The Last Words of Moses

A Quick Look: Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Really Read It: Deuteronomy 30:11-20, Colossians 3:1-4

Memorize: Deuteronomy 30:16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. (NIV)

Moses was the president, the prophet, the priest, the man with the miracle power of God. He took a whole country of slaves on a 40-year camping trip. They had some trouble along the way, so God used him to split the Red Sea, bring water from a rock, and drop bread from the sky. When ultra-famous Moses was about to die, he gave a final speech. It was really long. Hard to blame him for talking so much. It was his last day on earth. But since it was so long, I’ll go straight to my favorite part and bring it up to date a little.

Love God. Do what He says. And it is not so hard. You don’t have to send your aunt on a mission to Mars to find God’s words and bring them down to you. You don’t have to put your brother on a sea voyage across the ocean to learn God’s ways and bring them back. No. The Word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Those ideas are close to what Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:11-14. Then Moses made all of the people contestants on the easiest game show in the history of the world. (Sort of.) There was only one question in the game and Moses made it real easy. Picture Moses standing between two doors. One door was dirty, gray, and broken with a huge KEEP OUT sign. The other door was bright yellow with flashing lights and arrows all around it. Moses kept pointing to that good door while the smiley face in the middle of the door called out, “Pick me, pick me, pick me!” It was not a trick. The good door was really that easy to find.

Moses said things like, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” (Deuteronomy 30:15) This door is life and prosperity, the place where you always have enough stuff, enough food, your body is healthy and your family is happy. The other door is death and destruction, the place with sickness, lack, not enough stuff, not enough food, bad hard times. Moses said it as many ways as he could. He even asked the angels to listen to make sure that he gave all of the people a fair chance. He said, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

And the way to choose was with worship. To get to the bad door, forget about God, do not obey His ways, let your heart get pulled away to other gods and bow to them. To get to the good door, love God, walk in His ways, and do what God says. Stay close, listen to His voice, and hold on tight to God.

In Deuteronomy 30:20 Moses used the words, “For the Lord is you life.” I wonder how he said that. Did he go right through it or did he stop and blast those words one at a time? It might have been a quick phase in a long speech. Maybe only a few of the people standing there caught this key. The Lord is everything. He is health in your body. He is the strength of every friendship. He is hope. He is life itself.

Paul was never as famous as Moses while he was alive, but he wrote more books of the Bible. Paul used that same powerful phrase in a letter. Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Readers then and readers now could really focus on the part about appearing in glory. Do you see yourself cloud surfing with light shooting out of your fingers? That is not how you are going to appear with Christ in glory, but forget about that for now, and go back to that little phrase the Paul stuck in there: Christ, who is your life.

I saw a stupid T-shirt that said, “Basketball is LIFE. The rest is just details.” I like basketball but something is wrong if a little game with a ball and a hoop is the core of who you are. I don’t think you could really do it, but just think about it for a minute. What would your life look like if you wore that shirt and you were telling the truth? You would work all day every day at becoming a better player. Running, shooting, dribbling, weights, sprints, drills. You would have to study all of the books by all of the world’s experts. You would train under the best coaches you could find and gladly do whatever they asked. Food would have to be a part of your life but only to get stronger. Entertainment could be pushed out of your life, but if you let it in a little, it would be something about basketball.

Sadly some people live that life and a lot more wish they could. So many give their lives to other things that do not deserve any devotion. But what if you crossed out the word “basketball” and wrote in Christ. Christ is LIFE. Paul said, “Christ, who is your life.” Moses said, “The Lord is your life.” And I have seen that on a T-shirt, but I have rarely seen that kind of life. Remember everything the Basketball is LIFE guy did with his day. Remember how that guy spent his energy, spent his time. What did he think about? What did he dream about? Could you tell the truth and wear Christ is LIFE? Could you give as much strength to Jesus as he gives to basketball? Listen to the last words of Moses, listen to a letter from Paul. Make Jesus Christ the One and Only. Make the living God your LIFE.

This week I found hope at church. I didn’t even know that I needed any more, but there it was. Hope. Find out more about a different church, a church were something happens: http://www.worldrevivalchurch.com

You can find more of Nathan’s writing on lulu and helium.

Philemon

A Quick Look: Philemon 4-7

Really Read It: Philemon 1-25

Memorize: Philemon 6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. NIV

Philemon is a small book of the Bible. It is shorter than most chapters and yet it gets to be a whole book. Philemon is so short that it doesn’t even have chapter numbers. To find a verse in Philemon, you don’t need a chapter then a verse. All you need is the verse. But I would like to change that. We are all so used to the chapter number: verse number deal that when a weird book like Philemon leaves it out, it is confusing. Right up there it says to memorize Philemon 6. Unless you are a Philemon expert, that looks like a whole chapter. Memorize Philemon Chapter 6 not just verse 6 of the little book of Philemon. What would it hurt to make the book have a chapter? I know one chapter doesn’t make it a chapter book, but then it could say, “Memorize Philemon 1:6,” and at least that verse could look like all the other verses in the Bible.

Even though it is really short, Philemon is a whole book all by itself because it was a whole letter written all by itself. The letter was from Paul and Timothy to three people. A guy named Philemon was one of the people. He got to turn his name into a book in the Bible, but the letter was also to a woman named Apphia, and another guy named Archippus. If you think those are funny names, it is okay to laugh because Apphia and Archippus have been dead for almost two thousand years. You might want to remember those funny names in case you ever adopt a pair of platypuses. Apphia and Archippus would be great pet platypus names. And if you need a third, you could add the name Onesimus. Onesimus is the man that this letter is about. Paul and Timothy wrote to Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus about Onesimus. (Nice job reading all of those weird names.) And they said that Onesimus is a great man of God. He may have made some mistakes before, but now he is right on track and he will really help their church. That is the main part of the letter, but the main thing that we are studying is in the introduction.

Paul and Timothy write down a prayer that they pray for Philemon and those others. The prayer starts with, “I always thank my God as I remember you.” Paul wrote that in at least three of his letters, but Christian greeting card writers wrote that on at least three million cards. Those words on a pretty greeting card make it seem like someone out there or a lot of someones are praying this for you. Maybe that’s true. I hope it’s true, but today switch it. Don’t hope that someone is thanking God for you. Make this be your prayer for someone or a lot of someones.

The prayer in Philemon is just four verses long, but it can be a great model for how to pray. Pray like this for your friends, your teachers, pastors, parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, neighbors, mailmen, barbers… This prayer has three main parts that you can pray.

1. Thank you, God for _______________________. That is a pretty easy part, but it is important.

2. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith. Do this yourself. Be this yourself, but pray it for your friends too. “Be active” means your faith is a part of you that comes out wherever you are, whatever you do. Another version of the Bible says, “be generous.” Always give away a lot of faith. Always give away a lot of hope, joy, and peace. Always give away a lot of love.

3. I pray that you will have a full understanding of every good thing that we have in Christ. We have a lot of good things in Christ. So many that you can dive into Him with your whole life for your whole life and never get to the end of the good things that we have in Christ. But we still pray to know more of them, to have more of Him.

In the great name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nathan’s church is exciting. It is a place that people WANT to go to way more than once a week and stay for way more than 90 minutes. Find out more about it: http://www.worldrevivalchurch.com

You can find more of Nathan’s writing on lulu and helium.

Light

A Quick Look: Psalm 119:97-105

Really Read It: Psalm 119:57-120

Note: Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the whole Bible. If you want to make sure that no chapter will ever be too long for you, read the whole chapter Psalm 119:1-176.

Memorize: Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Walter and Waffle stood on the corner of 43^rd and Crest. Walter read a text message from the president.

“c u 4 dinner @ Ricks 5pm”

“Do you know Rick?” asked Waffle.

“No, but I know that his restaurant has the best coconut pizza in the city.”

“Oh yeah. I remember that. Soooo gooood! See you there.”

“Wait, Waffle. You need to use the GPS. You’ll never remember how to get there.”

Waffle took his GPS out of his pocket. “Yeah right. This little box with all of its beeps and flashes and that funny lady talking is going to get me to the coconut pizza place. I don’t think so.” He tossed the box back into the trash and walked away.

Walter took his GPS out of his pocket and typed the name of the restaurant. He listened to the funny lady and arrived at Rick’s ten minutes early. Waffle was still wondering the streets at 5:00 the next morning.

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Walter and Waffle were without GPS as they hiked along the forest path. But they hardly needed it. All they had to do was stay on the path. That was easy enough in the day time, but as night rolled in seeing the path got harder. Walter pulled out his flashlight and strolled right along. Waffle left his flashlight in his pocket as he called out, “Wimpy Walter was scared of the dark! I’ll race you back to camp!”

As Walter walked along the path he heard Waffle crying out as he smashed into trees and dove into thorn bushes.

Walter won the race.

Waffle didn’t get back until the search party found him the next morning.

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After just two short stories you know that Walter is just about as wise and you are and Waffle is just about as wise as a waffle. So you don’t need to read the story of Walter and Waffle in a submarine or Walter and Waffle climbing the snake tree or the story of Walter and Waffle making waffles. They all end the same way. Or almost the same way. In one story Waffle’s submarine gets stuck in a cave and in one Waffle gets stuck the inside of a snake and in one Waffle cooks his hand in the waffle iron. But they pretty much end the same way.

To make sure that you are smarter than Waffle and smarter than a blueberry waffle, you have to look at why Waffle was so foolish. Waffle ignored something that would help him. All he needed was a voice telling him which way to go. All he needed was a light to see the path. Every time he needed something that he already had. He needed to use what he already had. To pass the wiser-than-Waffle test, you are not going on an adventure with a GPS and a flashlight. Your test uses a book. A big book. The Book.

The Bible is an amazing book of history and ideas. It’s full of great writing and exciting stories. But those are all things that people can put into a book. The Bible is so much better, so much bigger because God put His Words into it. God put hope in that book. He put life in it.

Part of super-long Psalm 119 is about the Word of God. I found three things that you should do when you read the Bible. First thank God for His Word and read it. Next ask God to teach you from His Word and read it. Finally be quick to obey the Word of God after you read it. And when you read the Bible, your life will get better again and again.

This Psalm tells some of the great things about the Bible. The Word of God is eternal. Few things you touch today will last forever, but the Word of God will. It will be there in 2011 when you are trying to decide if you should say, “two thousand eleven,” or “twenty eleven.” The Word of God will be there in 2063 when you are trying to decide what year you become an old person. The Word of God will be there in 2299, 9922, and on and on to the year 999,222,999 and always and forever.

The Word of God makes your heart soft. The Bible makes you ready for God’s presence. It makes you closer to God. So many things make your heart hard (anger, ignoring God, entertainment, and more.) The Word can make it soft again. The Word of God is a comfort. Can a song or a pillow make you feel better if you’re sad? The Word of God is even better at it. The Word of God gives hope. The Word of God preserves life, your life. It can save your life. It can make your life better.

To end, I am going to stick in two more verses. These two could be the second and third place verses for the Weekly Memory Verse. I just had to give them a little extra attention.

Psalm 119:72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

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Nathan is amazed to see God move in power every week at his church. You can see what is happening: http://www.worldrevivalchurch.com

You can find more of Nathan’s writing on lulu and helium.

Little Red Riding Hood

A Quick Look: Colossians 3:12-15

Really Read It: Galatians 1:1-24, Colossians 3:1-22

Memorize: Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Little Red Riding Hood is older than Christopher Columbus. She is probably more famous too. Before 1697 her story was not written down, she didn’t wear a Red Riding Hood, and she always lost. The wolf won. He got to eat the grandmother and the girl with no fear of a woodcutter attack. During the 1700’s she had her red hood and she got to be in a lot of books, but she still died every time. Little Red Riding Hood finally learned how to win the wolf’s game in the 1800’s. She has been winning and the wolf has been dieing ever since. But now it is the wolf’s turn again. It’s only fair right?

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked her mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been awhile since they'd seen each other.

"That's a good idea," her mother said. So they packed a nice basket for Little Red Riding Hood to take to her grandmother.

When the basket was ready, the little girl put on her red cloak and kissed her mother goodbye.

"Remember, go straight to Grandma's house," her mother cautioned. "Don't dawdle along the way and please don't talk to strangers! The woods are dangerous."

"Don't worry, Mom," said Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll be careful."

But when Little Red Riding Hood came to the place where the path went two ways, she noticed some lovely flowers in the woods. She picked a few, watched the butterflies flit about for awhile, listened to the frogs croaking and then picked a few more.

Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that she didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind her.

Suddenly, the wolf appeared beside her.

"What are you doing out here, little girl?" the wolf asked in a voice as friendly as he could muster.

"I'm on my way to see my Grandma who lives through the forest, near the brook," Little Red Riding Hood replied.

“Oh I know just the place,” said the wolf. “That’s quite a long journey for nothing more than a dull visit with an old lady. But this path is shorter and easier, and it is so much more fun. If you come with me we could do all sorts of things that your strict mother and grandmother never let you try.”

“That does sound like fun,” said Little Red Riding Hood. “But I don’t think my mother would like it very much.”

“Of course not. Didn’t I just say that we would do things that your mother hates? But I’ll give you a bit of watermelon chewing gum.”

“Watermelon! How wonderful. To think, the melons in my grandmother’s garden haven’t even begun to ripen. I do think that I would like to see where your path leads.”

“There is nothing good at the end of the path,” the wolf admitted. “But we’ll have lots of fun along the way.”

With that the wolf held out his arm for Little Red Riding Hood and they started down the other path.

A woodcutter found Little Red Riding Hood’s Red Riding Hood and an empty basket in the woods. He sold them at his garage sale, but Little Red Riding Hood’s family never saw Little Red Riding Hood again.

Isn’t that a terrible story?

But it is the story of many Christians who start out on the right path and change in the middle. Paul wrote a letter to people in a city called Galatia. Their story was the same as this sad Little Red Riding Hood story. They started on the right path, living for Jesus, loving God with all of their hearts, worshiping with strength, living by the Holy Spirit, running a good race. But they stopped. They switched paths. In Galatians 5:7 Paul asked them, “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” And Paul wrote a lot in this letter about their bad path instead of life led by the Holy Spirit, but he wrote another letter that tells even more about staying on the right path.

You can’t follow a list of rules to get into heaven, but I am going to write a list of things to do to stay on the right path. This list comes from Colossians 3.

• Set your mind on things above. You can set the TV to the cartoon network so that the ONLY thing that shows up is a cartoon. What if you could set your mind the same way? Only think about Jesus and His Kingdom. Can you set your mind on just one thing? Can you set your mind on the right thing?
• Put off anger, hate, and bad words. Put off is the same as taking off. If a goose lays an egg while it is flying over you, you will take off your egged jacket. Or you can think of it like taking out the trash. Get the gross, stinking junk out of your house.
• Put on a new person. Put on mercy, kindness, humility, and love. Put on is the same as putting on clothes, and unless you have goose egg smeared all over your clothes, you keep your clothes on all the time. Keep these things on.

After you have set, put off, and put on, let the peace of God rule in your heart. The word “let” seems like you don’t have to do anything, but if the peace of God is going to rule, you have to stop ruling.

That will keep you on the right path, running a good race. No big bad wolf will cut in on you.

Who Needs God

A Quick Look: Luke 15: 1-7

Really Read It: Luke 15: 1-32, Romans 8: 23-26

Memorize: Romans 8:25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

At Camp Kids Rule the kids do whatever they want for the whole week. And there are some great things to do. Huge fast water slides. Huge fast monster trucks. Batting cages. Basketball jam fest. Music. Movies. Arcades. And since kids rule at Camp Kids Rule, the kids get to do whatever they want to do all day every day. Nobody tells them when to go to bed or when to wake up. Nobody makes the kids eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Nobody forces these kids to do anything, so the kids so just anything.

The cook at Camp Kids Rule makes great food for the 100 kids in her care. The food is always ready in the Dining Hall, but the kids just don’t come to eat. Day after day she waits but the kids don’t come to get food. Finally she hears a faint voice, “I need to eat. Could I please have some food.” The cook rushes out and finds that one kid who needs food to live. She calls her friends and tells that great story over and over. She is happier about that one kids who needs to eat that the 99 who don’t need any food.

Before Luke wrote down the story of the Lost Sheep, he told us the reason for the story. Jesus told the story to religious people to show why he talked to sinners. The religious guys believed that they did everything that God wanted them to do. They thought they had it all right. And one of the things that they did was keep away from guys who didn’t keep all of the rules that they did. They thought Jesus should stay away from those bad people too, so Jesus said,

"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' ⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15: 4 – 7 NIV

Jesus kept going and told about a woman who lost a coin and a man with two sons. The one about the sons is the longest and, I think, the best so you should read it again after you finish reading this.

The guys that heard Jesus tell the story of the Lost Sheep thought that they were not lost. They saw themselves as the good sheep who stayed with the shepherd. And they saw the sinners, the bad people that Jesus was talking to as the one sheep who got lost. They got those parts right but they missed what Jesus was really saying to them. Another time Jesus answered the same question even more clearly.

“Why does he eat with such scum?”

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Mark 2:16b – 17 NLT

Now pick 100 people. They could be people from your church, from 100 different churches, from the street of your town, from the street of the town where Jesus told the story. It doesn’t matter. Just pick 100 for this tough question. How many of those people have sinned? How many of those people need God?

The answer is 100. Romans 8:23 says that everyone has sinned. Now think about the guys that Jesus told that story to. They heard about those 99 good sheep and they thought that was them. Their weak brains and their hard hearts missed the easy riddle that Jesus told. Jesus called them “righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Repent means to turn to God. It is bigger than saying sorry. Repent is to turn away from sin and turn to God, to run toward God. Everyone needs to run to God every day. Every person needs God every day. The ones who think they have God already, they already do it all right are farther away than the sinners who know they need God.

Remember the 100 kids at Camp Kids Rule. How many of those kids needed to eat? All 100. How many of those kids knew they needed to eat? Just one.

How many kids in the world need God? How many think they already have enough of Him? How many kids need to repent? How many don’t know it? How many are far from God? How many think they are close?

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Nathan is amazed to see God move in power every week at his church. You can see what is happening: http://www.worldrevivalchurch.com

You can find more of Nathan’s writing on lulu and helium.

The Wrong Fear

A Quick Look: Luke 8: 37 – 39

Really Read It: Luke 8: 22 – 39, Mark 4: 35 – 5: 20

Memorize: Acts 1 :8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. NLT

Rufus had never been in the water. He knew nothing about floating, kicking his feet, moving his hands. He could not swim. But when foolish Rufus saw the pretty, blue water, he could not resist. He ran full speed for the pool and jumped in. The lifeguard pulled him out of the pool.

“You need to learn to swim before you jump in the water. This is not safe for you,” the guard scolded.

“But I like it. I want to go back in there.”

As Rufus struggled with the lifeguard to get back to the water, it started to rain. Gentle drops splashed into the pool and sprinkled the people on the patio.

“AAAHHHHHH! Help me, help me, save me! Get me out of here!” Rufus was screaming and thrashing his body in terror.

“What is wrong with you?” questioned the lifeguard.

“Water is falling from the sky! It is hitting me on the head! Ahhh, a drop just got me on the arm!”

Boris wanted to visit his brother in Boston, so he went to the train station and bought a ticket. But Boris never got on the train. When his train arrived, Boris did not like the looks of it. He walked slowly to the door and leaned in.

“No, no, no,” shrieked Boris. “I am not getting into that metal box. I could get trapped in there forever. I will walk to Boston.”

So Boris walked to the front of the train and onto the tracks. He strolled calmly down the train tracks without a care in the world as the train behind him started to move.

Luke 8:22 begins a story of Jesus and his disciples crossing a lake at night and continues with what happened the next day. The disciples and the people across the lake all make the same mistake. It is the same mistake as Rufus and Boris. They are afraid of the wrong things. Fear is a big problem for kids, and the Bible has a lot to say about fear. The main message from the Bible is: fear God and don’t fear anything else. But if you think about it and really study fear in the Bible, there are some things to fear. If you can’t swim and you see a pool, do you fear the water? I hope you don’t scream and run away, but the right fear keeps you from jumping into the water. You shouldn’t panic when you see train tracks, but you shouldn’t stroll down the tracks when a train is coming either.

The disciples made all kinds of fear mistakes on their nighttime boat ride across the lake. Jesus slept while the disciples guided the boat, but a bad storm came up. It was bad enough to sink the boat, and these guys feared death. If they had no fear they might have done nothing. Does no fear means that they just sat and watched the huge waves fill the boat with water? The right fear of that huge storm would cause them to stand in faith to stop it. That is what Jesus did. And when Jesus stopped the storm with his words of faith, the disciples made an even bigger fear mistake. They should have been thrilled that God was with them with such power, but Mark 4:41 says, “They were terrified.”

When Jesus and the disciples got to the other side of the lake, they met a messed-up guy. This guy lived without clothes in a graveyard, because he wouldn’t stay in a house and no one could keep him in a prison. He cried out night and day and cut himself with rocks. This was a scary guy. There are some safety steps to remember for naked, super-strong, crazy guys, but you don’t have to study them now. Instead look for foolish people with the wrong fear. They showed up after Jesus God met the demon-filled crazy man.

God’s power won, and the people from the nearby town saw the guy with clothes on, sitting quietly, and listening to Jesus. Then “a great wave of fear swept over them” and they forced Jesus to leave. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t afraid of this guy before. But now there is NOTHING to fear. It was easy to see that good came from Jesus. It was easy to see that good came from the power of God. This guy would not wear clothes. It is good that he put some on. This guy was screaming, yelling, and cutting himself with rocks. It is good that he stopped. But these foolish, blind people didn’t see good. They saw a reason to be afraid. They were afraid of Jesus, because he brought the power of God to do good to their town. These people would rather have their crazy graveyard guy than Jesus.

Think about the wrong fear. Rufus and Boris used the wrong fear. The disciples and the people across the lake were afraid of the power of God. And that is the wrong fear that will cause the most harm in your life. Never fear our amazing, loving, powerful God. God does only good. Never be afraid of good happening in front of you. If sick people get better, that is good. If fighting families find peace, that is good. If storms stop, that’s good. If a boy who doesn’t care about anything starts to care about God, that’s good. If a girl who never feels anything feels God, that’s good.

Thrash Monday

A Quick Look: Matthew 21: 12 – 16

Really Read It: Matthew 21: 1 – 22, Mark 11: 1 – 24

Memorize: John 4: 23 – 24

This is not the Palm Sunday story. It is not the cross or the Jesus rising from the dead story. Those almost have to be studied in the spring. This story goes right with them, but Sunday-school teachers never get to it because they are so busy with those other stories on Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday.

In many houses, April is the time to stick colored eggs and cartoon rabbits to your windows? Do you have little Easter baskets for the mantle? Do you have a picture of a cross or an empty tomb? I might not be a fan of all of those decorations, but I would like to suggest you add some more. How about some decorations for Palm Sunday? You could make a palm branch frame for a picture of a donkey. And then continue from Palm Sunday to Thrash Monday. To remember Jesus on the Monday before he went to the cross, turn your kitchen table on its side and scatter money all over the floor. Flip at least half of the chairs and toss three or four animal cages into the mix. It will make meals a bit of a challenge, but it is worth it to remember the big mess that Jesus made in the temple.

But why? Why did Jesus make such a mess?

He explained it this way. “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

On Palm Sunday, Jesus was in a little parade, and all the fans at the parade did the right thing. They praised and cheered with strength. Most parades are pointless; they go nowhere and nothing happens. In Christ’s parade something happened and he went somewhere. He went to the temple.

The temple then and the church now look quite different and very different things happen in them. I have never seen a guy in a robe kill and burn a goat at church. But the purpose is the same. The temple is the place to meet God, a house of prayer, a room for worship. Jesus entered the temple on Sunday evening and looked around. The next morning, Thrash Monday, he went back into the temple and made a mess. He drove out the people who were selling in the temple. All of these people were selling animals. The people who bought the animals then took them into the Temple and gave them to God, killed them for God. Some pet lovers think that Jesus wanted to stop them from killing all those animals. Sorry, that wasn’t it. Jesus wanted to take the greed out of His house. He had to get the greed out of His worship. He overturned tables. He made a mess, but he wasn’t in a rage of anger. If anger had taken over Jesus, he would have torn the place up Sunday night when he went there the first time. He waited for the right time to make a mess.

His mess was a message. Jesus wanted regular people to have a place to meet God. He wanted His people to have a house of prayer and a room used just for worship. No one could find God in that temple because God wasn’t there. Jesus drove out the people who were stopping God. And as soon as they were gone, Jesus brought that activity of God into the temple. He healed the blind and the lame. A healing God will heal bodies in His house, if He is really there. The children began to worship. True worship will come from children and adults. Worship is our response when God comes down. Worship gets God to come down. God will come where people show that they want him.

Jesus wrecked that temple which was full of worthless worship. Hundreds of people filled the temple and did religious things, but they did nothing to stir the heart of God. God made zero response to their worship. What kind of worship comes out of your mouth? What kind of worship comes from your heart? When you stand in your church, does God see a reason to listen? When it’s kids’ church time and all the kids sing, do you stir the heart of God? When your family gathers in the living room pray, do you say empty words? In your room at night when you talk to God, does he hear worthless worship? On Thrash Monday the message of Jesus was that religious activity is not what He wants in His house. He wants His people to gather and show with strength and passion and heart that they want God to step into that room and be God. It is a special room for God's use only. It is a special time for God's use only.

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Nathan is amazed to see God move in power every week at his church. You can see what is happening: http://www.worldrevivalchurch.com

You can find more of Nathan’s writing on lulu and helium.