Testament passages such as in John 1:41.

   I conclude this message saying we learn from the book of Hebrews that in addition to the Christ being the eternal high priest, the Christ was the Sacrifice.  Jesus sacrificed Himself.  Incredible.

   Thus I close this teaching this morning telling the Good News that Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus was the substitute for the wages of sin which is spiritual death.  And then Jesus was resurrected.  If you do not know Jesus, the Anointed One, as your Savior and Lord, you can right now.  All you need to do is believe in Jesus.  To believe is to receive, and if you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life in heaven with Him.

Hunter Irvine

Question for pondering:

1.) Nowhere in Scripture is it shown Jesus being anointed with olive oil.  What was Jesus anointed with?

Matthew 1:6-15 Leading to an everlasting King

   From Abraham the genealogy of Jesus proceeds to Isaac, and Jacob, and Judah who was the “father” of one of the “twelve tribes” of Israel.  Going down the line we see Ruth and Boaz, whose story is told in the Scripture book of Ruth.  And then a few generations more and we see King David.

   During the reign of King David, there was consistent warfare and challenges.  I remember a study of his life over two decades ago when I was a youth pastor in Grand Junction, Colorado.  After studying his life month after month with a singles Bible study, it got to a point when I thought, “When is all the strife going to end?”  And his mistakes are renowned.  Yet his kingship led to a period of prosperity and security.  The era of King David was a golden era in Jewish history.  And King David remained committed to God up to his death in this world.

   Like Abraham, really in conjunction with the promise made to Abraham, God made a promise to David.  The promise: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16).  Just like with the promise to Abraham, the statement “established forever” could be a literary term meaning a really long time.  Yet God really meant forever!  God’s promise to David was an unconditional promise that his throne would be established forever, and that promise was fulfilled in the Messiah.

   Though born in the embarrassing manner of being born in a manger, the baby Jesus was a king.  Magi knew that fact, which is why they asked King Herod, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2)

   Jesus is risen from the dead, and He lives eternally in heaven.  Thus His throne is established forever, as Jesus reigns daily in heaven!  Revelation 19:16 states: “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

   So what scholars call the “Davidic Covenant” involved an unconditional promise of a forever throne, of which only the Messiah could sit.  And Jesus did.

   So the covenant made by God with Abraham discussed last week was unconditional.  And the covenant made with David was unconditional.  Both found fulfillment in Christ.  Yet the covenant God made with the Hebrews with Moses as the mediator, after the Israelites left Egypt, was a conditional covenant.  The Mosaic covenant: If the Israelites obeyed God, they would live long and prosper in the land of Canaan.  But if they did not obey God, there would be curses.

   Unfortunately, the Jewish kingdom went through more curses than blessings after the reign of David, due to sin.  To start with, King Solomon, David’s son, did plenty he was not supposed to do.  Then the kingdom split with his one son being king of ten tribes and his other son being king of two tribes.  Trouble continued from there.  Scripture records the fact many Israelite kings did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the result was countless tragedies, many of which are recorded in the books of I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles, and II Chronicles.  And sin was rampant among the Israelites.  There is a sad summary in I Chronicles 9:1 – “…The people of Judah were taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.”

   The genealogy of Jesus includes the line of kings of Judah, up until the exile in 586 B.C., when the third and final wave of Jewish people were taken to Babylon.  Zedekiah was the final king of the Israelites.

   God’s faithfulness involved a miracle in bringing the Jewish people home in 536 B.C.  But until the Messiah came, there was never again a king from the tribe of Judah on the throne of Israel.  Upon the miraculous return, a man in that royal line, Zurrubabel, was a “governor,” and he is in this genealogy.  Hebrews still wanted leaders from the lineage of King David, which was possible under Persian rule, but even that would end as the Greeks and then Romans conquered the restored nation of Israel.

   The royal line digressed to the point that you had a man, Joseph, with royal blood working as a carpenter in a region called Galilee, which had not been a part of the vast kingdom of Israel which King David procured for many years.  However, God was true to His promises, and that rural carpenter was in for an unexpected adventure.

Hunter Irvine

Dr. Bill Watson of Colorado Christian University

   I give a personal note here, which is quite appropriate as I am posting these messages on the first chapter of Matthew, considering that Dr. William Watson was a Jewish man who turned to Jesus on a beach after hearing the Gospel from some Christians doing beach evangelism.

   Dr. Watson, the incredible professor of history at Colorado Christian University, passed away unexpectantly on Thursday.  A loss for the entire CCU community, there will be a void at CCU which will never be filled.  When I heard the news, I thought of something Dr. Watson told me in 2017 about a plan his wife had for them upon his retirement.  I have so much sympathy for his wife and family.

   I never had Dr. Watson for a class, yet being someone who was on campus often even in the summer, I talked with him sometimes.  Dr. Watson invited me to sit in on any of his classes, which was an incredible honor.  I did once, and his teaching enthusiasm was enough to take the roof off.

   Dr. Watson lived his calling.  At some point in his time as a university student, Dr. Watson started considering attending seminary with the aim of becoming a pastor.  Yet Dr. Ron Rietveld, of California State University, Fullerton, had a life changing influence on Dr. Watson, aiding him to realize his ministry calling was to be a teacher of history.  And carry out that passionate calling he did.  And being an expert in many areas, Dr. Watson was passionate that the Bible is true history, and Dr. Watson had a heart for witnessing Christ.

   Dr. Watson was the one responsible for bringing Dr. Ron Rietveld to speak at CCU in February of 2008 on the faith of Abraham Lincoln.  Thus Dr. Watson ended up indirectly blessing me since that event was used by God to seal my call to study at CCU.

   To be personal, my favorite memories are when Dr. Watson was the first person I ever checked a book out to in the CCU Library after gaining a job there.  I forgot to de-magnetize the book, and the security beeper went off.  Dr. Watson yelled out, “I am not stopping,” and he marched out the door.

   Then there was the time I was sitting next to Dr. Watson when the ambassador to the U.S. from Israel was a guest speaker at CCU.  Dr. Watson was asked to give the opening prayer, and he did so in Hebrew!  It was powerful.

   Several years after my graduation when I was on campus, Dr. Watson was walking home for lunch, and he stopped to talk with me.  I told him I was discouraged since I had been unemployed for such a long time.  He gave me a lead regarding a position which was only a temporary and part-time, yet I got that job, and it was one of the best ministry positions I have served in.  He was a blessing.  I am thankful I had the opportunity to know him, and I am thankful to God he is in heaven.

Hunter

Matthew 1:2 Leading to an everlasting covenant

Why does this genealogy of Jesus begin with Abraham?

   It has to do with a promise from God.  That promise goes back to around 2100 B.C. when a man named Abram (Abraham) was lamenting the fact he did not have a child.  God then told Abraham: “…[Your relative Eliezer] will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”  Scripture continues- [God] took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.”  Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15: 4-5).

   The situation took a turn when Abraham did not wait for the promise and rather had a child, Ishmael, with his wife’s maidservant, Hagar, at age 86.  Yet God did not cancel the promise.  When Abraham was 99 years old, God supported the promise: “…You will be the father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4).  Added to the promise was giving Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan.

   God kept His promise.  Regarding becoming the father of many nations, Abraham’s first son Ishmael fathered twelve sons who became patriarchs of twelve tribes, listed in Genesis 25:12-17 and in I Chronicles 1:29-31.  They settled to the southwest of what would become Israel, near the eastern border of Egypt.  (Makes sense to me since their mom was an Egyptian.)  There is mention of his descendants later on in Scripture, for example, Isaiah 42:11 states: “Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice…”  Kedar was Ishmael’s second son, and the name here surely refers to that tribe there over one thousand years later.  A statement by Josephus (Josephus, A.J. 1.12.4) suggests some of those tribes became nomadic.

   Then at age one hundred, Abraham has a son, Isaac, who was the heir promised to Abraham by God.  And Isaac would become a “father” of the great Hebrew nation, later called Israel.  And key for us all, Isaac would carry on what scholars call the Abrahamic covenant, which involved not only a great nation, yet also an everlasting covenant, which I will discuss after noting the promise of the land of Canaan.

   The Hebrew nation eventually settled into the land of Canaan for many years after their four centuries in Egypt.  But Hebrews over the centuries did experience the collapse of the northern kingdom, Israel, in 722 B.C., the exile in 586 B.C., the ransack of Jerusalem and Judah by the Romans in 70 A.D., and the subsequent banishment from their homeland for 1878 years, due to sins.  By God’s mercy, Israel was miraculously re-established in the 20th century, and Hebrews occupy territory in that land today.

   Yet in addition to all of these promises, God was making an even greater promise as He was establishing a covenant with Abraham.  In Genesis 17:7 and in Genesis 17:19, God calls the covenant which went through the line of Isaac an “everlasting covenant.”  Sounds like it could be a simple metaphor for a long lasting covenant.  Yet I think there is more to that phrase.  The promise was also foreshadowing the Messiah!  The event of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son illustrates this.

   The bottom line: God made a covenant with Abraham, and though several promises were involved, the eternal promise involved the Messiah.  And who was the Messiah?  Matthew is saying Jesus is the Messiah, by calling him Jesus Christ.  (Messiah is the same word as Christ, the former being Hebrew and the latter being Greek.  They both mean Anointed One.)  Thus for a genealogy of Jesus, starting with Abraham is totally fitting because, first, the Messiah had to come into the world at a historical time and place as a Hebrew.  Second, the covenant God made with Abraham involved a promise which would carry through another covenant, a temporary one between God and the Hebrews mediated through Moses, and then finally find fulfillment in the “everlasting” covenant which is offered by Jesus.  God worked to prepare people for the Messiah all those years ago by making a gargantuan promise to Abraham of an everlasting covenant.  As Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).

Hunter

Question for pondering:

                                           What has Jesus promised us?

Matthew 1:1-17 A radical genealogy

   A genealogy full of ancient Hebrew names?  Ironically this was an amazing manner for Matthew to begin his book.  The literary nature is established from the start: historical.  Yes the content of what is to come is going to involve the supernatural, however the author is tactfully stating from the start that this is no fantasy story.  This is a story about Jesus Christ, who was God incarnate, and His family ancestry is recorded back to Abraham.

   Ancient Hebrew genealogies were paternal, meaning they only included males in the lineage.  Yet Matthew includes five women in his genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife), and Mary.

   What is the point of this radical move which would have offended the majority of Israelites two thousand years ago?  Matthew was showing that women served God, including women who were not Hebrew and women who had shady reputations, deserved or undeserved.  Women were part of the glorious endeavor to usher in the Messiah.  God’s plan, which involved His divine intervention at every juncture, did require His enlistment of people who were willing to do His will, such as Mary.  The keen author, Joseph Kelly, in his book The Origins of Christmas, argued that Matthew wanted to show that Mary, who had the reputation of being a mother who became pregnant out of wedlock, was not alone among women who did not fit the perfect Israelite idea of royal family for the Messiah.  Radical indeed.

   This seemingly boring genealogy record is foreshadowing that something unexpected is going to happen, something huge.

Hunter

Question for pondering:

1.) What is something good which has happened in your life which was utterly unexpected during this difficult year?

Jesus Loves Children

   When I was in the 5th grade, my special teacher, Mrs. Eckert, asked for a volunteer to read a story for some 2nd grade students at our school in the coming week.  One of the 2nd grade teachers thought her students would appreciate hearing from an older student.  My classmates became quite quiet after my teacher’s request, but I raised my hand and volunteered.  My teacher told me she would tell me soon on what day I would read.  Then she asked me to pick a book from her bookshelf, and I picked a fictional book on Paul Bunyan.  I read it once at home to prepare.

   A few days later, a young girl appeared at the door of our classroom and said her teacher was ready for the reader.  With a perplexed look I looked at my teacher, and she looked at me and said, “Oh, did I forget to tell you today is the day?”  She had.  I said I had the book with me and that I could do it.  Yet I felt overwhelmed.  After walking out of my classroom, I even started walking in the wrong direction down the hall.  Fortunately the young girl who was escorting me was patient.

   Though I was not as prepared as I wanted to be, reading the book to that class of second graders went well.  The key point which stuck with me was the fact those young students were all so attentive.  At one point when I was reading, I looked up and saw all of those second graders quietly looking straight at me.  They intently listened to me read that entire book.

   After I returned to my class, my teacher apologized to me for forgetting to tell me the date, and she later complimented me, saying the 2nd grade teacher said I did a good job.

   As a follower of Jesus, this memory is important for me, because it reminds me of how open children are to learning.  When a child is in a store, often times he or she will grab something from a shelf.  Why?  Because he or she wants to experience it.  That is a good thing.  Children desire to learn.

   The tragedy in American culture at this time is that our culture is full of much sickness which is hurting our children.  From sexual immorality, to violence, to drugs, to cussing, to flat out meanness, our culture is saturated with sin.  And access to all kinds of evil is easy on the Internet, cruel stuff I was never exposed to at all in my youth.  Many young people have easy access to such sick stuff right on their electronic devices.  And our culture simply is becoming more and more of a bad influence on our youth of all ages.

   So a common practice by parents is to keep their children heavily occupied in school and extracurricular activities.  But such nonstop activities can keep kids from the blessing of simply being a kid.  When I was young, I had activities, yet I also had plenty of time for simply playing with friends outside, or playing alone.  Creativity was often fostered in such non-structured time.  I would develop my own activities.  Fortunately, in this pandemic, a number of families are spending more time together doing activities as a family.  How super.  But dangers still lurk for a number of children.

   Jesus loves all people, and Jesus loves all children.  Thus Jesus does not want anyone getting hurt.  Jesus was totally clear about His desire that children be protected!  In the summer of 2019, I spent a day at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.  In one exhibit, there is a model of a millstone which was used for crushing olives to make olive oil.  I was fascinated by the exhibit, because in the past four years I have learned of how important olive oil was to people 2000 years ago.

   Regarding the millstone model: It was huge.  The warning from Jesus, recorded in Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2 could not be any clearer.  People who hurt children are going to be punished, because Jesus wants all children protected, physically and spiritually in their heart.  (Eternal salvation is given to anyone who truly believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord.)

   In this day and age where a landslide of immorality is taking place, what can we do?  We can love children by being Christ-like, by telling children about Jesus, and by teaching children about the teachings of Jesus.  He is the Savior who died on a cross for them.

   This pandemic of 2020 has been stressful for everyone.  Thankfully children on the whole have not been in the direct path of harm from COVID, however a number of families have had people die, and the social distancing and the economic hardships have been rough on children.  Now as always, children need the love and hope offered from Jesus.  May we continue to teach the children the Biblical truths about Jesus that they may have the love of Jesus in their hearts and live by that love, and be blessed!

Hunter

Jesus is the eternal High Priest

   Hebrews is a book of the Bible I cherish.  Studying it during the summer, the term “high priest” kept sticking out for me.  Priests served in a crucial position in the community of Israel under the Mosaic Covenant.  Priests had to be in the lineage of Aaron, so it was a select number of Levites who had that privilege and responsibility.  We learn from the Old Testament that sacrificing animals, including daily sacrifices and sacrifices on a mass level during the three yearly festivals, was a primary role of priests.  From an altar in front of the tabernacle starting when the Israelites were in the desert, to an altar in an area in front of the temple when the first temple and the second temple were in place, priests killed animals as a sacrifice to God in order to gain temporary forgiveness for the people.  Just as Moses had been a mediator of the covenant between God and the Hebrews, priests were mediators between God and the people as they offered sacrifices for the sins of the people.

   Plus there was the selection of the single “high priest.”  Though the high priest made sacrifices throughout the year, one pinnacle duty of the high priest was the sacrifices he would carry out on the Day of Atonement.  Prescribed in Leviticus 16, a bull was sacrificed by the high priest for his own sins and the sins of his family, and then two goats were sacrificed for the sins of all of the people.

   Hebrews explains why Israelite priests no longer should make animal sacrifices.  The reason: Animal sacrifices merely gave temporary forgiveness.  In Hebrews 5:3, the author states it was necessary for the high priest to offer sacrifices for their own sins, revealing priests were not perfect.  And in Hebrews 7:11, the author bluntly states: “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come – one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?”  The sacrifice of animals did not perfect the priests who were sinners, and those countless sacrifices did not perfect the people.  The animals were not a perfect or permanent sacrifice, rather a temporary sacrifice.

   Yet the Mosaic Law served an important purpose since I think God had the intention of using it to show people their need of a perfect and permanent sacrifice.  Thus the Mosaic Law leads to the high priesthood of Jesus.  First, He is perfect, being without sin, as stated in Hebrews 4:15.  Second, His priesthood is permanent: “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood” (Hebrews 7:23-24).

   And the radical revelation in this book is that Jesus was both the High Priest and also the sacrifice!  “… He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (Hebrews 7:27).  Being the perfect and permanent High Priest, He was likewise the perfect and permanent sacrifice.  “He did not enter by the means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

   Though Jesus does not seem to qualify as a high priest under the Mosaic Law, since Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, the author of Hebrews gives a detailed explanation that Jesus is the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, as was prophesied.

   All of us have sinned, thus all of us are in need of forgiveness, because God is Holy, and He does not commune with those who are not holy.  Eternal forgiveness is available because Jesus, the eternal High Priest, and the Lamb of God, died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the perfect and permanent atoning sacrifice for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death.  No more sacrifice is needed!  “…because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14).  People who believe in Jesus will be transformed to be holy and will dwell forever with Jesus.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life in heaven with Him!

Hunter Irvine

Keep on Loving All People - Jesus does!

   Before receiving Jesus thirty years ago, I lived in Annandale, Virginia, in a neighborhood where there were folks of a variety of ethnic groups.  There I had a friend, Derick, who is African-American.  He had a great smile.  His passion was basketball, and he and our 6th grade teacher had much fun jousting with each other that year when the Washington Bullets played the Seattle SuperSonics in the championship series.  Our teacher, Mrs. Henderson, was a transplant from Seattle.  That was the beginning of a number of blessed friendships I have had with folks who are African-American.

   In this year of the pandemic catastrophe, we have had another tragedy involving racism, violence, and hatred.  Racism is a sin.  God has revealed in Genesis 1:27 that all people were made in the “image of God,” both males and females, which involves all people having a soul.  Scripture reveals all people came from Adam and Eve.  And Scripture reveals in Galatians 3:28 that no Christian is superior over another, which was the way God created the human race in the first place.  And hate is a sin.

   From the Samaritan woman at the well, to the robber on the cross next to him, Jesus loves all people.  Jesus loves all people to the extent that He died for all people, all people of every ethnic group of all time, as the substitute for our sins.  Christ died for every single human being!  Now all have the opportunity to receive His gift of eternal life.

   Once I was unemployed and desperately in need of a job.  Filling out a job application for a place I really wanted to work, I got to the question, “What is your race?”  I checked “Other,” and then wrote “human.”

   Tragically we are at a time where much sin and much division haunts our culture.  Why?  I am convicted the reason is that many people, for decades, have ignored, distorted, or even rejected the Scriptures, which are the sacred writings from God.  In the 1990’s, there was a huge movement arguing the Scriptures could not be taken literally.  When a number of Christians are disputing the authenticity of the witness of Christ, their outreach to people in the culture who are not in the Church will fail, because people are not going to embrace a muddled god, who is not really God.

   So what can we followers of Jesus do?  Keep loving God and keep loving people.  Being such a loving person requires receiving love from Jesus.  And it requires growing in the love of Jesus, thus we must be students of Scripture.  And remember, telling people the Gospel is always loving people!

   In my years of following Jesus I have seen much love towards people of all ethnic groups.  When I was a new Christian, I worked a job in Washington, D.C.  There was a fellow employee there, Sheila, who is African-American, and a longtime Christian.  She was so caring for me, like a sister.  I remember once I treated her to lunch, and that one hour made my entire week.

   How about Bill McCartney?  Attending Promise Keepers in 1995 and 1996, I learned of Coach McCartney’s passion for racial reconciliation.  He loves people of all ethnic groups.  And at those revivals I got to hear from many great African-American preachers such as Tony Evans and E.V. Hill.

   The first Christian music album I ever purchased was “Jesus Freak” by dcTalk in 1996.  That one album had a huge influence on the Christian community at that time.  One of my favorite songs on the album is all about racial reconciliation.

   I served as a youth minister for an internship under an African-American pastor who was truly special.  I have served as a college pastor under a young man from Africa who was the student leader of the group.  And every church I have ever been an active parishioner in had at least a few people of various ethnic groups.  We are all family.

   And praise be to God I have given love to people of countless ethnic groups.  Going back to Promise Keepers, a highlight for me of the final one I attended in 1998 was being asked to pray with a young man who is Latino-American whose parents were going through a divorce.  I will never forget that.

   Many Christians have been loving people of all ethnic groups for 2,000 years.  And a number of Christians have been pioneers for racial harmony.

   Granted there have been some Christians who have hampered racial harmony over the years, just as there are divisions among Christians to the present day regarding other areas of morality.  Even genuine Christians have different interpretations of the Bible.  For example, a number of ministers and leaders of various Christian denominations in the south in the 1800’s interpreted the Bible as permitting slavery.  Yet the abolitionist movement was fueled by Biblical conviction.   Truly, many Christians are the pioneer lovers.

   So keep loving people indeed.  Hate and hypocrisy is going to continue, tragically.  Yet God instructs us: “…overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).  Rely on the Scriptures, since they contain revelations from God.  And rely on the Holy Spirit, who will enable a follower of Jesus to be loving.  No need to shy away from identifying sin!  If you love someone, you do not want them to get hurt.  Sin always results in hurt, thus you do not want people you love to sin.

   In my view, Christians often get treated like Scripture: ignored, distorted, or rejected.  Yet when disaster strikes, there is a unique opportunity to be a light for Jesus, who is the Messiah.  Keep being a pioneer of love, as hard as it can be.  Keep loving all people!  Jesus does!

Hunter Irvine

Jesus wants to save us!

   During my worship time in my room yesterday, I was reading the passage of Luke 23: 35-39.  I started intensely pondering how a number of people insulted Jesus after He was nailed to the cross.  Luke records Jesus was mocked by religious rulers, Roman soldiers, and a man who had robbed who was also being crucified then.  I add Matthew 27: 39-44 reveals some people passing by “hurled insults,” and that mocking from religious rulers was extensive.  Also, Matthew informs us that at the start, both men who had committed robbery were insulting Jesus.  Thanks to Luke, we learn that one of the robbers had a change of heart.

   Now the insults recorded centered on the point that if Jesus is the Messiah, then He should save Himself.  The tone was mocking!  The only exception is the one robber who later got rebuked by the robber who had a change of heart, who possibly had some dim hope Jesus could still save them.  Those individuals seem convinced that since Jesus had already suffered beatings, a crown of thorns, an agonizing death-sentence march, and being nailed to a cross, that He was unable to rescue Himself from the execution.

   However, I pondered how Jesus could have saved Himself.  Being God the Son, just as He walked on water and brought His friend Lazarus back from the dead, He could have rescued Himself from that cross.  (And note Matthew 26: 53-54).  Yet He stayed there.  Dying for the sins of people was His mission.  Jesus allowed Himself to be murdered so He could be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of people.  The consequence of sins is physical and spiritual death, and Jesus died as the substitute for that punishment.  Why?  Because Jesus loves people, and He endured the ultimate suffering to save us!

   Consider a time when you did something for someone you love which brought hardship upon yourself.  Was it worth it?

+ Thank You Jesus for being willing to suffer more than I can comprehend by taking our sins in Your heart and dying as the substitute for people.

Hunter

Marriage

   Marriage is a subject I like to talk about.  Sadly, in my many years as a Christian, I have heard few sermons on the topic.  I have only read one good Christian book on dating, a rather obscure book I got for three dollars.  And getting down to brass tax, marriages seemed to have drastically dwindled in churches in the past two decades in my observation.  There seem to be fewer and fewer.  Having said that, when I was at Colorado Christian University for my second degree, I was impressed by how many students there were mature enough to get married, most soon after graduation.  The number of folks I met at CCU getting married was encouraging!

   I spent much time this week preparing to officiate a wedding even though I was the “backup.”  Amidst the preparation, there was some truly blessed time for me as I pondered the sanctity of Christian marriage, and I share considerations.

   First of all, God ordained marriage.  The first two people created by God, Adam and Eve, were married by God.  We know this since the Bible states that Eve was Adam’s wife (see Genesis 2:25; 3:8; 3:20-21).  From the get-go it was God’s intention for men and women to get married.

   Second, God still calls for marriage.  Jesus affirmed this by His teaching as recorded in Matthew 19:4-6.

   Thus it is makes sense that in most cultures in the world, even cultures which are drastically different from one another, marriage is still a common institution.  And even for folks who practice a number of the world religions, marriage is sacred, though in some religion it takes a different form.  Marriage has been a practice in many cultures through-out recorded history.

   In my view, a tragedy taking place in American culture today is that marriage is being viewed less and less as a sacred union.  For many, the covenant of holy matrimony is seen as a loss of independence.  Simply living together without a vow before God to permanently bond is increasing in popularity.

   Not trying to stifle anyone’s independence, Scripture teaches our need for dependence on our holy God.  We people were created to be in a loving relationship with God.  Second, we people were created to be in loving relationships with others.  We were never created to be mere individuals.

   I know America developed in a mode of independence and freedom.  Hey, I like adventure and some independence.  However, speaking for myself, for me to be a loving person, I need serious help from God.  Scripture teaches God is love, and that we need His love.  Secondly, I have learned in all of my adventures, even during my journey of great freedom thirty years ago as I thru-hiked the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, relationships are important during any journey.  I could not have accomplished that journey without help from loving people.

   And Scripture teaches the blessing of being married, that special loving covenant made between a man and a woman before God.  God ordained marriage right from the creation of people, and I think we Christians should be giving marriage more attention.  I for one commit to working in this direction.

Hunter

Why did God create germs?

   Two young people here in Colorado are my genuine loving friends, and we have been doing activities together ever since I use to “baby-sit” (have fun with) them one day a week.  A few years later, there was a period of time when the boy was getting sick more than average.  One day when we were eating, he asked me, “Why did God create germs?”  Good question.  It led to a Biblical explanation about all of God’s creation being good, but that things go bad when there is a separation from God.  There was an explanation about the disobedience of Adam and Eve, which resulted in a discussion.  These facts from Genesis are not children’s bedtime stories, rather they are revelations from God that obedience to God results in true goodness, whereas disobedience to the instructions of God results in disaster.  In this world where there was a separation between God and people, harmful germs are part of the disaster.

   Praise be to God, there is hope in the face of harmful germs.  God truly cares about every single person in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic catastrophe.  God cares that many people have died.  God cares many people are suffering.  God cares about the unemployment.  Countless problems have been encountered by countless people worldwide as most of us have been impacted by this pandemic, and God cares.  God loves people, and when you truly love someone who is hurting, you care.

   There is still hope for us all.  Regarding death, though we all physically die sometime, eternal life is available to all who believe in Jesus.  Why?  When Peter was speaking to Cornelius and a large group of Cornelius’ relatives and friends, Peter stated: “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10: 43 NIV).  That “him” is Jesus.

   What does forgiveness have to do with eternal life?  With God’s forgiveness, a person is justified before the Father and united with the Holy Spirit.  The result of being united with our Holy God who created us is eternal life.  A follower of Jesus will still physically die sometime, however the person will spiritually live forever.

   Regarding the fact we all hurt sometimes, a person who opens his or her heart to the love of Jesus will still have hurt and hardship in this world, unique to that person, yet blessings will be available due to the relationship with a loving Father.

   Thus the forgiveness of sins by Jesus does lead to eternal life, and the reason this ultimate forgiveness is available: Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins.  As John stated: “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (John 2:2 NIV).  Jesus took our sins within His own Spirit, to be our substitute as He died for sins.  Then He was raised on the third day.  Now he gives us the offer.  Giving your heart to Jesus results in receiving His true love and forgiveness, and we all need true love and forgiveness for eternal life.

Hunter

Remember God's Faithfulness

   I hope you had some blessings from God on Easter.  For me, Easter did not seem like Easter.  You know why.  I did pray for families of people who have died from COVID-19, and for those who are sick.  Then in the evening, I talked with my friend on the phone.  His mom, who is a longtime genuine friend of mine, is close to dying (not of COVID-19).  Though expected, it was still hard on me.
   Yet even on a challenging Easter, I had a special morning worshiping God in my room.  And near the end of my morning with Him, I had a special blessing.  And first and foremost, the ultimate blessing is always available to live day by day knowing Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!
   During my full morning with God, at one point I started thinking much about one particular blessing from God over the years, which has brought much joy in my life.  To this day I know it was God who opened the door for that opportunity in February of 2007.
   Thinking about God’s faithfulness in the past can be encouraging when circumstances look hopeless.  In a few of the Psalms, the authors recalled the fact that God was faithful to the Hebrew people in the past, restating specific blessings from Him in past years.  For example, in Psalm 105 the author recalls the blessing of getting to settle in Egypt during a famine, and then their miraculous deliverance from Egypt.  And he recalls God’s miraculous provision: “He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert.” (Psalm 105:41 NIV)
   These Psalms surely encouraged the Israelites years later when their circumstances looked hopeless, and they can encourage us today.
   Granted we still need to trust God concerning the details.  For example, Israelite people were in captivity in Babylon for 70 to 50 years, since Israelites were taken captive in three waves in 605 B.C., 597 B.C., and 586 B.C.  This long captivity was the result of many years of vast sins by many Israelites.  Yet Israelites were eventually delivered from Babylon, in my opinion against all odds, since God was faithful in carrying out His promise to Abraham, a promise rooted in His love for all people.
   If you would like, please take a moment now, and remember a time when you were facing a serious challenge, which was sooner or later resolved with God’s help.

   I personally just said a prayer for whoever happens to read my blog that you have a special blessing here at this time of the pandemic crisis in our world, whatever your circumstances.  And first and foremost when remembering God’s faithfulness, remember in your heart that Jesus died on a cross to be your substitute for the wages of sin.  He submitted to that ultimate suffering, taking the sins of the world upon Himself, since He loves you.  Then He was resurrected!  If you believe in Jesus, you have eternal life with Him.
love,
Hunter

Christ is Risen

   I have had some challenging Easters since turning to Christ.  Once when approaching my church for the big morning, a tire blew out.  Fortunately I was only two blocks away, and I drove super slow.  After the service and special fellowship time was over, our head pastor volunteered to change my tire.  The students in the church became quite entertained by the event and were lively spectators and commentators.  Though I ended up having to buy two new tires, I savored the blessing of the enthusiastic students.
   Another challenging Easter was when I was away from my home doing college ministry work in 2015.  The church was jam packed, and I sat with my friends in a pew where everyone was shoulder to shoulder.  Being on the far left of my friends, to my left was a woman and her husband in their early twenties, whom I had never seen in church.  During the sermon, the man started massaging his wife’s back.  I was trying to pay attention to Pastor Eric, but it was totally distracting to have the woman next to me getting a back massage by her husband inches away from me.  Honestly, being single is a tough calling, and in my experience some folks in churches only make it tougher.
   Then there was the Easter when I got a virus. (This was a few years ago, and though nasty, it did not compare to the current dangerous coronavirus.)  My housemate got sick in late February which resulted in him getting laryngitis, and he remained sick for several weeks.  (But he did not go to the doctor that entire time.)  Just as he was recovering, I got sick.  It was the Wednesday before Easter, and I immediately called my doctor, hoping it was a bacterial infection so I could get on antibiotics immediately.  But my doctor diagnosed me with a virus, and said there was nothing she could give me.  I had to miss Easter service.  (I am a longtime advocate that anytime you are sick, out of loving consideration to others and yourself, you should refrain from church and spend some time personally with God.)  I was really disappointed.  I wanted so much to be with my brothers and sisters in Christ on the most important Christian church day of the year.  Yet that Sunday morning I worshiped God in my room, knowing Jesus is resurrected, and gaining a peace which passes understanding.
   Easter of 2020 may appear to be thwarted because of the coronavirus pandemic catastrophe.  In most cases throughout the entire world, churches will be, or should be, locked.  Easter services for many Christians in the world will be electronic.  Easter services for some Christians in the world will not happen.
   I will be doing what I do most every morning.  With only God and me in my room, I will read a passage from my Bible, study the passage, ponder the message, pray, and sing a hymn, all aspects of worshiping God.  Key is the fact I will not be alone.  God is with me daily.  I know that this Sunday, like every day, I can celebrate that my Savior and Lord, Jesus, is risen from the dead.
   Yes I would give the world if I could worship with people and preach an Easter sermon this Sunday.  On March 29th I was supposed to offer a sermon as part of a preliminary pastor interview process, but it was indefinitely postponed.  Now I can only wait until an unknown date.  And the sermon I prepared for that cancelled service would be ideal for Easter.  But on Easter I will remain unemployed, churchless, and without an opportunity to offer my sermon.  Yet I will have love.
   In nearly 30 years of following Jesus, I have had countless disappointments and I still have plenty of regrets.  Yet daily, I have had the love of Jesus.  And daily, it has been possible for me to celebrate in my heart the resurrection of Jesus.  Having a loving relationship with Jesus, the One who died on a cross as the substitute for sins to save us from spiritual death, results in eternal life in heaven with Him in the future, and results in hope in our days in this world.
   Recognizing we are all hurt to some degree by this coronavirus tragedy which is bringing much suffering worldwide, I can still proclaim that you can have a blessed Easter wherever you are, if you rest in the love of Jesus.
Hunter

Touched by Jesus

   In the midst of this coronavirus worldwide tragedy, “social distancing” is saving physical lives, literally.  I have been trying to carry out social distancing to the max.  Sacrificing money, convenience, and much else, could physically save someone’s life.  A projection I heard today for continued deaths worldwide brought me to tears.  The heroes in this nightmare tragedy include people, any people, who are carrying out social distancing as well as they can.

   Now please read this carefully since I do not want this to be misconstrued, and there is a point to this.  The only person who would not need to do any social distancing, if He was physically here, is Jesus.

   The irony is that even in the face of leprosy, Jesus did not do social distancing:

   A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  “I am willing,” he said.  “Be clean!” (Mark 1:40-41)

   Now if it was me, I would get as far away from the guy as possible, yet Jesus touched him.

   Likewise, Jesus touched children:

   “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them…” (Mark 10:13)

   I noticed during my years doing youth ministry that the more the years went on, the more careful us youth workers had to be about touching students, because sexual immorality consistently increased as the social norm in the U.S., thus marring the intention of a caring touch.  Yet Jesus touched little children.

   And how about Jesus spitting into dirt and then rubbing it on the eyes of a blind man.  He was surely not modeling a practice for the rest of us on that one.  Yet the blind man received his sight.

   Jesus did not need to do social distancing since though He was fully human, He was also fully God, and He was able to heal people who were sick.  Regarding social distancing now, all of us humans worldwide need to be carrying it out as able.  However, there are messages from Jesus’ touching for us to learn from.

   First, as I stated in my last piece, we need the spiritual touch of Jesus.  Touching can be an expression of love, and Jesus loves us.  For a person who gives his or her heart to Jesus, the Spirit of Christ will touch him or her in a spiritual manner.

   Second, in this time of tragedy where many are dying and where many are suffering, which obliges us to avoid physical contact with people, we need to continue to look forward to the time when we can resume with social closeness. How do I know God wants social closeness?  Why not simply have church online from now on?  Just think of the benefits of listening to sermons in our pajamas while being able to fast forward though the boring parts of a sermon.  And think of the money churches would save on facility bills.  Simply note the ordinances which Jesus commanded.  There is nothing virtual about them, rather they are relational and real.  Baptism in water is relational and real.  People taking bread and juice in a community setting is relational and real.  Truly, we human beings were never created to be isolated from God or one another.

   The coronavirus makes it necessary for all people to practice social distancing at this time until the danger of COVID 19 is over.  When finally over, may we believers resume engaging in appropriate relational expression to people in the love of Jesus.

Hunter

Free Hugs

   A day or so after the tragedy at my first Alma mater, Virginia Tech, on April 16, 2007, there were two students who stationed themselves by a bench on the drillfield, which is a huge grassy area at the center of campus.  They held a sign which said, “Free Hugs.”  I saw a picture of them, and though many miles away from my beloved university, I was touched in my heart by their loving offer at a time when so many of us were hurting.  And hug many people they did.

   In the midst of this worldwide tragedy of the coronavirus, which is bringing death or pain or an assortment of hardships to countless people worldwide, an additional tragedy is people are being more separated from each other.  Gatherings of people have been halted, truly a safety necessity.  Only such discipline will keep the coronavirus contained.

   In public, everyone is supposed to be carrying out “social distancing,” which includes people refraining from getting close to one another; everyone is supposed to stay at least six feet away.  We human beings are not supposed to touch those outside of our homes, including handshakes or hugs.  No one knows for sure how long this will need to continue.

   This past Sunday, many churches in the United States were closed, and most will be closed for a number of Sundays to come for genuine safety purposes.  Some leaders are speculating all churches may be closed on Easter.  How sad to know churches are locked up.  Now many churches are having online services, which is a good thing for this period, but obviously impersonal.

   At this time of trial, may we Christians realize the basis of Christianity is a relationship with Jesus, not a ritual.  Scripture teaches the foundation of being a follower of Jesus is faith in Jesus, the One who was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of people.  Faith results in a loving relationship.  A believer becomes born again, being permanently indwelled with the Holy Spirit.  Thus any Christian has the opportunity to be spiritually and lovingly touched in his or her heart by God day after day!  As we all are being physically separated from one another due to the coronavirus, this is a time to rely on being touched by our Savior and Lord in a spiritual manner.  Jesus loves us, and He wants to touch our hearts.

   And regarding our fellow human beings, we are commanded by Jesus to love them.  Our culture for years has been plagued by sexual immorality which involves wrongful touching, plagued by anger, and plagued by many other sins which interfere with loving human relationships.  There is a grand need now for followers of Jesus to continue to carry out the commands of Jesus, loving God and loving people.  Thus we need to keep forgiving and caring.  Personally, my circumstances are financially rough now, however, in spite of “social distancing” and little cash, I see opportunities to be a light for Jesus now as many people are hurting and confused.

   When churches unlock their doors in the future, church norms may be changed in most for safety reasons.  Sadly enough, I think some churches will get rid of the time when we greet our brothers and sisters during worship.  Yet when this crisis finally ends, I see a day when opportunities will arise to once again give holy hugs to people in the love of Christ.

Hunter Irvine

Home

I John 4: 13-16       We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (NIV)

Luke 23: 43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (NIV)

   My grandma was in a nursing home for a year and ten months before she passed away.  I visited her every single day for the first six months, and frequently after that.  A nursing home is one of the last places I would chose to hang out, yet I loved Grandma, and I wanted to spend time with her as she suffered being bedridden and lonely.  I would talk with her, I would read to her, and I would usually sing one song to her before I left, which also made me popular with her roommate who liked my singing.
   Visiting the nursing home so much, I got to know several residents.  There were some really nice people there.  A few residents were blessed to have family members visit them consistently, but for most residents, visitors came on rare occasions or never.  Then there were a few people who I did not talk with but saw often, since they were often up and about.  One of those folks was Jane, not her real name.  Jane was 103 years old.  She was extremely active.  Normally when I walked down the hall to and from Grandma’s room, at different times, Jane would be shuffling around on her walker.  And though she often was not intelligible, many times she was in a conversation with someone on the hall or to herself.  I never talked with her, but sometimes I would say, “Hi Jane,” when I walked by her.
   One evening I was visiting Grandma a few days before Christmas.  As I walked by Jane, she pushed her walker in front of me and started talking with me for the first time.
   She said with upmost sincerity, “I need to go home.”
   I casually responded, "You are home, Jane."
   Looking right at me, she responded, “You don’t understand.  It is Christmas and I need to be at home.”
   I then got real serious and said something like, “Jane, people here care for you, and you are like family here, so this is kind of your home.”
   I tried to comfort her, but it was sad.
   Growing up in a transient area in Virginia inside the D.C. beltway, experiencing the divorce of my parents, and remaining single all of these years, even though it has been a longstanding dream to be married, has made “home” often seem elusive.
   There is an old saying, “Love makes a house a home.”  I agree, realizing home is a place, yet home also involves relationships.  We learn the atonement Jesus made on the cross as the substitute for sins, which is stated in I John 4:10, resulted in the opportunity for people to be in a truly loving spiritual relationship now with Jesus.  Thus if you receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, wherever your abode, you can be at home with Jesus.
   Secondly, receiving Jesus, you gain a forever home.  As Jesus promised one of the men being crucified alongside Him, a believer will be ushered by Christ into heaven.  After following Jesus for coming on thirty years next month, I recognize more and more the journey I have been on in this world does not find completion here.  The result of journeying with Jesus is an eternal home with God in heaven.
   Knowing this in my heart, sometimes it does not seem so.  I have been in churches where leaders or people have been focused on money or whatever else blocks love, and then when I moved on, I felt church homeless.  And there have been two periods in my life in my calling of ministry work when I had to move so frequently, “home” seemed like it may be out of reach.
   Yet whether I am church homeless or a nomad, I live with the Holy Spirit being in me, and I have the promise of heaven.  If you are not a follower of Jesus, you can be today by simply believing in Him.  And if you are a believer, rely on the promises of our loving Father that He is with you right now and cares for you right now, and that He has an eternal home for you, praise be to Jesus!
Hunter