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.

080520 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Christian Attorney Craig Cornwell

Craig Cornwell practices law with the United States Department of Agriculture stationed in Montgomery, Alabama, but serving a large portion of the Southeastern U.S.

Craig’s personal testimony of his faith walk with Jesus Christ provides practical insight on how practicing Christians can and do work and live with daily and long term stresses.

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.

080415 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Corky Hawthorn, Christian Attorney

Christian Attorney - Corky Hawthorn is energetic for the Lord Jesus Christ! Since his near death life changing drunk driving automobile accident, he has preached taught cajoled and generally evangelized anyone and everyone he can relate with about the saving grace and knowledge of our Lord's transforming power.

Corky studies the Bible with different groups virtually every day of the week including Friday mornings with Pastor Ron, Al Perkins, Tom Bridges, Doug McCurry, Johnny Davis, Randell Thomas, Carmen Falcione, Hamid Sattari and other notable Christian pastors, lay speakers and prayer warriors - who are featured on these blog and podcast websites.

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.

080411 Friday Focus with Hamid Sattari - Christian, Iranian and American

Hamid Sattari is a naturalized United States citizen who escaped Iran when the current Muslim extremists took over the rule of his homeland. His parents were killed at the close of World War II when Russian officials wanted their oil rich land. His intellectual curiosity led him to becoming first a medical doctor in Iran and then an Iranian Air Force pilot capable of flying all craft available. He rose to the rank of base commander under the Shah's regime. The Khomeini revolutionary forces planned to assassinate Hamid, but he managed to first get his American wife and children to the U.S. before persuading his fellow Iranian Air Force officers to grant him special leave out of the country. The pilot of his jet plane to Western Europe almost turned the craft around just to hand Hamid over to the assassins. But he was miraculously saved.

Even though Hamid remained Muslim while residing in Montgomery, he tried praying to Jesus because he heard that Christ was a healer and might save his dying sixteen year old daughter from eminent death. When his prayers were not answered he was at first very angry at God and in particular toward Jesus of Nazareth.

But then another miracle happened. Hamid was actually visited by Jesus Christ in his deepest depression and sorrow. Hamid declared Him Lord and Savior of his life. And today this man is a devout follower of Jesus Christ. In so doing he has lost relationship with his friends and family in Iran.

Hamid's testimony should help many people to understand the saving and redeeming power of Jesus Christ. Thank you Hamid for your wonderful Christian witness.

080408 Tuesday Prayer Breakfast with Rev. Steve Richardson, St. Paul Lutheran

The photograph in this blog and podcast shows Pastors Ron Smith and Steve Richardson. Steve is on the path of becoming a local pastor in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. He currently serves as a lay pastor at Saint Paul Lutheran in Montgomery, Alabama, while preparing to start a mission church in the Millbrook/Prattville area just north of Montgomery.

In this message Steve interprets Luke 18:31-34 and how it deals with questions of our personal identity. His journey with these questions takes some unusual turns of events in his life, which may resonate in others' experiences.

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

080328 Friday Focus with Jim Roden, Gideons International

Jim Roden is among the thousands of Gideons who actively support and volunteer a great deal of time and energy to the distribution of Biblical scripture around the world.

Having God's Word can lead people to faith in Christ, and those new Christians can then grow by studying their Scriptures and even use them to share their faith with others.

For this reason, Gideons International focuses on distributing complete Bibles or New Testaments. These Scriptures are printed in more than 80 languages and are either given directly to certain individuals or placed in selected public locations where large numbers of people who may be searching for answers will have the ability to encounter the Word of God.

Distributing complete copies of God's Word also . . .

Plants powerful seeds that God can use in His timing. (I Corinthians 3:6)
Allows people to read the truth for themselves. (John 8:32)
Provides a continuing witness when the Gideon is no longer present. (Hebrews 4:12)
Makes it easier for the people we reach to in turn reach others with the truth about Jesus. (II Timothy 2:2)
Makes it possible for new Christians to learn and grow through personal Bible study.
(II Timothy 2:15)

Scriptures are distributed one by one by members of The Gideons International to these groups:

Students in the 5th grade and above
Prisoners and police, fire, medical and military personnel
Anyone else Gideons witness to individually
Scriptures are placed in certain locations, including:

Hotels and motels
Hospitals, convalescent homes, medical offices and domestic violence shelters
Prisons and jails

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

080321 Good Friday Service with 7 Preachers Interpreting Christ's 7 Last Words from the Cross for 7 Minutes Each

Below is the order of worship with assigned speakers and times for this very unique ecumenical service representing church leaders from the Church of God in Christ, Episcopal, Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Non-denominational, and United Methodist Churches.

Good Friday Service
7 Words – 7 Ministers – 7 Minutes
March 21, 2008

Words of Welcome Pastor Ron Smith
Opening Prayer Pastor Ron Smith

11:30am THE FIRST WORD Rev. Al Perkins
Luke 23:33-34 - When they came to the place called “The Skull”, they nailed Jesus to the cross there, and the two criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They do not know what they do”.

11:38am THE SECOND WORD Rev. Johnny Davis
Luke 23:39-43 - One of the criminals hanging there threw insults at him: “Aren’t you the messiah? Save yourself and us!” The other one, however, rebuked him, saying: “Don’t you fear God? Here we are all under the same sentence. Ours, however, is only right, for we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.” And he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come into your kingdom!” Jesus said to him, “I tell you this: Today you will be with me in Paradise”.

11:46am THE THIRD WORD Rev. Ed Diebler
John 19:25-27 - Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s Sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son”. Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother”. And from that time the disciple took her to live in his home.

11:54am THE FOURTH WORD Rev. Tom Bridges
Mark 15:33-34 – And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elo-i, elo-i, lama sabach-thani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

12:02pm THE FIFTH WORD Rev. Doug McCurry
John 19:28 – After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, to fulfill the Scripture said, “I thirst”.

12:10 pm THE SIXTH WORD Rev. Carmen Falcione
John 19:29-30 - A bowl was there, full of cheap wine mIxed with vinegar, so a sponge was soaked in it, put on hyssop and lifted up to his lips. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished”.

12:18pm THE SEVENTH WORD Rev. Clifford Terrell
Luke 23:46 – Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this, he breathed his last.

Benediction Pastor Ron Smith

080316 Matthew 26:14, 66 "Unpredictable Love" by Pastor Ron Smith

Many writers and thinkers have suggested that we live in an age of narcissism. This concept is based on the mythological god named Narcissus, who very predictably fell in love with himself after a goddess, whom he rejected, cursed him with self-infatuation. Judas’ behavior predictably resembles Narcissus and some other betrayers in the Bible like Absalom. That earlier “son of David” was a predictably self-absorbed and manipulative individual. Absalom used his manipulative charm to win the hearts of the common people. He predictably tried to take over his father's throne. Absalom, Judas and Narcissus all exemplify our personal hubris (character glitch) that predictably kicks in when we think or behave like we know what is really best for us and those around us – instead of God Almighty.
Palm Sunday is based on Matthew 21:1-11, which celebrates Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem during the Passover feast. Many people who cheered and chanted the entry greeting “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord – Hosanna in the Highest” – many of them used this passage from Psalm 118, precisely because it was the prophetic greeting for a victorious king entering Jerusalem. But less than a week later those same people had seen no king like they had expected. They were telling themselves and God Almighty that THEY knew what was best for themselves and that THEY didn’t want this Son of God – this heavenly king of peace and righteousness.
They had a passion for a king they could manipulate with parades, compliments and political favors. But God had a passion for His chosen one to save us all from our petty spoiled selves. God’s passion won out as it was supposed to do. That’s why we call this coming week “The Passion of Christ.” As foretold in Isaiah He ‘gave His back to the smiters,’ and His ‘cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;’ He did not hide His face ‘from shame and spitting’ (50:4-9a). Yes, He “heard the whispering of many people and demons -- terror on every side!-- as they schemed together against Him, as they plotted to take His life. But He trusted in God His Father, O LORD, He said, "Thou art my God." (Psalm 31:15-16). “Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
Tragedy and pathos led up to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. Judas Iscariot represents each one of us - as a fickle self-centered follower who cheers God on with pretended devotion on Palm Sunday and betrays, mocks and derides Him a few days later. Bipolar treacherous hearts beat against the steady forgiving love of God through Jesus Christ on the cross.
I have turned against God and betrayed the love of Jesus, while expecting only the worst from God in return. Then when God didn’t punish me I have occasionally chosen to continue to punish myself in spite of God’s forgiveness and grace. I won’t go so far as to try suicide, but I have thrown money or something else back at the people or things that were involved with my wrongdoing, so as to make myself feel better, like Judas giving back the 30 pieces of silver in disgust or out of remorse.
When I resign myself like Judas – to try to undo the wrong by myself - repenting under my own strength and becoming hopeless, then I will inevitably – predictably - fail. When I shoot at the sinful targets of unbelief and self-centeredness – God’s prevenient grace and love has blown and steered circumstances around my misguided arrows to His unpredictable will – in spite of my worst intentions.
Here is the great hope for those who draw near to God: if Judas’ betrayal became part of the best way to bless all creation, then how much greater will God bless us all when we individually follow God’s will and truly accept God's grace. When I am less self-reliant or self-absorbed, then I begin to reestablish a right relationship with God.
The blood of Jesus can cleanse us of even the most awful sin. Jesus is always willing to forgive us and to receive us in love – just like He did on the cross when He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
We can choose to be unpredictable like Jesus and forgive those who have wronged us. Then God will in unpredictable fashion make us whole again.
Dear Heavenly Father, You enable us to embrace the joy and happiness that comes from forgiving and being forgiven. Your throne of mercy and grace is unequaled and far more glorious than any earthly ruler – including those we sinfully obey in our own hearts and minds when we sin against You. Forgive us Lord and teach us to forgive. Empower us to pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus Christ – in His name we pray, Amen.

080302 John 9 "God Sightedness" by Pastor Ron Smith

Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). When I’m making hospital visits for our members or constituents with the public safety departments I can’t always dress up like I do on Sunday’s. That’s probably why some people ask for my ID or business card so that they can see that I am a pastor. When any of us act in Christ-like ways of loving kindness and forgiveness, then that is how Jesus says we glorify God and prove our real identity as Christians.
I hope some of you read my Steeple article for this Sunday and reflected on the similarities of this Gospel story and 1 Samuel 16:1-13 where David was selected to be king of Israel. God instructed Samuel: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature . . . for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
There were probably other blind people who made contact with Jesus, but this man was used “to glorify God” as Jesus explained. The Greek word for glorify is also used to make a “judgment about someone’s personal worth.” This means that those who truly see God’s presence in the life of Jesus Christ will make the right judgment about Jesus beyond the healing and miracles that He performs.
Samuel glorified God by following divine direction to choose the least likely David. The supremely chosen Messiah chose the least likely blind man from birth to glorify God and show how much He loves each one of us.
David didn’t look much like a king and Jesus didn't look much like a Savior to some people. When Jesus came to his hometown of Nazareth to teach in the synagogue, the people asked one another, "Isn't this Joseph's son" (Luke 4:22)? Even though many people saw His miracles and healing and heard His teaching, Jesus’ own hometown folk thought that He just looked like the carpenter's kid.
The once blind man proved that he was a true follower of Jesus, especially while the Pharisees were questioning him. His light was shining before others as one who was thankful and truthful about what had happened to him.
My friend, Arnold Smith, has experienced a very different kind of blindness in his life. He is now an associate pastor in Selma, but he used to be a professional basketball player. His success in sports, in business and with different women had blinded him to the truth of his miserable life. In 1998 he robbed a bank with three other men, because he was blind to how he was manipulated by others who said it couldn’t be done.
5 minutes of temporary egotistical blindness resulted in 5 years of prison and being away from people who loved and cared for him. While in prison, he obeyed Jesus like the blind man was healed of his moral and spiritual blindness through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It was like Jesus had spit on the muddy life style he had been living and he only had to obey and wash his eyes in a prison cell.
Recently, Arnold discovered that his 14 year old daughter, whom he had raised since birth is not really his biological child. And a few weeks later a woman from his professional sports era disclosed he had fathered another daughter, whom another man had supported for 12 years. The healing miracle is that he is now able to support both girls and consider them both his own, while maintaining a steady marriage to his current wife (Mea), a beautiful baby boy (Aaron), and a full time ministry. The Pastor of the church in which he is an Associate was the manager of the bank he robbed.
Arnold says, ‘No one can tell me that Love doesn’t work! I am not only a living witness but proof ! God is Love! Love never fails!”
Dear Heavenly Father, just as You gave sight to Arnold and the blind man in our gospel story, please remove whatever blindness we have in our life. Lord God, You promised that when we desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part You shall make each one of to know wisdom (Psalm 51:6). Help us to see clearly before we stumble for a life-time or even blindly walk away from Your eternal heavenly light. Save us LORD – for Your love never fails, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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.

080208 Friday Focus - Professor Jean Battaglia, RN of Troy University

Jean is Assistant Professor in Troy University's School of Nursing in Montgomery, Alabama. She is also an active member with 301 Club at Dexter Avenue UMC for ballroom dancing and attends many of our other church services and functions.

In this talk Jean reviews the career giver's considerations for a patient, friend or loved one who is dying.

080119 "Obstacles to Grace" by Pastor Ron Smith

The most unpopular subject in the universe is sin. Gary was 9 and I was 11. When our next-door neighbor Mrs. Nix hired us to dig out a cave under her house, we crawled under the side of her house to dig out a place for her canned preserves under her wooden floor. After about an hour of digging with shovel and pick I heaved a load of dirt out the door of the crawl space and accidentally struck Gary’s ear with the sharp edge of my shovel. We rushed to stop the bleeding and after a lot of emergency measures my brother’s ear was stitched back together and a couple of months later there was no apparent scar or pain. But the memory of that experience has taught me a lot about what gets in our way from receiving and sharing God’s grace.
This is Ron Smith presenting a talk about OBSTACLES TO GRACE. Transcripts will be given afterwards, but please take notes.
I still suffer from the consequences of negligent sin. This is just one example of how even accidents can be obstacles to grace and keep us from enjoying God’s loving relationship. Sin is the absence of God. God-less self-centeredness is what is portrayed on daily television must of the time instead of God-centeredness.
John said, Jesus Christ must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). The flame on this candle first flickered, and then steadied. We don’t notice its soft and forgiving presence, because the other competing light around us that would take away our focus on it. We may miss out of the streams of smoke and the smell of molten wax. The flame will lengthen and the candle will become smaller. Is this moment special? – Is it lasting? – Will this experience mean anything the next day? "Never forget - Christ must increase; I must decrease." Obstacles to grace keep us from being aware of God.
When my day care children sing about inviting Jesus into their heart – “into my heart, into my heart – come into my heart Lord Jesus” then I know Jesus is real aim of God’s love.
Sin - “Hamartia” misses the mark or target of being in God’s will. We miss the mark and miss out of God’s love when we disobey God’s law. Something or someone gets in the way of your relationship with God. Something “messes with” your relationship with others. These are the vertical and horizontal obstacles to grace.
Exodus 32:19 says that Moses threw the tablets of the law from the mountain to those worshipping a Golden Calf. I felt like one of those people when I saw my brother’s bleeding ear. I had worshipped the money Mrs. Nix was going to pay us instead of focusing on God’s ways of moving slower and more carefully. Deuteronomy 5:7 mandates that when I just worked hard for money from Mrs. Nix without reverence for the safety of my brother, then this was Idolatry to false gods. I didn’t curse God, but the potential of blasphemy was in my heart so that when I heard others speaking irreverently or profanely about God I remembered this hardened hearted feeling of blame toward God (Deut. 5:11). 1 Thessalonians 5:19 warns against my intentional resistance against God. And Deuteronomy 5:12-15 seems to say that I’m still guilty for just negligently ignoring God for not taking care to protect my brother, Gary. My disobedience is sinfully rejecting a relationship with God, who only wants the best for me (Luke 9:ll-27). Every time I experience unbelief, then this is my failure not God’s. I may ignorantly alienate myself from God and others. But Jesus points out in the Beatitudes in Matthew 6 that when I pridefully focus on myself rather than giving honor and glory to God (verse 5) or when I chose not to forgive God or others, I cannot be forgiven (verses 9-15).
Horizontal obstacles would prevent loving relations with others. If I had swung my shovel just a little bit harder I would have killed by brother, accidentally. This would not have been intentional murder, but its consequences would have been a devastating obstacle to my relations with my parents and others. I didn’t become addicted to drugs or sex or anything like that, but I had the same symptoms like masking my feelings of guilt, my brother’s rejection and my sense of shame with denial on an addictive scale. I lied to myself and to others about how much hurting my brother hurt me, too. This acted like gossip or slander in my soul, because it spread a lie of whether God, my brother or my parent’s really loved me. This was like sinful theft that stole something valuable from other people that didn’t belong to me. My sense of guilt stole deeper loving feelings for my brother and my parents. I coveted my brother’s position as the innocent little brother. I even became lazy about caring for other people and things because I felt unable to be a good steward of the life, gifts, graces, property, and power that God had entrusted to me. I had dishonored my parents and others. My only hope then and my only hope today is to pray a sinners pray and ask for God’s forgiveness and for others like my brother to forgive me and receive forgiveness grace-fully.
Please pray with me right now this personal prayer so that God will remove our obstacles to His grace.
Dear Heavenly Father, please send Your Holy Spirit right now into my heart. Help me to pick of my cross of victory and love each day and follow Jesus and His way. Take away my bitterness. Remind me of how You baptize me with Your water, fire and spirit. Teach me how to avoid each obstacle and resist evil and renounce the forces of the evil one. Restore my love for enemies and neighbors. Help me to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Give me Your grace that is greater than my sin. Thank You for making sure that no obstacle can separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus. Thank You for all the colors “De Colores” of Your love and grace in Him, Amen.

080118 Friday Focus - Dale Osterman YMCA

Dale Osterman's career has been devoted to managing YMCA programs. He now manages the downtown Y and oversees the greater Montgomery YMCA with it's board of directors. Dexter Avenue United Methodist Church has maintained a long standing relationship with the Y and currently send our underprivileged inner city youth to summer, Christmans holiday and Spring break YMCA camps.

Dale is a lay leader in the Prattville United Methodist Church and a member of the Walk to Emmaus community of Central Alabama. In this message we hear his personal testimony of ministry in the Y and his passion for helping others find Christian fellowship and personal development through this organization.

080104 Friday Focus - Wynona Crosskey, Alabama Department of Industrial Relations

Wynona has a wonderful personal witness of her relationship with Jesus Christ. She is also a member of our 301 Ballroom Dancing Club that meets every Friday evening in our fellowship hall. Her career is with the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations specializing in Unemployment Compensation.

071212 Faith Radio Interview of Pastor Ron Smith

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