Prayer and Praise

Prayer and Praise is actually a mid-week worship service. We sing, usually to a CD player. We pray. We give thanks and we take communion. The homily is the big difference from the Saturday service. Each week the members of the Bible Study take turns preparing and that presenting a homily. The passage is assigned by Duane but is the last assistance you receive from him. This interpretation of a Bible passage is purely from the point of view of the preparer. There is no right or wrong way of preparing the study, it is just a matter of filtering the

words through your heart. We have discovered that the passages can mean different things to people at different times and that the comfort or guidance they bring are what you need then. The Bible is so dynamic that it addresses your needs as they arrive. You may research as much as you like to create a detailed analysis of the times and language, date the piece and describe the author, or merely present your feelings and how the passage moved you. Beyond the research and writing it is a great exercise in public speaking and analytical thinking. You can come out of that classroom you've been in and show yourself what you truly know. You learn a lot by listening and more by doing. Come learn with us. The Bible Study is held at Bixby Knolls Christian Church on Tuesday evenings at 7 PM. The address is 1240 E Carson St. Go to the Directions link or E-mail link for further information. The example below is my own interpretation of a passage. I try to find the feelings of the author of the passage by puting myself in his or her place. 1 Peter 3:13-22 is the passage and Traveling Light Years is my view.

1 Peter 3:13-22 (New International Version)

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?   14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear [ a ]; do not be frightened." [ b ] 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.   Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.   17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom [ c ] also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.   In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge [ d ] of a good conscience toward God.   It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Traveling Light Years

 Who is this man that can ask such a question having experienced the moments of fear and terror that have molded my life?   Trying to do good for God's flock through God's will is my goal now and I find it a comfortable place to be, but God may have a totally different task for me tomorrow.   It was the realization that God has a plan and a will that brought me to this place.   He doesn't need an army of men to enforce his will, just the willingness of their hearts to show the power of His love.   That is how He will fulfill his ambition.   It was a long journey that bought me to this understanding, with some heartbreaking revelations on the way.
I feel like I've lived part of my life in someone else's skin.   I am certainly not the man that met Jesus on the shores of Galilee.   I don't believe I am the fearful coward that denied Him three times so long ago in Jerusalem.   I am not the desperate character who merely existed between that time and the coming of the Spirit, but a sound, a smell, a shadow or a familiar voice and I am transported back to any one of these.   I feel the lump in my throat.   I try to hold back the tears that soon follow and I remember a man that just could not find the reality of Jesus' love for me.   I was heartbroken but it wasn't Jesus that broke my heart, it was my stubborn pursuit of my own expectations instead of trying to visualize His will.   I was to be His General, the righteous sword of justice.   I didn't always understand His preaching and parables but I was willing to fight.
Jesus chose me there in Galilee so I knew my passion was truly righteous but He chose the heart not the mind.   Everything else was a work in progress.   I know now that Jesus wanted me to not only show compassion, but to feel compassion for everyone, even the Pharisees as they took him away.   I saw the look in his eyes, not a look of anger but of disappointment, as I cleaved the servant's ear and I felt nothing but confusion, thereafter.   A very wise carpenter once told me that the bigger the job, the bigger the tool you would need to complete it.   God used a very big tool on me that night.   I considered following Judas and making the journey considerably shorter but I didn't have the courage for that voyage, so I decided to ride this Ark till it made landfall.   It was the right decision because it brought me into contact with another big tool, the Spirit.   The Spirit allowed me to live again and see Jesus for His love.   I could choose to follow Him only after His death but for all the right reasons.   It was not a revelation of all knowledge but of love that could communicate volumes to anyone that returned it with gratitude.
Jesus has shown us that we are paid for and are His.   Our future is assured in Him.   We truly have no choice but to follow Him, with love, as He has taught us, for once you have experienced the power of the Spirit and bathed in the peace that it brings, the possibilities are endless.   You can only love His creation, not for its' reality but for its' potential as Jesus has loved each one of us.   Heaven is our reward, our inheritance, and to die for anything other than the good that is Jesus would be a denial of our own existence.   We are here to do good, not to impress anyone, but because it is right and logical, like your next breath.   Jesus is waiting in heaven. Waiting to greet us after our long journey. Amen

CJB 4/26/05