Word of Life Church Podcast

Jesus said he was was the good shepherd who came to bring abundant life. He also said that those who came before him were thieves and robbers who came only to steal, kill, and destroy. Who were these bad shepherds? Jesus then said the sheep hear his voice, but they did not listen to the bad shepherds. Who are these sheep?

The kingdom of God is not heaven. It is not the church. The kingdom of God is the present rule of God in Christ on the earth through the church. It is where God is in charge and running the show. For those who enter into this kingdom and become kingdom-people God desires for them to live together in unity. In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul dealt with a growing division in the church between meat-eaters and vegetarians. In the end, Paul encourages them to stop judging and despising one another and instead work for the things that make for peace and mutual up-building, to be one as God himself is one.

The Emmaus Road disciples encountered Jesus on the road and he was made known to them in the breaking of bread. It's the same with us. We encounter Jesus on the road of our own surprising story. And we encounter Jesus in the bread of our shared sacrament. Story and Sacrament. We need both.

It’s high time that a morbid fascination with a supposed unalterable script of God–sanctioned–end-time–hyperviolence be once and for all left behind. A secret (or not-so-secret) longing for the world’s violent destruction is grossly unbecoming to the followers of the Lamb. We are not hoping for Armageddon; we are helping build New Jerusalem. We will not complete it without the return of the King, but we will move in that direction all the same. We refuse to conspire with the beasts of empire who keep the world confined to the death culture of Babylon. There’s always another Armageddon looming on the horizon, threatening to perpetuate the bloody ways of Cain and throw more Abels in a mass grave. But we are not to cooperate with that vision. We are to resist it. We are to anticipate a future created by the Prince of Peace through the very lives we live. We are to work in concert with Jesus Christ as he labors to repair the world.

Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus, wanted to see the wounds of Christ. What he discovered was the flesh of the wounded God. He was not so much "Thomas the Doubter" as "Thomas the Revelator." The very wounds of Christ, the wounds Thomas touched, were wounds opening up a window into the glory of God.

Perhaps the most misunderstood and misused teaching of Jesus is his Olivet Discourse -- the teaching Jesus gave to his to his disciples on the Mount of Olives regarding the signs of "the end." The end of which Jesus is speaking is not the end of the world, but the the end of the Temple age. While the Temple establishment was plotting the end of Jesus, Jesus was prophesying the end of the Temple, the Temple establishment, and the Temple age. Jesus connected the demise of the Temple with the dawn of the Kingdom of God.

The Gospel of Mark was the first of the four gospels to be written and its original ending was rather strange and quite abrupt. At a later date a longer and more satisfying ending was appended, but Mark’s original conclusion to his gospel narrative was simply this: “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” The End. But how can that be the end? It’s so sudden, so abrupt, so lacking in resolution or explanation. We’re left with three women fleeing from the empty tomb, trembling, astonished and speechless. It’s as if the film in the projector simply ran out and we find ourselves sitting in the theater puzzled by the unexpected ending. Why?

A Good Friday meditation on Jesus' trials, crucifixion, and burial -- a contemplative journey from Caiaphas' dungeon to Pilate's court, from Golgotha to the garden tomb.

The king approaches on Palm SundayForsaking the glorious war horseTo ride a ridiculous peace donkeyGentle as the wings of a doveInaugurating the reign of loveConquerors come with hubris, blood, and violenceRiding stallions of famine, war, and pestilence(They tell me Genghis Khan murdered all of ten million)The Prince of Peace comes without breaking a bruised reedSwords are now for plowing, spears are now for pruning(I’ll tell you for a fact, Jesus of Nazareth killed nary a one)If Hosanna praises rocket’s red glare: Weep over Jerusalem!If Hosanna acclaims kingdom come: Let the rocks cry out!

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the source of much of animosity and fear in our world. Forming a Christian response requires much knowledge of the current complexities and history of that region. In the end, this highly political situation is about people, Israeli people and Palestinian people and as Christians we are not called to take Israel’s side, but to imitate Israel’s Messiah.