The God Breathed Word

2 Timothy 3:16 “The Word” preached July 27 2008 by Ron Smith

Every part of Scripture (pasa grapheh) is God-breathed (theopneustos) and useful one way or another – showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.

God-breathed –  There is a common theme throughout the Bible about the breath of God.  Because we understand God as spirit, God reveals Himself in elements like clouds, pillars of fire, burning bushes, etc.  The Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek both use words for air and wind (ruach and pnuema respectively) to represent the spirit.  So when we read aloud the word of God our very breath participates in God’s breath and the air we use to sound out God’s scripture is sanctified by His word.  This mysterious way in which God communicates in and through us makes it clear why we should memorize, pray and meditate in God’s word as part of the abundant life Jesus promises to give us in this life and the next.

Showing us truth –  Pontius Pilot asked Jesus “what is truth?”  And Jesus was the living truth staring him in the face.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6).  And Jesus showed the man who was about to order His death that He was born to testify to the truth and that everyone who belongs to the truth listens to His voice (John 18:37).

Exposing our rebellion –  Our rebellion to the truth is most apparent at the trial and passion of Jesus Christ.  The truth is that we may “know the truth” but not know it well enough to do it or to find the truth in ourselves or in others.  When I pray and reflect on what to preach in church, it needs to be in my heart and in my actions as well.  It is not enough to remember what Isaiah said about the promised Messiah.  I need to remember that that same Messiah (the chosen one of God) lives in me and greater is He that lives in me than He who lives in the world.

Correcting our mistakes –  John Wesley put Scripture as superior over reasoning, experience and tradition when we are trying to know God and find out how to correct our mistakes.  When we try to solve our mistakes in life without God’s word and wisdom, then we are essentially telling God with our actions that we are going to continue in our rebellious life style and that what we do is somehow “beyond good and evil” – outside of God’s reality like this child’s computer game by that title (also a title of a book by the professed atheist Friedrich Nietzsche):

Training us to live God’s way – Plenty of examples of God’s way of living (that is Christ-like in nature) can be found in the book of Proverbs:  Try reading just one chapter for each day of the month (There are 31 chapters in Proverbs).  Happiness makes you smile (Proverbs 15:13).  A kind answer soothes angry feelings (Proverbs 15:1).  A true friend will keep a secret (Proverbs 11:13).  You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much (Proverbs 10:19).  Don’t tell your neighbor to come back tomorrow, if you can help today (Proverbs 10:19).  Everyone likes to brag about getting a bargain (Proverbs 20:14).  Wise friends make you wise (Proverbs 13:20).  It’s better to be honest and poor than to be dishonest and rich (Proverbs 16:18).  Telling lies will get you in trouble (Proverbs 17:20).  Don’t give up (Proverbs 24:10).  Make your parents proud, especially your mother (Proverbs 23:25).  Watching what you say can save you a lot of trouble (Proverbs 21:23).  Respect and obey the Lord (Proverbs 9:10).  Don’t tell everything you know (Proverbs 12:23).  Go looking for trouble, and you will find it (Proverbs 11:27).  Teach your children right from wrong and when they are grown they will still do right (Proverbs 22:6).  Not getting what you want can make you feel sick (Proverbs 13:12).  The hungrier you are, the harder you work (16:26).  Don’t try to get even (Proverbs 20:22).  All wisdom comes from the Lord, and so do common sense and understanding (Proverbs 2:6).  It’s a dangerous thing to guarantee payment for someone’s debts (Proverbs 11:15).  Don’t say, “I didn’t know it!”  God can read your mind (Proverbs 24:12).  Don’t argue just to be arguing (Proverbs 3:30).  Obey the teaching of your parents (Proverbs 6:20).  Know where you are headed, and you will stay on solid ground (Proverbs 4:26).  Don’t ever think that you are wise enough (Proverbs 3:7).  Share your plans with the Lord, and you will succeed (16:3).

Dear Heavenly Father, the most important thing I need to know is that you loved me and everyone in this world so much that You sent your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).  I believe in Your promise of everlasting life.  I believe in Your Word.  I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior – in His name, Amen.

Obedience to Christ

John 14 21 “Obedience to Christ” preached by Ron Smith
“The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”
This Sunday’s topical verse is God’s promise of a special intimate loving relationship made up with individuals 1) who know His commandments, 2) who keep His commandments, 3) who are loved by our heavenly Father, 4) who are loved by God’s Son, and 5) to whom Christ continues to reveal Himself – that is “make Himself plain.”
1. Even cowboys can Know Christ’s commandments! The Old Testament’s 613 “halacha” or ways to behave (including the 10 Commandments) had become interpreted (but never completely obeyed) before Jesus arrived as the chosen Messiah. So God substituted His Son Jesus Christ to apply the law properly and thoroughly with His life, as the living Torah – the living Way to salvation and reconciliation with God’s law in spite of the rest of the human condition floundering in imperfection and sin.
Jesus fulfilled all the law and all the commandments by loving everyone. And He asks you and me to do the same. To share the love of Jesus obediently is not just a nice feeling. It means doing His will, which we find in his commandments (obediently loving everyone according to God’s law).
2. Keep Christ’s commandments! We have been created “in the image and likeness of God.” And we stand before God as His “you” capable of having a relationship with Him. “Bless the Lord O my soul” – means that God has made us so that we can bless God in return. You and I keep Christ’s commandments by loving God and others – by being God’s friend and by being a friend to others – by communicating with God and with others in loving ways.
3. Receive the Father’s love! Christ’s commandments are His way of showing us His love and His concern for our personal individual lives. When we serve others in ministry and care, then we follow His example of service and sacrifice for others. We receive our heavenly Father’s love when we share, serve and care for each other in the name of (according the loving commands of) Jesus Christ.
4. Receive the Son’s love! We especially want to live out the commandment that Jesus claimed as His own – the one that is the sum total of all the others (likened unto it). His “new commandment” is to . . . . . . .
In fact, love is the fulfillment of the whole law. It is the best way – one way we are called to obediently follow Christ.
5. Know Christ plainly and clearly! How do we experience Christ and know Him plainly as He has promised? Each of us are charged with doing “even greater miracles” than Jesus’ earthly ministry. But we can start in small ways and build on the relationships and people around us right now.
Maybe you can write your own story of how Christ makes Himself plain in your life . . .
Dear Heavenly Father, help us to see Christ in our everyday lives and obediently follow His commandments of love – in the name and according to the ordinances of love lived and practiced by Christ, Amen.

God's Spiritual Market Target

Matthew 9:35 – 10:8 “God’s Spiritual Market Target” preached by Ron Smith
Do you poop out at parties? Has your get up done got up and went? Where is your whim, wigger and why-tally-tea? Can we treat our spiritual well-being the same way as Lucille Ball's wonder tonic? What does God really want from us? Micah says to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our Lord. Jesus came to shepherd and befriend each one of us, in spite of our failure to be just, merciful and humble. It's not about me. It's about You, God! In post-modern advertising lingo that's God's spiritual market target. God wants to be much more than a mere commodity for spiritual vitality. He wants to take the lead as your friend – to be the “You focus” of your life, even though the world's marketing strategy tries to keep you “me focused.” God is still targeting the world with His love (John 3:16). His Holy Spirit continues to work through the church as God goes everywhere preaching and teaching and healing. And crowds of people are still gathering with great need (although not always inside church walls). Like Jesus we are called to have compassion for them, because people around the world are still harassed and helpless (Matthew 9:36). We are called to surrender our love to God and to others.
The harvest is plentiful, but there are not enough people to do the work (or at least we're not as peppy as we could be). The mission of Jesus was (and still is) carried out by His disciples who were given authority to act in Jesus' name (Matthew 10:1, 5-8). In order to be His disciples we should encourage and support each other in the community of Christ to live a “You” life in a “Me” world. Three Simple Rules of John Wesley provide one place to start: Do no harm. Do good, Stay in love with God. But this is not an invitation to return to legalism.

God has placed in front of us a constant choice of Life and Good or Death and Evil. Love God, your God. Walk in His ways. Keep His commandments, regulations, and rules so that you will live, really live - live exuberantly, blessed by God, your God (

Deuteronomy 30:15-16). But like the apostle Paul, I keep failing to keep all the rules and please God. If you're like me, then you'll have to quit being a “law man,” in order to be God’s man and God's woman. Christ’s life shows us how and enables us to do it. We must identify completely with Him. We must be crucified with Christ. Ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that you and I appear righteous before each other or that we carry the best opinion about each other. And we are no longer driven to impress God, either. Christ lives in you and Christ lives in me. Our lives are not “our own,” but we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and me and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:19-20).

When w

e give up our life for Christ's sake, God promises to free us from the bondage of the law. The love of Christ enables us to do this, because through Him – once God became human, He stayed with us in human form. He humbl

ed Himself even unto death - like us. He didn’t claim special privileges. He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death - by the worst kind of death – crucifixion. And because of that obedience, God lifted Christ high and honored H

im far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth - even those long ago dead and buried - will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father (Philippians 2:8-11). How will you show Him your love and devotion in the future? 

 

Here’s what I want to do, and what God promises to help each of us to do: We should take our everyday, ordinary life - our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and our walk-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Let's embrace what God is doing for you and me as the best thing we can do for Him. Let's not become well-adjusted to our culture (conformed to this world) so as to automatically fit into it. But instead, let's target our individual attention on God. Then you and I will be changed from the inside out. We have to keep recognizi

ng what God wants from you and me so that we can quickly respond to it. Don't let worldly circumstances drag us down to its level of immaturity. Let God bring the best out of each one of us (Romans 12:1-2) – Amen! We are tempted to live for ourselves and forget the source of all things—including ourselves. We “do harm” when we conform to a “Me” world and forget that the most important thing is to live for the Divine “You”. God is ready to renew our minds in a polluted “me” world by “doing good” and living out our personal sacrifices instead of allowing the world to squeeze us into its mold. God doesn't just want our generosity. God wants our whole selves. God wants our love and our lives. Jesus wants us to be so devoted in love that our response to Him daily is “as you wish”.

Let us join the angels at God’s throne and praise the Lord with Psalm 150 as obedient instruments to the glory of God - in true worship to the One who wants to be the “You” focus of our lives.

080518 Trinity Sunday Worship including Matthew 28:16-21 "We Serve One God" by Pastor Ron Smith

Matthew 28 14 27 We Believe in One True God preached 5 18 2008 by Ron Smith
When John Wesley said “the world is my parish” he was reflecting a sincere trinitarian view. Because God is a loving father, He wants those who are growing into the image of His Sonto experience the full abundance of the Holy Spirit in the entire world – not just a small piece or with small numbers in our heads and hearts.
I gave many of you a short insight into the Doctrine of the Trinity at Margaret Pitts' and Margaret Lynn's home when we thought about how God's number – even if it is the number one – is always bigger than our number or numbers. Of course, I was limiting that thought to the number of people in a church congregation or the number that show up for a particular worship service. But each one of us is privileged to come in communion with a triune God who teaches how to grow into His image as triune reflections of our divine father, brother and comforter.
One of the reasons why many people don't want to dwell on this understanding of God is that the Trinity makes it so clear how strange and different God is than our wildest imagination. Mary Louise put it this way when she thinks about the Trinity: “Sometimes when I pray I tell God He can come in the door but He has to sit in the chair and keep quiet. I know it sounds stupid, but I don’t want any of the omnipresent, omnipotent stuff. That’s too scary for me. I tell God I would like to learn to be open and intimate with Him, but I don’t want Him violating me.”
This may give us some insight as to why Jesus' Baptism by John the Baptist was necessary – so as to take out notions of a threatening Father God and calm our instinctive anxiety with the “beloved Son” and “peaceful Holy Spirit.” Jesus comes out of the wilderness after wrestling with temptations from the Devil. He victoriously descends into the water as our human representative and comes out of the water with the the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove and the Father's voice announcing His approval and love of the Son.
Marriage is a perfect example of how God teaches us how to perceive the uniqueness and union interplay. But even if you are not married there should be similar experiences in your life. Very good friends or a husband and wife have to recognize the difference between Self-sacrifice and Suffocation – or the difference between Self-assurance and Loneliness. Listen to the basic tension in what we recite before the wedding vows are given: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh”
(Genesis 2:24).
The divine relationship is one that accepts and gives of oneself without becoming smothered. Jesus exemplified this in parables like the Good Samaritan and lessons that ended with "I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink," and, "Just as you did it to one of the least of these ... you did it to me" (Matthew 25:35, 40)
Our relationships have the same kind of scary stuff that the Trinity is made of. We span two major conditions Union and Uniqueness. We strive for union, while also wanting to maintain our own unique individual selves. How can we keep this up without fusing and losing our individual identities – or emotionally cutting ourselves off from each other without the support and pleasure of love? What is man that thou art mindful of him . . . that thou hast placed him a little lower than the angels. The angels are fused with the will of God and have no will outside merely acting as messengers and agents of God's will. Our non-fused selves have a built-in tension with complete mindless obedience, because God wants us to understand and experience more of what the Trinity experiences. We are privileged to share in God's triune dynamic.
The physical world around us gives many examples of how water assumes different characteristics depending on the environmental circumstances. Our relationships and God's Trinity exhibit different personalities and roles for playing out who we are. But the unique properties of H2O remain the same and God speaks through His creation. The heavens are telling the glories of God.
In the poem “God's Trombones” when God is about to create mankind He says, “I'm lonely. So I think I'll make me a man!” But that poet wasn't thinking out the Trinity or that God is so loving within Himself that He could not be lonely or without love for self within His perfect triune fellowship. God as creator father, loving son and holy spirit is totally self-assured. Whereas when any one of us behaves self-assured without others, then we inevitably become lonely. Like Tarzan without Jane or Robinson Crusoe without Friday we swing too far out on a limb or wander away on a deserted island in the abject poverty without our social context. The body of Christ is the most perfect reflection of the Trinity in our earthly lives because God is with us in this new creation.
Dear Heavenly Father, we confess that without Your example as a triune God we would be like lonely people on our individual islands trying to push our way across deserted oceans of time and space. You brood over the chaos of our imperfect suffocating and lonely lives in Your perfect Trinity and You remake us as Your new creation – the Body of Christ in Your triune image. Thank You for making us for each other to the same degree as You are not made, but having always been who You are – in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

080516 Friday Focus - “Discover the Leader Within” by Daniel Monplaisir from TeenPact

Daniel Monplaisir has been involved in leadership and speaking from the very young age of twelve. Even before then he was involved in theatrical programs in his community and church in New York City.
Now, hailing from Montgomery, Alabama, Daniel has been involved in leadership positions almost everywhere he goes. Recently, Daniel has been a Traveling Ambassador for TeenPact Leadership Schools, Chief Operations Officer for the Alabama Sports Festival and the “Let Freedom Ring!” Ceremonies, and a Cadet in the Alabama Army National Guard.
While traveling with TeenPact, Daniel had the opportunity to speak all over the country to all different age groups inspiring every person to discover their own capabilities of leadership. He spoke in several different states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Iowa, Tennessee and Nevada.
Daniel has a special talent in the Arts and has been involved with Theatre at his alma mater, Faulkner University, and has been involved with puppetry through his church and an International Dream Team.
When Daniel was eighteen, he served as President of his Toastmasters International Club, was an umpire for Dixie Youth Baseball, and was involved with Upward Basketball and Special Olympics basketball programs.
Speaking to all ages and interests, Daniel Monplaisir has inspired so many people with high energy and interactive presentations to understand leadership and to become leaders themselves. Everyone can discover the leader within!
This particular speech is an expose of Daniel’s motivational leadership style.

080513 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Rev. Cory Smith of Woodland United Methodist Church

The last time Cory spoke at Dexter’s Prayer Breakfast was October 23, 2007. Since then, his wife Alicia has become our church secretary. Needless to say, we are all very bless to have this wonderful Christian couple serve in so many ways to help our inner-city church revitalize.
In this devotional message Cory shares his interpretation of John 3:1-17 where Jesus tells Nicodemus “the meaning of life.” Cory introduces us to a modern day parable where a woman goes to a monk in a far away mountain retreat - so as to find “the meaning of life.” She talks incessantly while the monk continues to pour tea until in overflows onto her and everything around her. She stops her chatter and says, “Stop! Can’t you see that my cup is too full and I have too much?” To which the monk said, “Just so. Come back when your cup is empty and then we can talk again.”
In comparison Nicodemus is like so many of us who are too full and cannot receive what God has to give us.

080511 Pentecost Sunday Worship Service including Sermon based on Acts 2:1-21 entitled "How God Kept His Promise" by Pastor Ron Smith

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Happy Mothers’ Day and Happy Birthday to the Church on this blessed day of Pentecost! Jesus' disciples received power to continue His ministry and 3,000 more Christians joined the church after Peter preached to the crowd in Jerusalem. Besides reversing the Tower of Babel curse and allowing people to speak and understand each other "in new tongues" as Jesus promised His followers would do (Mark 16:17).

I believe all the gifts of the Spirit were manifest that day and it’s appropriate that we look at Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This was good stuff to remember last night on the capital steps up the street as the Attorney General and I led many grieve widows and mothers who would not have the happiest of Mothers’ Days today, because their husbands, sons and fathers lost their lives in the line of duty as police officers.

It’s not natural to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control when others controlled by their evil and wicked passions senselessly snuff good lives out. The strange and miraculous change of heart and conversion of 3,000 souls in the streets of Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago happened because the evil and wickedness could not be projected over to some nameless criminal out there. They had “met the enemy and his is us” according to the Pogo Cartoon script.

We have hope because we can stop being God’s enemy and walk in the footsteps of Jesus. We can breath with Him, pray with Him, live with Him – ever closer to the mind and heart of Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father, forgive us for not always paying attention to Your Holy Spirit and the example of Your Son Jesus Christ.

Please help me and everyone to be Your friend and not Your enemy. May the all days be mothers days for Your Church – in the blessed name and divine purpose of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

John 14:1-14 “Jesus is the Way” preached 4/20/2008 by Pastor Ron Smith

Another cartoon that is not on the back of my sermon transcript shows an automobile balancing precariously over the edge of a cliff, with an embarrassed husband at the wheel and his disgusted wife sitting next to him. Meekly, he says to his wife, “Honey, there’s got to be a lesson here somewhere.”
There’s a lesson there all right: The only way to end up at the right destination is to choose the right road. If you’ve ever made a wrong turn in a strange place and found yourself lost, then you know how important that lesson is.

Life is a journey. Homer’s ancient epic “The Odyssey” follows Ulysses in a life-long journey (or at least 10 years of it) for about 300 miles from Troy to his home in Ithaca. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is an account of Christian’s journey from the City of Destruction to the heavenly city. Most of the Old and New Testaments follow people who journey from Eden, Babel, Ur, Egypt or Bethlehem to other times and places. God clearly tells us to choose the right path, but the world says there are “many ways to God” and any path you sincerely follow will eventually take you there. Not!

The internet contains both God’s singular path of righteousness and the worldly variety of rabbit trails. Some of us use Mapquest or Googlemaps to show us how to go somewhere. But it might not be the way, the truth or the life we’re supposed to take. These electronic maps sometimes get the right and left turns mixed up or they’re not updated with information about construction sites like the year long construction blockage on McDonough Street leading to this church from the south side of town or like the I-85 congestion as we came into Atlanta yesterday morning that turned a 10 minute final drive into a 2 hour long stop and start contest.

Maps on paper or on the Internet might give an unsuspecting person completely wrong directions, because the people giving you the directions haven’t really been where you are going. That’s why Annemarie and I called our daughter Erika and her friend’s home, where Erica’s baby shower was being held so as to get the truthful directions to our destination in Doraville and so that we wouldn’t end up balancing precariously over the edge of a cliff or encounter any further extreme delays.

Even though we had driven that direction hundreds of times and even though I was born and raised very near to where we were traveling – we might as well have been in a foreign country, because we discovered that our thinking about our way was not truthful and could have even cost our lives.
Jesus says that He is not only the way, but He is also the truth and the life. Drawing from our experience yesterday – it didn’t matter if we supposedly knew the way and “a truth” about that way on earlier trips. And there were literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of other drivers we witnessed yesterday who were also stuck in traffic going the wrong way with “false truths” directing them. They were needlessly using up their lives wastefully for the wrong purposes.
If you wanted to find the way to heaven, where would you look? Well, we have the Bible, don't we? The Bible gives us that same information that has the potential of helping us to know the way to heaven. We have other books too. We have libraries full of books that would help us to know how to get to heaven. We even have pastors and teachers who will help us to know how to get to heaven. These things are great, but if we want to find the way to heaven, we need to talk to someone who has been there AND who will always keep us current about the right way. Your walk with Jesus can be the real-time truth that leads to the abundant eternal life that only God can provide!

In today’s scripture Jesus tells us that He was going back to heaven to be with His Father. He tells us that one day we will go to be with Him. But Thomas, said, "We don't even know where you are going, how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except by me." If we want to find the way to heaven, we need to look to Jesus, because He is the way -- the only way!
Phillip chimed in and asked Jesus to show them the Father so that they might believe. Jesus gave us another important insight that proved that He gives us God’s way, truth and life. Jesus IS GOD. That’s right. Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him and they are one and the same.
The great mystic Thomas a Kempis wrote “The Imitation of Christ” 600 years ago. It’s a wonderful imaginary conversation with Jesus Christ in which our Lord says, “Follow Me. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living. I am the Way, which you must follow, the Truth which you must believe, the Life for which you must hope. I am the inviolable Way, the infallible Truth, the unending Life. I am the Way that is straight, the supreme Truth, the Life that is true, the blessed, the uncreated Life. If you abide in My Way you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free, and you shall attain life everlasting.”
“If you wish to enter into life, keep My commandments. If you will know the truth, believe in Me. If you will be perfect, sell all. If you will be My disciple, deny yourself. If you will possess the blessed life, despise this present life. If you will be exalted in heaven, humble yourself on earth. If you wish to reign with Me, carry the Cross with Me. For only the servants of the Cross find the life of blessedness and of true light” (Chapter 56).
Dear Jesus, as we search for the way to heaven, help us to know that You are the way -- the only way! We ask all these things in Your Name, for You are in our Heavenly Father and the Father is in You, Amen.

080413 John 10:1-10 "Abundant Life" by Pastor Ron Smith

What we’re dealing with here is: “Who is Lord and Master of our lives?” Is Jesus the Lord of your life, and, if not, who is? Who calls the signals? Who calls the shots? Who is the basis of your decision making process for your life?
Now most of you are going to say to yourself right here, “well, Jesus is the Lord of my life.” But is He really? Do you really let Him call the signals and shots? Is He really the boss of your life?

There are so many gods screaming for our attention on all sides of us. We live in a multitasking world with the media piping in just some of what calls the shots in our lives. Every one of these gods asks us to bow down and serve them. Wealth and money is a god for some, because the making and acquiring of money and keeping it is what cause some people to make decisions for themselves and others. Power is a god for some, because (like some politicians) they have a “fire in the belly” to acquire power before they do anything else; they’ll sell their own grandmother to acquire power. Pleasure is god for some people, when they seek to satisfy the lusts of the flesh even to the point of loosing secondary gods of money and power – like some of our recently fallen politicians, who throw discretion to the wind. Elliot Spitzer was like King Saul who outlawed sorcerers, but sought out and used the Witch of Endor to conjure up the ghost of his mentor Samuel (I Samuel 28) in direct disobedience of that law of Moses (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

People who worship these other gods will not admit this in public. They may very well claim to worship God and follow Jesus. But when the phone rings and asks them to do something that serves the other god, then that’s where they go. So that’s how we can tell who their god is.

I don’t think there are any of those kind of people here with us right now, but our closeness to family and to our friends might be another god, too. Jesus shows us how to balance our service to God and family when He lingered at the temple with strangers, but came home when his family told Him to (Luke 2:43-52); when He submitted to God's timing, but still helped His mother at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11); and when He died on the cross for the best and the worst sinners, but first provided for His mother (John 19:25-27). We can serve God by serving our family's needs (1 Timothy 5:7-8, Ephesians 5:33 and 1 Corinthians 7:3-5). But we must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Even in the best of family relations Jesus must be the Lord of your life and mine.

There is a second question: Do we do what Jesus says we should do? Do we in fact follow Him, when there are so many different paths to go down? Jesus wants us to do two things: 1) Love the Lord God with all our heart, soul and might – and that’s not all that hard to do since we haven’t seen Him, but He’s given us breath and life and a land to live on and to sustain life. He’s given us Jesus and the church. He’s given us forgiveness. It’s not really very hard to love God with all our heart, soul and might. But Jesus didn’t stop there. 2) He said “. . . and love your neighbor as yourself.” Now the shoe starts to pinch, when some neighbors just aren’t all that loveable. There are some people who are awfully difficult to love. There are all kinds of people around here who beg and demand that we give them things. People say they are the “dregs of society.” And we are only a stones throw from the railroad tracks where they roll out from under the boxcars. But I have to remind myself that Jesus Christ died for each one of them, too. And in that sense there is no difference between them and me – at all! Each one of them is the neighbor that Jesus says I should love as much as I may love myself. So, loving your neighbor is much more difficult than loving God – at least it is for me.

What frightens me is how Jesus came to the end of His Sermon on the Mount and said, “Not everyone who says unto me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). But You preached in our streets – and the Lord says, “I never knew you.” I hear people praying and saying “Lord, Lord” and I wonder. Who is it that says, “Lord, Lord” who will not enter into the kingdom of heaven? That’s frightening when some give the impression of piety and thankfulness, but who aren’t going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Like John Wesley, I’ve finally gotten around to understanding that there are some who are not going to make it into the kingdom. Jesus says some will not listen and follow Him. And just following the trappings of righteousness can be scary, too. People followed James Jones from California to South America and then followed him to death by drinking arsenic laced cool-aid. That shepherd was a very poor substitute for Jesus. But the rest of Matthew 7:21 quotes Jesus saying, “. . . but the one who does the will of my Father will enter into His kingdom.” And that’s the salvation part.

Dear Heavenly Father, it has been so difficult to love my neighbor and I believe there are several others here who have the same problem. Some neighbors remind me too much of the part of me that I don’t like. Some neighbors are the enemy of all that I love like Osama bin Laden. Some of my neighbors are such ingrates and will turn around and return evil for good or just reject love and kindness. But You are all about forgiving 70 times 7 and my excuses are not better than my neighbors. Please forgive our lack of love and forgiveness in Jesus’ name, Amen.

080406 "Walking On" by Pastor Ron Smith

Cleopas and the other disciple were walking away from Jerusalem when the resurrected Christ joined them. His death was so certain that they could not perceive Him to be the stranger who was listening and talking with them.
What do we have in common with these two and what can we expect to happen when we have renewed encounters with our risen Lord? My friend Al Perkins has helped me identify seven seasons of faith that we discover as disciples of Jesus Christ: curiosity, commitment, shock, disillusionment, hope, a deeper search and revelation. My walk with the Lord (and perhaps yours as well) continues to pass through these seasons of faith like weather patterns of my soul.

Curiosity is how they first heard Jesus when they first started to follow Him during His earthly ministry. Like the Greeks who came to meet Him in the Temple, all potential disciples say, “we would see Jesus” (John 12:20-22). Jesus is the Alpha to all meaningful relationships, which begin with curiosity and questions. When I asked Annemarie out for a cup of coffee after Christianity and Western Thought class more than 40 years ago, I was just curios. And so was she. But there was no real relationship until we committed ourselves to a real relationship.

Those disciples also made a commitment when they decided, “I’ll follow Him.” But they were supposed to be with Jesus admitting their discipleship during His trial and execution and they didn’t do that. In the same way today - it isn’t just wearing the right T-shirt with the right scripture verse on it. It isn’t about whether we show up on NFL televised games with the right signs declaring gospel messages, either. But it’s a start and some of us might never walk on beyond this stage or season of faith.

When we see a person we greatly admire fall into disrepute by the media, some of us are not surprised. But some of us who knew the person to be of good character just can’t believe it. These disciples were like the latter. They were in shock when they heard that Jesus had been arrested. The shocking truth is that He was crucified precisely because God loves us. And we did the arrest, torture and execution in our vilest sinful condition. Just as the cartoon suggests: we caught God looking at us “in that way” and we were determined to kill Him.

They were overwhelmed with disillusionment. All that they had hoped for – “that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:20) - everything that Jesus had meant to them as the promised Messiah was gone and they felt that there was nothing else to look forward to. The two disciples were like the two characters in the fourth cartoon. As if one sign weren’t bad enough, “The end is near”, the other carries an even worse prediction: “You wish!” Without Jesus the end to the hellish conditions of this world are nothing compared to the prospect of no end to turmoil in hell after death without Him. These wandering disciples were so disillusioned that they could not see how close their salvation was. He was with them all that time of despair.

Hope seems to come from out of nowhere when this stranger starts helping these walking disciples to remember what the prophets had foretold: Sure, the Messiah was to be the prince of peace, counselor and ruler. Yes, even more. But Isaiah also said that by His wounds we are healed and He must suffer and rise up from the dead on the third day. Our salvation relies on repenting by His name so that He may forgive the sins of all nations (Luke 24:44-45). And just as “no scripture was harmed in the preparation of this sermon”, no scripture was altered in the preparation of your personal salvation through Jesus Christ.

They invited Jesus to stay with them. They wanted to make a further search about this stranger and what He had to say. They continued to listen to Jesus (the Living Word of God) review the scriptures including the earliest prophesy of how the Messiah would crush the head of the evil serpent who had brought death to our first parents in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). The end of God’s new creation story was in the battle in which Satan wounded the Messiah on the cross, but the Messiah destroyed death by His perfect life, submissive death and victorious resurrection (Isaiah 53). This journey of the hearts and minds of these two caused them later to remark, “did our hearts not burn within us?” But they didn’t express it with such emotion when they were with Him.

Finally, at the table when Jesus broke the bread with them – this is when and how they recognized Jesus’ true identity. This is the revelation that each disciple must have so as to find out who Jesus really is in his or her own life. It is not so much in what He says, but in what He does at the table. Walking on with God is only part of our relationship with Him. The full cycle requires revelation of the risen Savior and Lord in our midst.
Dear Heavenly Father, whatever season of faith we are in right now I pray that You send Your Holy Spirit to be with each one of us. If we find ourselves just curious, then give us more than just wanting to see Jesus. If we are committed to following Jesus, help us to stay the course and always walk with Him. If we are shocked by the cruel conditions in this world, give us the faith and grace to walk on with Jesus. If we are disillusioned from not feeling or sensing Your presence, then give us hope for the living of these days in expectation of Your coming. If we have hope, but fail to give others hope by sharing Your love and grace, please forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. If we are still searching the scripture for You, please reveal Yourself to us as living among us. For it is in dying that we are born to eternal life by His blood and name: King Jesus, Amen.

080401 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Tamara Massey & Matthew Flanagan AUM CDS

The following text was used in a powerpoint presentation by Tamara Massey and Matthew Flanagan during the Tuesday Morning Prayer Breakfast at Dexter Avenue on April 1, 2008. The soundtrack and movie of the presentation is being edited by the AUM staff before republication.

Their official titles are:

Tamara J. Massey-Garrett, Director
Matthew Flanagan, Assistive Technology Specialist

Auburn Montgomery (AUM)
Center for Disability Services (CDS)
Montgomery, Alabama

Negotiating Accommodations
Responsibilities of Postsecondary Institution Providing Accommodations
o Services provided under Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
o With reasonable notification, college is responsible for costs involved in providing reasonable accommodations and/or auxiliary aids to students.
o Student must self-identify disability, request services from DSS, and provide recent documentation of disability (cost of evaluation responsibility of student).
o Faculty will not know about student’s disability without written permission.
o Little or no parental involvement.
Responsibilities of DSS
o Student self-identifies and provides documentation to DSS, then DSS reviews documentation and determines appropriateness of documentation.
o DSS sets up an intake interview with student and determines reasonable accommodations, discusses DSS policies and procedures, and generates accommodation letter.
o Student picks up letter/memo, meets with faculty, and both communicate accommodation needs to DSS on contract and through one-on-one discussion's.
o DSS implements accommodations, e.g. proctoring
o As needed, DSS advocates for student.

Center for Disability Services at AUM
CDS serves approximately 200 students.
Disabilities categories include: learning disabilities, psychological, ADD/ADHD, Health/medical, Vision, hearing impairments, and TBI.
Students use accommodations as needed.
Students can use accommodations for classes on- and off-campus (distance learning, Auburn Guarantee Seamless Admission Program).
Students use assistive technology (AT).
Vision Impairments
CDS staff met with Biology department head, lecture and lab instructors before semester began.
CDS worked closely with Biology Department and the School of Sciences in preparation of accommodating these students including the recommendation to purchase a tactile plant cell model. Funding was appropriated from Academic Affairs.
Discussed need for diagrams, pictures, etc. being brailled and/or visual descriptions.
Modification of diagrams, pictures, exam questions.
Exams – use of braille and electronic text (e-text).
Lab assistant provided for one-on-one assistance (hands-on assistance and visual descriptions) – hiring by CDS.
Meetings with instructors, CDS staff and students on a regular basis and as needed.

Subject example: Biology
Using Braille & E-Text
Biology
Using Tactile Model & Lab Assistants
Student Using Tactile Animal Cell Model
Braille Image: Osmosis
Braille Image: Bacteriophage

Presenters Contact Information
Tamara Massey-Garrett
AUM-Center for Disability Services
P.O. Box 244023
Montgomery, AL 36124-4023

tmassey2@aum.edu
(334) 244-3754

Matthew Flanagan
AUM-Center for Disability Services
P.O. Box 244023
Montgomery, AL 36124-4023

mflanaga@aum.edu
(334) 244-3880

080330 Worship Service including John 20:19-31 sermon "Peace be with you" by Pastor Ron Smith

The first Easter was a busy day for Jesus. First thing - He got out of the grave and spoke to Mary and the other women and told them what to do. Then He walked seven miles to Emmaus with two disciples. He broke bread with them and came back to Jerusalem for the event we just read about. He first blessed them with “peace be with you” and then commissioned them as those who are sent (apostelon) just as the father had sent Him to the world.
Thomas might have gone to the restroom or he might have gone out for a walk to console himself in grief. But when he returned, the others said, “We’ve seen the Lord. Jesus was here.” And Thomas didn’t believe them. His reaction was like saying, “’Peace be with you?’ Yeah, right! I don’t believe you. I won’t believe – until I can put my fingers in the holes in his hands and side.” That’s an act of Thomas’ will. And that’s something that speaks to all of us. It begs the question, “Are we going to believe or are we not going to believe.” And you know we’re not going to believe unless we WANT to believe. Each of us have a decision to make: either I will believe or I will not believe. Kierkegaard called this the “either/or” of faith. When we defy Proverbs 3:5 and lean on our own understanding, then we are saying “I will believe when I can be convinced, empirically that this is so – then I’ll believe.” So we can WILL to believe or WILL not to believe that Jesus is resurrected and was standing there before those other disciples.
The following Sunday – Jesus came back with the same greeting and this time Thomas was with all the other disciples. Now if Jesus went to all the trouble of getting crucified to get us into the kingdom, it doesn’t seem strange that He came back to get Thomas. Thomas was part of the team and when the commissioning came on he was not there. Jesus came back, because He wanted Thomas on the team and He made Thomas aware of His resurrection.
This gospel passage is traditionally used on the Sunday after Easter every year, because this is an important passage. And what makes it important is that this is when it happened. And that makes a difference. Christianity is based on factual events that actually happened in a moment in history. At a moment in time God called Abraham and told him He found a family. God in a moment in history spoke to Moses and said, “You go back into Egypt and let my people go, bring my people out.” At a moment in history a real virgin had a real baby in a place called Bethlehem. At a moment in history that baby had grown up and went into the water and was baptized. There were other people, who saw each event. In a moment in history this man Jesus performed all kinds of miracles with many witnesses. He fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He made the lame walk and even raised the dead and expelled evil spirits. At specific moments in time these things actually happened and that’s the difference between Christianity and all the other faiths that people profess around the world.
These events really did happen. And the people in the scripture really had the same kind of feelings that you and I have. They were tempted and purged like you and me. When Thomas said to the eyewitnesses, “I don’t believe you,” then he fell out of fellowship with the other disciples. One of us might respond the same way, if you excused yourself for a moment from this sanctuary only to miss out on a great miracle. You might tell the rest of us who experienced the event, “I don’t believe you.”
Each of us might try to convince you in different ways: “You don’t believe us . . . that means you don’t trust us.” Our mutual fellowship and faith would be damaged. Some of us would feel sad for you. Somebody might feel like you’re calling us liars or you’re saying we’re crazy. And we’d feel offended and hurt.
But the Thomas-in-us wants tangible proof, because it’s too important a thing to happen without reasoning and drawing logical conclusions. Some of you have attended the Brownsville Revival or a Billy Graham Crusade when hundreds of people were being saved every night. When I joined Billy’s evangelism team in 1996 I was still trying to explain logically what God does in people’s lives. Last Thursday the Gideons and I handed out close to 800 New Testaments to law enforcement and 911 communications personnel who started immediately reading what I had tried to get them to do for two years. This was for me a powerful witness that Jesus still shows up in our everyday lives.
Jail chaplain, Tom Bridges witnessed vivid proof the other day when he experienced his first demon possession and deliverance at the close of a worship service with female inmates. One of the women moved around a lot and seemed to be hurting. She consented to letting him anoint her and pray for her, but the Lord spoke to his heart and told Tom to stop. The Lord told Tom, “I don’t want you to lay hands on her and pray for her. I want you to point your finger at her and caste the demons out.” He obeyed and just pointed his finger at her and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ get out of her.” She immediately raised about 18 inches and fell to the floor with her legs bowed under her torso. She dragged her body across the floor. Her eyes went completely white. Her tongue started to hiss like a snake. Two correctional officers were poised to use mace. After a few minutes of this he offered to help the woman off the floor while asking her name. Her eyes opened and she gently said, “My name is Shirley - Peace be with you.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Son and Holy Spirit are still showing up in our lives to say, “Peace be with you.” Thank You for Your facts and events in scripture and in our lives that are so real – that are not made up as delusions or apparitions. For all knees shall bow and tongues confess, Jesus Christ is Lord, in His name, Amen.

080325 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Kevin 'Sinclair' Nero, WVAS Radio Announcer

Kevin is on the board of directors for the Nat King Cole Society in Montgomery, Alabama. He is an avid Jazz enthusiast and promoter. For several years he has programmed and announced the local Jazz program on the Public Radio Station in Montgomery broadcasting from the Alabama State University campus.
This message is his very touching autobiography that focuses on his family heritage and identity. For most of his life his family kept a "secret" from him about his being adopted. The mother and father who raised him were actually cousins and one of his cousins turned out to be his biological father. He has never met his biological mother, whose last name is Bently (his middle name).
Below is Kevin's biography that his has proved for publishing on this podcast and blog syndication.

Kevin ‘Sinclair’ Nero
Born: January 25, 1956
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York – Childhood spent in Queens, New York
In August of 1974 – I moved to Daphne, Alabama (new permanent residence)
Started my college career at Alabama State University – January 1975
I received a “walk-on” - 4 year - athletic scholarship in track – March 1975
Graduated in the summer of 1980 with a BS degree in Computer Information Systems
Currently working on my Masters in Human Resource Development
Full – Time Position – Program Manager for the sustainment of Legacy Supply Systems for the United States Air Force.
Part – Time Position – Radio Announcer for WVAS FM 90.7 – The Voice of Alabama State University

WVAS –
I started working at WVAS, as a volunteer, August 1984 and became a paid member of the staff January 10th 1985
Known as the “Vagabond of Jazz”
Created the “Night Service of Sound”
The sole host of the Top 20 Countdown for the past 6 years

I have interviewed:
1. Rachelle Ferrell
2. Nancy Wilson
3. Norman Connors
4. Lizz Wright
5. Al Jarraeu – 3 times
6. Marcus Miller – 2 times
7. George Duke – 3 times
8. Michael Ward – 4 times
9. Dianne Reeves
10. Angela Bofil
11. Norman Brown
12. Phil Perry
13. Will Downing – 3 times
14. Nathan East – 2 times
15. James Ingram and John Tesh
16. Debra Franco
17. Eric Essix – 5 times
18. Euge Groove
19. Frank McComb – 4 times
20. Stanley Clarke
21. Earl Klugh
22. Kurt Elling
23. Najee
24. Nnenna Freelon
25. Joe Sample
26. Lalah Hathaway – 2 times
27. Michael Franks
28. Sean Franks
29. Jeffery Smith
30. Bluey Maunick – Incognito
31. Maysa Leak
32. George Benson
33. Jeff Golub
34. Joyce Cooling – 3 times
35. Ronnie Loew
36. Ronnie Laws – 2 times
37. Wayman Tisdale
38. Larry Carlton
39. Rick Braun
40. Ronny Jordan
41. Boney James
42. Roy Ayer – 2 times

080323 Worship Service including Sermon based on Matthew 28:1-10 "Easter is VERY Different" by Pastor Ron Smith

Award ceremonies after a great contest such as the playoffs in a season of sports or a graduation from school or a retirement from a successful career – all these bring everyone involved at that final event to an awareness of what the victors have won. They stand on stages or other places of prominence where everyone becomes emotional. They cheer, sing songs, applaud – and some cry for shear joy. Awards are raised high. Olympic officials raise three flags of the bronze, silver and gold winners and the national anthem of the gold medalist is played.
Our hearts tell us something else is happening at these events: The ones who receive the awards are not the only ones who win. Their fans, teammates, family, friends and (in the case of the Olympics) whole countries – also win. Notice how the media tries to find parents and hometown supporters so as to get the full impact of everyone who shares in on the victory. Somehow, everyone watching on can feel that he or she shares in the victory.
Shortly before Evel Knievel died last year, he told Robert Schuler that he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior AND believed in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9). Schuler and his church applauded and rejoiced with the angels above for another soul who was won for Jesus Christ. That means that no matter how reckless or ungodly Knievel had been, he now shares in Christ’s resurrection that Peter witnessed to the newly birthed church on Pentecost: “God raised Jesus Christ up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). One of the most dare devil characters of recent time died with his “life hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-4). Therefore, since he had been raised with Christ, God allowed him to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (3:14).
The resurrection story makes two great affirmations. One affirmation is that Christ has won the victory from death, which no one else could possibly win. But the second is a promise throughout the gospel narratives - that even 11th hour decision-makers like the thief on the cross and Evel Knievel are winners, too. Even though each of us is a sinner who deserves eternal damnation – you and I can also share in Christ’s victory on Easter day. Our Lord’s victory is his vindication, but it’s also our vindication, too. Through Him our relationship with God is made right.
Easter is VERY different because Jesus’ resurrection is totally different from any of the other people raised from the dead in the Bible: Elijah brought the widow's son back (1 Kings 17:17-22), Elishah raised the Schunammite's son and an unnamed man (2 Kings 4:32-53 & 13:20), Jesus called forth Jairus' daughter, another widow's son and Lazarus (Matthew 9:23-25, Luke 7:11-15 & John 11:43), Peter raised his own mother-in-law and Dorcas (Acts 9:36-40) and Paul did the same with Eutychus (Acts 20:9). At the time of Jesus’ resurrection, "many bodies of the saints... came out of the graves... went into the holy city, and appeared unto many" (Matthew 27:52).
The difference is that Jesus’ resurrection is a true victory over death itself – not for just a little while – only to die again. His eternal life is tied to His sinless-ness. The great apologist R.C. Sproul puts it this way: “For God to allow Jesus to be forever bound by death would have been for God to violate His own righteous character. It would have been an injustice, an act that is supremely impossible for God to commit. The surprise is not that Jesus rose, but that He stayed in the tomb as long as He did. Perhaps it was God’s condescension to human weakness of unbelief that inclined Him to keep Christ captive, to ensure that there would be no doubt He was dead and the Resurrection would not be mistaken for a resuscitation.” Amen – this is not some kind of super-CPR act on the part of God.
As many as 500 eyewitnesses of the risen Christ certified the integrity of their faith with their own blood as non-Christian Jews and Roman officials began to torture and kill them and many other believers as divisive rebels against the established religious and political order for 300 years. The ancient church was willing to die for their hope of shared Resurrection with Christ, because they believed “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
In 1633 Pastor George Herbert composed this beautiful “Easter” poem: “RIse heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise . . . Without delayes, Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise . . . With him mayst rise: That, as his death calcined thee to dust, His life may make thee gold, and much more, just. Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part . . . With all thy art. The crosse taught all wood to resound his name, . . .Who bore the same. His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key Is best to celebrate this most high day. Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song … Pleasant and long: Or, since all musick is but three parts vied … And multiplied, O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part, And make up our defects with his sweet art.”
“I got me flowers to straw thy way; I got me boughs off many a tree: But thou wast up by break of day, And brought’st thy sweets along with thee. The Sunne arising in the East, Though he give light, & th’ East perfume;
If they should offer to contest With thy arising, they presume. Can there be any day but this, Though many sunnes to shine endeavour? We count three hundred, but we misse: There is but one, and that one ever.”
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You and Your risen Son and for our being raised in His name & life, Amen.

080229 Friday Focus - Rev. Susan Diamond, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Montgomery, Alabama

This message is more of an interactive interview with our Friday lunch crowd regarding their individual ways of practicing spiritual devotion and communion with God.
The interviewer is Dr. Susan Ward Diamond, who is the pastor at the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Montgomery, Alabama. Her mission and the mission of her church is "To demonstrate and proclaim God's joyful, unconditional love in an inclusive environment of spiritual growth and nurture for God's children." As with many churches - love, acceptance, and the challenge to realize one's purpose through spiritual growth is their focus, with Jesus as their guide. They are committed to making a difference in Montgomery as they reach out to those who need God's love and support in tangible ways.

080219 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast - Rev. Mark Waldo, Jr., St. Michaels & All Angels Episcopal Church

Rev. Mark Waldo, Jr is Rector at St. Michaels and All Angels in Millbrooke, Alabama. He. came to St. Michael's in the spring of 2005. The Waldo name is well-known in the region as Mark's father was minister at Montomgery's Church of the Ascenion for 28 years. Mark recalls many youthful afternoons at Robinson Springs in Millbrook, visiting and playing with childhood friends.

After gaining a B.A. degree in education and music, Mark attended Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. He spent five years as minister at St. Alban's Church in Murrysville, Pa., before moving to St. Patrick's in Annandale, Va., where he was director of children's ministries.

"I work well with people to create ideas and to support well those who make ideas become reality," says Mark. "I believe God calls forth the best in each of us and calls us to see the best in each other."

080210 Matthew 4:1-11 "Wilderness Journeys" preached by Pastor Ron Smith

Here are some children’s Valentine card poems: “I love you, I love you, I love you, I do. But don’t get excited, I love monkeys, too!” – “I climbed up the door and I opened the stairs. I said my pajamas and buttoned my prayers. I turned off the covers and pulled up the light. I’m all scrambled up since you kissed me last night.” - “UnValentine: Roses are Red. Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet. Unlike you.”
I really love it when Annemarie hands me a greeting card for someone’s birthday, anniversary or other event – and asks me to “write something extra that’s loving” for that special person. She knows I’m going to use some scripture or at least pray for God’s blessing in my note. But tugging inside is the less Godly and more fleshly nature: I’m flattered. I feel like I have to entertain them somehow. And I’m also prone to say what they want to hear instead of being absolutely truthful. So flattery, persuasion and compromised truth are the issues at hand when I begin to tell someone how much I love them. The same is true in these three temptations or tests of Jesus. The depth of His love in the wilderness teaches us how we sinners can send the best Valentines to God and each other.
Jesus prepares us for our tests and temptations in this story even when we fail the test and we don’t come out smelling like a rose. Tests of true love reach beyond mere words and require action. I know that I’ll probably have to show Annemarie and my children how much I love them instead of just talking about it. And I’ll have to resist the temptation to just manipulate them with flattery, or persuade them with showy entertainment, or give into whatever they say they want without caring about what they really need from me.
God announced that Jesus was His “beloved Son in whom He was well please.” This wasn’t flattery, sensationalism or an unearned empty title. The Spirit took Jesus into the wild for His Test of true love. Our fasting and praying during Lent shows our devotion to God. And this is patterned after Jesus’ fasting forty days to show God’s love for us.
It’s no wonder that the Devil tried flattery first on Jesus. Satan says, “I know Your background. You’re the Son of God aren’t You. Well, since You’re so hungry, why not us some of that creator power and change these rocks into food.” Brother Dave Gardner used to say, “Man cannot live on bread alone. He must have peanut butter.” But I doubt that any of us has been as hungry as Jesus was after 40 days with no nourishment whatsoever. He could have turned stone into bread. And then everyone would have loved Him (for a while) and there would be no more hunger in the world. That same God in Him had fed the Israelites for 40 years with Manna – not so much as a quick-fix way to satisfy their hunger, but rather to draw us closer to Himself . . . for a loving relationship.
At the end of that 40-year wilderness journey Moses preached his great sermon on the plains of Moab (the entire book of Deuteronomy) just before the Israelites entered the promise land. And Jesus answered the Devil three times by quoting Deuteronomy for each test. For the stones to bread miracle, He said, “You can’t count on the food you eat to give you life. God’s creative, sustaining and living Word will keep you alive.” That’s from 8:3.
Next, the Devil put Jesus on top of the Temple and said, “Jump, because Psalm 91 says Your Father has placed You in the care of angels. They will catch You so that You won’t so much as stub your toe.” But Jesus answered: “Don’t put the Lord your God to the test” (Deut. 6:16).
A crowd of over 2,000 people gathered downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, as a young African perched on the 6th floor balcony ready to jump. “Jump, jump,” the crowd yelled. After 2 hours, he jumped to his death. The spectacle provided a real afternoon’s entertainment for the feverish crowd. Officials tried talking him out of jumping, but the crowd kept on screaming for him to get on with it. In the end, he felt he had to jump to appease the crowd.
Jesus could have drawn a crowd and landed safely 400 feet below in the valley of Kedron. But He would have only been a 9-day sensation and the crowd would have expected more entertainment. “You only look for signs and wonders so as to believe” (John 4:48). Ungodly sensationalism will only temporarily satisfy fickle people.
The last test in the wilderness involved the Devil taking Jesus high above all the kingdoms on earth and saying, “Everyone of them will follow You, if You will compromise Your high standards and worship me, too.” Jesus’ Valentine to His Heavenly Father dismissed the Devil, “You shall worship and serve the Lord your God only” (Deut. 6:13 repeating 6:5).
Heavenly Father, teach us how to love You with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might, just as Jesus did in His wilderness journey - tested to the limits of all human capacity and stood firmly in love with You. Please send Your Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and direct our choices – to love You and others as ourselves. Thank You for loving us first so that we can truly love, in the name of Jesus, the lover of our soul, Amen.

071212 Faith Radio Interview of Pastor Ron Smith

This interview covers annual Christmas season events at Dexter Avenue United Methodist Church.