"Every Day in Every Way"

I'm getting better and better.
These words come from a French pharmacist turned psychologist, Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie. According to him, by repeating this statement every day, you subconsciously influence behavior and produce positive change. I believe there is some power in believing in the positive, especially for the Christian. I'd go as far as to say this is Biblical, and commanded. It doesn't come from the rote repetition of words, but from how we practice sanctification. Sanctification is where our repentance turns to positivity, when the meaning behind our action turns from "in order to..." to "because of". We read this in the Bible:
2 Peter 1:3-11

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to^[a] his own glory and excellence,^{[b] 4} by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,^[c] and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities^[d] are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers,^[e] be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Peter 1:3 Or by

1. 2 Peter 1:3 Or virtue

1. 2 Peter 1:5 Or excellence; twice in this verse

1. 2 Peter 1:8 Greek these things; also verses 9, 10, 12

1. 2 Peter 1:10 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters

   
   

Our lives cannot be stagnant. Jesus Christ has given us the power we need to overcome the world. We must make effort every day, and in every way to get better and better. When we gather around the table, we're renewing the pledge to make our knowledge effective, and effective knowledge makes more Christians, and makes us better and better.

Final Countdown

Que Europe!

Sing along, I guess.


Here's what I've done recently:

• Communion Meditation, April 24, 2016 at Highlands Church of Christ
• Studied bromeliads in my backyard.
• Took the kids birding, Had a blast.
• Almost done with a semester of College. (It's finals week!)

Here's what's coming up:

• Starting a new job
• Continuing the series on Skeleton Sleeve Dipoles 
• More ham radio! 
• Planning more college classes

To borrow some lyrics, I'm "optimistically discontent" over what the next month will hold, if only we can all hang on that long.

On That Night

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus ate with His Disciples.
On the night He was betrayed, He washed their feet.
He talked to them.
He scared them.
After giving them the cup and the loaf, he spoke some more to them.
John says that he told them very specifically the reason why they had no reason for fear:

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

He didn't tell them He was going away to cause them fear, He told them because He went to prepare a place for them. He didn't tell them that they would scatter at His arrest because He wanted to shame them. He wanted them to understand, Jesus came to do God's will, and God's will would be done. In the world we certainly have trouble.
Sin traps us.
We forget who we are.
People let us down.
We walk through the world, and sometimes it seems we are unforgivable because of what we've seen or done.
Sometimes it seems like the world wins every time evil wins. 
Take heart. Jesus overcomes this world, and through this gathering together to partake of the meal He gave us, we remind ourselves that Jesus always overcomes the world.

My Confession

Scripture commands us to examine ourselves before we partake the Lord's Supper. John writes in his epistle on specific thing I think can help us understand what examining ourselves means.
1 John 1:5-10 says

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

As I've matured being a Christian, I've learned something, it's very helpful to have someone you can talk to about the sins you still commit. I think from reading this scripture we can understand that this is what God intends. God does not want you to go it alone. Practicing this Scripture is hard though. We've come to have a negative association with 'confessing'. Let's put that to rest today. I'll go first.

I'm not going to drag out a bunch of dirty laundry, or brag on my sins or tell you about all the things I do that seem like a great idea at the time, even if I know it's not part of God's will. I will tell you about something about myself that bothers me though, and I wonder if you can relate. Jesus told a parable about dirt once, and how the quality of the dirt affected the soil. There was hard dirt where the seed could not even find a place to grow. Next was rocky dirt, and seed could sprout there, but it soon withered when the heat came on because the roots were shallow. Third was ground where weeds had taken over, and buried the good plant, choking it out. Finally there was good dirt, and a crop could be grown. Most days I wake up, and I know I'm option three. My dirt is loose, relatively rock free, but these weeds! I know exactly what Jesus is talking about when he says that the worries of this life choke out the word of God. Have you been there too? That's my confession. I worry about this life and it keeps me from stepping out on faith when I know that's what God wants me to do. These weeds didn't come about overnight, I've been a Christian for over twenty-five years now, I've had plenty of burns, marks, unrealized dreams, forgotten promises, missed opportunities. Fortunately, I also know the cure for these weeds.

The passage that we read together is part of one of my all time favorite chapters of the Bible. I want us to read the whole thing together before we take the Lord's Supper today because I'm tired of the weeds and I want to share with you how we can help pull the weeds out of each other's soil.

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ² the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— ³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

In the beginning of the book of 1 John we see the key to getting the weeds out of our life: we bear testimony to what has happened to us, and what we've seen God doing in the world. When we do that, We will be encouraged to make more happen, to bring forth more fruit, then we have more story to tell. We'll come back to this table prepared, not because we spoke a prayer asking God to forgive us, but because we remembered what God did this week, whether in our lives, or the lives of our neighbours. Let's pledge to God when we take the bread and cup today to tell the story of what He's doing in us!

Perspective

I've been stumped by many problems. I'm stumped most often when I attempt a solution to one problem, but have further issues arise because I didn't see that my solution could cause another problem on top of the one I already had! We have a problem with perspective. For some reason we think we can walk around doing things, willy nilly, with no thought as to what will happen next. Chop down some trees? Sure, no problem, there's hundreds of them! And then all at once, when the rains come and there's no trees to slow and adsorb the water, there's a flood, and a mudslide, and a horrible loss of life. Then in our grief, and our ignorance, and our pride, we blame God, calling such catastrophes "Acts of God" as if He's the one that chopped the trees down.

Perspective. We are missing perspective. There's no way for us to know how our actions will affect others just from our limited senses of observation.  Just look at the track record of the meteorologist! The Math behind the weather is well enough understood that we reasonably know beyond the shadow of a doubt that tomorrow will be Monday, and that is all. Fortunately, our scientists who study weather have enough humility to talk about weather in terms of percentages, and they know to be as vague as possible. God is not like that though.

The Bible tells us in Galatians Chapter four that God sent forth his Son in the "fullness of time" to be born of a woman, under the law so that He might redeem us so we could become the children of God. God has perspective. God's perspective allows Him to have a unique sense of timing. It is a modern fallacy to suppose that the miracles and wonderful things the Bible describes and predicts occurred one right after the other. The truth is, these things occurred within a short time frame, to a limited number of people, within the confines of limited space on the planet. These things were not common, or trivial. They had a purpose, and from God's perspective, they were working together to bring the world to a place ready to receive His Son. The world, when it received His Son, did what God knew it would do, reject Him. From God's perspective though, this was still part of the plan, promised from the very beginning, in Genesis Chapter 3. A crippling bruise to the heel of God's promised one brought a blow to the head of the serpent.

We gather today to acknowledge God's righteous timing. We submit ourselves to His perspective, and to acknowledge the covenant God struck with us through the body and Blood of Jesus. Let us take this body, and drink this blood to remember that from God's perfect perspective, we are His Children, and heirs to His kingdom.

Heat Death Vs Eternal Life

People have an enormous capacity for missing the obvious. Common sense, as it turns out, isn't, and the consequence is that people will waste their entire lives chasing after something as fleeting as beauty, or "a good time". When it comes to missing the obvious few people miss the obvious as those who profess a disbelief in the presence and person of God. The Bible says it best:

Psalm 14

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,

there is none who does good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,[a]

who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

When God looks out over us, He finds people oblivious to what they are doing. Every day we live our lives as if things are the same as they ever was. Even crazier, we say that when we are in the process of completing something we are 'making progress.' In reality we are kind of clueless about how the universe works. Things are not going to continue forever. Even the most ardent atheist believes that the universe will come to an end. While they do not believe that God has redeemed us by His son Jesus, and made us joint heirs in His kingdom, they do believe that everything stops. Literally, everything stops. The universe ends, many of them contend, when the energy level of the universe is of a uniform density, thus producing a maximum state of entropy. This even is known as "Heat Death".
Don't worry, heat death is a long way away, except between 2 and 3 pm when all I want to do is take a nap. I'm fairly certain that's the closest I'll ever be to heat death. There's plenty of energy available in the cosmos to keep us going for quite a while. One thing this does do, however, is illustrate one of the chief differences between people who believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and people who do not believe God's truth. Every morning when an atheist gets up, if he is honest, he  has to confront the fact that everything he will do on that day is meaningless. Most of them choose to pretend that what they do matters, they don't want to think about the implications of meaninglessness in their lives. They can't escape the truth though, if they are correct, there is no progress, heat death takes all that away. As Christians we have knowledge of the future through God's word:

Revelation 22:1-5

 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb  2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

God makes this possible through the blood of His son. When we gather for the Lord's Supper, we don't have the face of the Lord before us, we have  reminder in a meal that the sacrifice has been made and the road to the kingdom is secured. Let us partake today knowing that we look forward to Eternal Life, and not Heat Death.

Look Into Your Heart

Jeremiah 17:5- 10 (ESV)

5 Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
  6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
  7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
  8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
  9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
  10 “I the LORD search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Kaa the Snake in the Disney version of "The Jungle Book" sang a song, it went in part "Trust in me..." I always found his character interesting because he was weak, and his power lay in his ability to control people's minds into doing what he wanted. Usually what he wanted was dinner. He would lull people into a sense of trust so that he could devour them. Our desires can devour us. Our hearts are sick. Our hearts will tell us things to convince us we can do whatever we please. Our hearts tell us to take that first dip into sin. How bad can it be? Try it out! Everyone else is, and if you do it too, you'll fit in. It's pretty easy to suddenly find yourself trapped in a sin, or a bad habit, all you have to do is listen to your heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

   Your heart will deceive you until it is changed, and it can't be changed without be changed. God has done something to us and for us to take the sickness out of our hearts:

Colossians 2:8-15

 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.  9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.  11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,  12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.  13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,  14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

When we became Christians God gave us new stuff on the inside! When we gather around the Lord's table, we remind ourselves of the change within us. Sometimes, we need a little more reminding than others. Fortunately, our trespasses are nailed to the cross, a public spectacle and testimony to the power of God. Christ died, was buried and rose again, so that we could have fellowship with God. Let us pray today and be glad that our fellowship is with God through Christ, and Satan is powerless to use our hearts against us.

Tradition, A Meal and Doing New Things

This is the communion meditation for Highlands Church of Christ, as given 10/7/2012:

Tradition plays an important role in how my family does things. I got to thinking about that when I was making hotcakes for everybody. My wife reminded me of how my life has been shaped by tradition later that evening. My first name is a traditional first name for my family. Hotcakes are a traditional breakfast. I grew up going to weekly fish fry suppers at Possum Hollow, and Sunday Dinners at Grandma, and Grandpa's house. When it is the fourth of July, it is time for a family reunion, and I look forward to my 80th birthday party, that's the big party in my family. Tradition is important, it keeps the family together, and tells the stories of where we have been.

Some people are against tradition, I don't understand why, but they feel like change is coming, and that change is good. I like change every now and again my own self. Sometimes change is needed and necessary. Something may be broke, and not fixable. Something could be worn out, or inadequate for the job you are trying to do. There is a danger here though, because change for the sake of change is a dangerous thing. From what I've seen in this world, things that change too quickly do not do well. Perhaps you've heard that bit of wisdom "It's not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop at the end." I also know that a pond that is stagnant and unchanging will die, suffocated. Somewhere between rigid unchanging repetitive motion, and constant change is life. I think tradition helps us find that. The relationship we have with God is built in tradition. When used appropriately tradition calls to mind the past good that God has done for us, and calls us to do right. When done wrong, tradition condemns us, and enslaves us. I think it helps when we establish the right tradition. The right tradition begins in Scripture, with The Good News, the Gospel. The Gospel has been present since the fall of man, and is present with us until the day of the coming of the Lord. The message hasn't changed, listen to it:

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (ESV)

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,  5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.  7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.  9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.  11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

 You see, this is our tradition! The tradition was initialized in the Garden of Eden when God promised the Crusher is coming. It was there when Jacob blessed his Children, and promised that the scepter would not depart from Judah. The Tradition was confirmed when Moses told the Hebrews to slay a lamb, and spread its blood on the lintel and doorposts. The tradition flickered, but was passed down through Isaiah during dark times, when he promised that the stump of Jesse would produce a branch that would bear fruit. The tradition came to Mary, and she was with a child even though she had no husband. The tradition lived in her son, who is the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Crusher, the Ruler, the Stump of Jesse, the Lamb of God. He made the tradition real and tangible on the night he was betrayed, taking bread, and calling it his body. He took a cup, and called what was in it his blood, the seal of the new covenant. Then he made that tradition the Final Tradition, offering himself on the cross for our sins. That's the key to what we proclaim when we take the bread and cup during this time. Christ has made us a promise. His body and blood for our sins, and we share in that tradition every week.

Storm Season

Already we have had four named storms in this 'average' hurricane season.
How strange!
It's like the weather is unpredictable. Truth is, it's better and more profitable to prepare for the storm than to guess when and where it's going to strike. I live in Florida! There's going to be hurricanes. Preparation over prediction.
There's a time and a place to practice preparation, and this weekend is a perfect example of why preparation is important.

Debby popped up in the gulf just in time for Amateur radio field day. Every summer, during the last full weekend in June, ham radio operators make it a point to showcase their skills operating under simulated emergency conditions. Ham radio is a hobby with a point, and that point is to be available to provide emergency communications whenever and wherever necessary. You can't predict when an emergency occurs, you can only practice and prepare. Still it seems like some people would rather spend their time speculating, or even denying that the storm is coming.

I think people treat their faith in a similar fashion. Instead of preparing themselves to meet God in judgement, they either spend their time guessing when and how the judgement day will come, or they speculate that it's still a long way off. This is foolishness because judgement is coming, and God's requirements are plain: be perfect, or be forgiven, or be condemned. I don't want to be condemned by God, and it's too late for me to be perfect. All that remains is to be forgiven. That's why we partake in the Lord's Supper. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 says:

 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.  28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.  30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.  31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.  32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

God calls us to judge ourselves now, to examine ourselves and to ask: How did I honor the covenant I made with God when I was baptized? Did I proclaim the Lord's death on the cross? Did I honor his broken body?

That's your preparation, and as you eat the bread, and drink the cup, you will be prepared, or you will be judged.

The Passage is Enough...

Communion meditation 7/31/2011

1 Corinthians Chapter 10
1 I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. "

We're either all together, or we're missing the point.

"We're All Here Because We're Not All There"

WARNING!
This is a sneak peek at my devotional thoughts for Sunday morning's communion service. Last minute meditation givers are free to use it with proper attribution.

"We're All Here Because We're Not All There". I saw those Poignant words on a bumper sticker in Atlanta. It advertises the unofficial motto of a part of town called "Little Five Points". It's were all the weird hippies and cool kids hang out. I think what their trying to say is 'you gotta be crazy to hang around this place!' I would tend to agree. If you ever get there you might meet Wolf.

Wolf has been homeless a long time. Once upon a time I worked with a ministry called Jesus Place, and about 10-15 years before I came to work there, Jesus Place had a presence in Little Five Points. At that time, it's where a lot of homeless people and run away kids liked to hang out. Wolf was there then, and he was there when I started working with Jesus Place. Of all the things Wolf was famous for, the most famous was probably for sleeping in a tree in a park near Little Five Points. When I asked why he slept in a tree, his answer was "Because it's against the law to sleep on the ground." I'm pretty sure Wolf slept in that tree because he "wasn't all there."

I can relate to Wolf. I do things that make perfect sense to me that seem crazy to other people, especially when it comes to faith. Sooner or later, someone is going to think we are out of our minds for believing that our savior died, was buried, and rose again, furthermore, that he's coming back. Let's read 2 Peter 3:1-9:

1This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." 5For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
-English Standard Version

When we read our Bibles cover to cover, it's hard to comprehend the amount of time that passes between events. We forget that from the time the Israelites leave the promise land to the time that Jesus comes, is about fifteen hundred years. We forget that it took a little while for God to get mad enough at the world to destroy it in flood, and we forget that it took a little while for Noah to build the Ark. It may yet even be a little while longer before the Lord returns. Until then, Jesus wants us to do one thing together, the very thing we do together every Sunday morning. He wants us to remember the new covenant. We come together on the first day of the week to remember that one day, this world will pass, and there will be no more pain! We remember that our sins have been forgiven, and they will haunt us no more! We remember the awesome and powerful words Jesus spoke right before he departed from the disciples after rising from the dead: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Let's remember that we are all here, around this table, because we are not all there YET!