Right now. God is calling us to change our focus from a hectic season full of stress, chaos, and preparation for gatherings and get-togethers, to center our minds on the HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE that come with the Christ Child. Jesus didn’t have an easy entry into the world, as there were stresses about when and where the birth would occur and having to take care of obligations, but God cared for them.

The Angels prepared others for the coming Christ and invited the world to receive the gift God had given. We hear the story in Luke’s Gospel about the circumstances that led to Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem and how Jesus was born in a less-than-ideal situation. Still, because of that, the shepherds came to celebrate the coming of the King, and the Kingdom of Heaven arrived here on Earth.

Luke 2:1-20 (ESV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

14  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

As we wrap up the Advent season, we look back at the last four weeks and our successes and failures in carrying out the Advent mission. Even as we worship tonight, things are probably swirling around our minds as we think about the last-minute preparations that need to be made for a “successful” Christmas. However, tonight as we look at the candles here, we are reminded that Jesus’ birth is evidence of a successful Christmas. 

Even if you haven’t stopped and reflected this season, you can now use this moment to listen to the Holy Spirit. You are being told to stop worrying. At this moment, allow God to center your heart and mind on the purpose of Advent. Prepare our hearts and minds for Christ to enter our world. 

Titus 2:11-14 (ESV)

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

When Jesus comes into the world, we are gifted salvation because Jesus brings greater gifts than we could imagine. However, we keep thinking and working toward finding the perfect gifts to get everyone when we only need to look around the wreath to proclaim the greatest gifts.

Hope

We await the coming of the King, our Hope brings our focus to God’s promises for us and alters our vision from the past and present toward a focus on future glory. All our actions right now reflect a vision focused on what Jesus has done for us and is doing for us heading into the future. Hope is something we have and something that we share with the world. Instead of crossing our fingers, we look at how the story unfolded in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and throughout the Roman Empire. Then we reflect on how that mission continues into each of us right where we live, work, and play.

Hope guides us to Christ, for there is no hope if not for Christ carrying out God’s mission here on Earth and in each of us. Humanity shows us that we give ourselves over to many worldly passions, and sin pulls us away from God into lawlessness and chaos. We tried to save ourselves, but Jesus reminds us that only through the power of our Savior were we able to be saved.

Peace

The world at the time of Christ’s Birth was a world in a chaotic state. By the world’s standards, there was great peace under the rule of Rome. However, there was turmoil within the different groups in the world, as people were disenfranchised, rulers took advantage of the people, and there was a growing disparity between the rich and the poor. What the world called peace resembled chaos and turmoil. 

An ordering and counting would regulate and help facilitate this peace even further. We hear of a census being taken, and Joseph and Mary, in an attempt to comply with this “ordering,” find themselves in a situation where Mary is giving birth in a place where they are not home but are in a situation where they are without peace and no place in the inn. 

However, God chose to bring His Son into our world in this chaotic situation. The chaos continues today, but God sends out His church to come into the world and bring God’s peace and order. 

Joy

The birth of a child naturally brings joy, but the circumstances around Mary’s pregnancy brought uncertainty that would have squashed the joy of some. Still, the joy that comes from the Lord cannot be squelched by circumstance or situation, but rather the joy that comes from the Lord strikes out against deep sorrow and shines light into the dark recesses of our souls.

Joy is not simply happiness but unbridled light that fills us at our core. It reminds us that we don’t exist simply to experience pleasure but that the Glory of God gives us a gift that we cannot simply look at and discard. The emotional state the shepherds felt when they encountered Jesus was more than a temporary euphoria but a joy they knew in their bones.

Through Joy, we are given a gift that lifts the people in our world. We enable people to look beyond their current circumstances and into a future defined by hope, peace, and love.

Love

Through God’s love, humanity is embraced, and sin is forgiven. Love covers up and demolishes sin at its core. Where love exists, divisions fail, and love shows us how to draw closer to God. We are taught how to flee from the immorality that plagues the world, and embrace HOPE, PEACE, and JOY through LOVE. Love is a gift from the Almighty God.

The greatest of the gifts is love. Love defines God’s action that sent His Son to us, bringing salvation from sin. This gift transcended what we commonly think about love. There is more than simple emotion or feeling; love comes from the core of existence and creation. God created Hope, Peace, and Joy to connect with His creation, but sin broke that bond and relationship. Out of Love, God sought the ultimate sacrifice to make things right again with humanity.

At the Core of All the Gifts

At the core of all these gifts is the gift of Jesus Christ. Christmas celebrates the free and perfect gift through the Christ Child. The gifts of Advent call to us to stop and reflect on the presence of Christ and that Christ is also a present to each of us that gives HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE. Once we receive these gifts, we are then charged to go out and share them with our neighbors.

It doesn’t require some grand showcase; it can simply be the telling of the story as found in Luke’s Gospel, the same one Linus told us in Charlie Brown’s Christmas Special. That is what Christmas is all about, after all.

Col. James McKay “Kay” Greer

MAY 16, 1932 – APRIL 27, 2022

Many of you may be aware that our dear brother Kay passed away in April. He was a dear friend to many in the Horizon Community and the spirit of Christ flowed through him to many that knew and loved him. He served Horizon through ups and downs, providing his voice to our worship in word and song, serving the church through leadership, and providing wisdom at many key points. One of the good things to come out of the pandemic, was that many of us were able to see Kay worship with us when we were on Zoom. We will certainly miss our dear brother, but rejoice that the Lord has called him home.

Below is the obituary that his family has shared. Pulled from Dignity Memorial.

On April 27, 2022 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, James McKay “Kay” Greer peacefully left this world just shy of his 90th birthday. Born on May 16, 1932 in Hazard, Kentucky, Kay led an extraordinary life, including a career of service to his country in the Air Force. To say Kay was a man of many talents is understatement in the extreme: his basso profundo voice wowed listeners whether he was singing Handel or Gilbert & Sullivan, church hymns or Broadway show tunes. He could bring folks to tears reading scripture or knock them out of their chairs with hilarious stories. When he was barely more than a kid he drove trucks on the narrow and treacherous mountain roads of his Appalachian home (and later terrified his children on visits to the grandparents by driving the family car like a wild man on those roads, which were now “easy” because hey, now there are two lanes!) He was a High School Kentucky All-Star in basketball and played college ball with such fearlessness that — though he was the shortest guy on the team at 6’5″ — he dominated his opponents and even christened the brand-new floor of the Western Kentucky University gym with blood from his battle injuries (much to the ire of his coach, the famous E.A. Diddle: “Get offa my floor, Greer! Ya gettin’ blood on it!”). Even Kay’s “failures” turned out to be successes: the vintage 1957 MG Sports Sedan in the carport he worked so hard to rehabilitate wound up a fantastic fort for the neighborhood kids, complete with tie-dyed curtains in the car windows. Upon graduating Western in 1955, Kay enlisted in the Air Force and married his true love, Mary “Way” Drew Greer. “Way & Kay”, as they were known to all their friends, spent a loving and adventurous 64 years together until her passing in 2019, raising their children, traveling from one military assignment to the next, and eventually welcoming grandchildren and great-grandchildren into the family. Kay loved to fly. He started his Air Force career in Texas training to fly the Piper cub, the T-6 Texan, and the B-25. After a Jet Qualification course in 1959 (which he nearly didn’t pass when the tower announced to him over the radio that his new baby boy had just been born), he went on to fly the B-52, the plane that would be central to the remainder of his Air Force career. He then became B-52 Aircraft Commander at Westover AFB in Massachusetts and was in the air during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He became B-52 Aircraft Commander, B-52 Instructor Pilot, FB-111 and T-39 Aircraft

Commander, and Air Operations Officer at Carswell AFB, Texas. In the early 1970’s he became a B-52 Squadron Commander at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, from which he and his squadron were briefly deployed to Andersen AFB in Guam.

After that was Kay’s first Pentagon assignment, as a Division Chief for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations. His team worked on “special projects” in a nondescript vault in the basement, the directions to which included “… just past the purple water fountain.” (He would always grin when he mentioned that storied landmark in the bowels of the giant building.) He returned to the Pentagon in 1979 as an Officer, Joint Staff after an assignment as Wing Commander of the 509th Bomb Wing at Pease AFB, New Hampshire, which housed KC-135s and FB-111s. On June 30, 1985 Colonel Kay Greer retired as Chief of Staff, Headquarters 8th Air Force at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana after 30 years, 1 month and 22 days of service. He went on to a second career in the aerospace industry until his final retirement, as a Test Conductor for the B-1 Lancer at Rockwell International and a Manager for the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber at Northrop Grumman.

Despite his storied career, intellectual brilliance, and staggering talents, Kay was the warmest and humblest of men. He lived a life of service not only to his country but as a decades-long Presbyterian Elder in the church, always alongside his beloved Way who served as office manager/secretary of their church for twenty years. His humor, caring and sincerity charmed everyone he met, and humble Kay was the only one surprised that everyone seemed to love him. He walked through life in a constant state of wonderment for all the blessings he received from God, whom to the very end Kay faithfully loved with all his heart and all his soul and all his strength and all his mind.

Kay was predeceased by his parents Harry E. Greer and Mary Lee Harned Greer and his siblings Margaret E. Greer, Harry E. Greer, William H. Greer and Perry L. Greer. He is survived by his children Lori Greer Rossett (Rickey), James McKay Greer, Jr. (Denise), Julia Drew Greer, John Lincoln Greer (Jenny); his niece Cindy Drew; and his 14 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. A memorial will be held at The Fairfax, a Sunrise Senior Living Community where he and Way were surrounded by dear friends, 9140 Belvoir Woods Parkway, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060 on June 4, 2022 at 11:00 am, with another to follow next year at Arlington National Cemetery, date and time TBA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Red Cross or Compassion International.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/alexandria-va/james-mckay-greer-10733055?utm_source=obit_alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=obit_detail&utm_content=decedent_name.

Five hundred years ago, the Protestant Reformation sought to change the church, to bring the focus back upon God. The Reformation had no intention of breaking free from the church in Rome but instead saw that the message of grace and mercy had been replaced with penance and indulgences. Due to these circumstances, Martin Luther spoke up and sought to bring the church back to God’s intended purpose, to spread the Gospel message to the world. 

God used an imperfect person to bring change to the church. Those that seek to change the world must understand that they are imperfect and not worthy of praise, but rather deflect all of that praise to the Almighty God. The church, however, often looks to its leaders and seeks their elevation rather than focusing on the message. Thus, on this Reformation Sunday, we need to focus on God’s desire to constantly re-form us into His image and carry out the mission of the Gospel in our community and the world.

Saul is an example of an imperfect person, carrying out the mission of God. After Ananias had been with Saul, with sight restored, Saul was released to do the work of God in the world. Sharing the Gospel, proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior, and doing ministry work in Damascus caused Saul to develop some enemies. The people that were content with the status quo, those that said this is the way we have always done things, and those that were uncomfortable with Saul’s new message fought to destroy Saul and protect the status quo. This story invites us to look at Acts and see how Saul first interacts with the church.

Acts 9:23-31

23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

The examples of Luther, Saul, and countless others remind the church that we need people in our midst willing to challenge the status quo and fight for reforms within the body. Often these reforms start within our own lives. What sin is still unresolved? The reformer’s perspective begins by recognizing the need to be transformed and renewed by the Holy Spirit, and with that renewal comes a desire to change the world. This desire recognizes that God holds the ultimate authority over us and not any organization or group found on Earth. 

When we grant the ultimate authority over our lives to God, we relinquish all other pretenses through which we speak and instead ask the Holy Spirit to speak through us and for us. The Holy Spirit will always speak the truth and demand the same of each of God’s disciples. This orientation puts the reformer in a situation where they must immediately and wholly confront anything that runs contrary to the Message of the Cross and God’s love for the world.

God established the church to carry out the Almighty’s mission on Earth, to bring all of the created order back to God. The reformer’s voice calls the church to heed the call and get our hearts right with God. The reformer’s problems result from tribalism and looking at the world through only one particular lens.

Martin Luther never sought to break away from the Catholic Church but saw something that did not align with scripture and discussed it. This challenge made Rome nervous and resulted in his excommunication. When speaking to the Jews about Jesus, Saul challenged the notion that the Christ had yet to come, but instead of it resulting in a discussion, the Jews plotted to kill him. Challenges and reforms don’t often come easy, and they usually result in a great deal of animosity from the leaders and status quo.

However, our allegiance must lie with God and not with political or even religious leaders. This temptation plagues the church in America. Quickly the church aligns itself with charismatic leaders and politicians, and regardless of substance, many quickly fall prey to the trap. Instead of speaking the truth of God boldly to power, they usurp God’s mission in the path toward human ambition, which is why we need reformers in our midst.

The reformer can come from anyone led by the Holy Spirit, even those that once were enemies of the church. Saul was an enemy, and through the transformation of God, Saul became an evangelist and spoke the truth at his peril. We cannot fear this type of person in our midst, but instead, we must be willing to stand in Barnabas’ shoes in this passage as he vouched for Saul and provided testimony to Saul’s transformation. This testimony paved the way for the reformation of the church from just for Jews toward reaching out toward the Gentiles as well. 

The church must keep its eyes open and its ears listening, as the Holy Spirit can speak through anyone at any time. This way, the church will be open to the necessary reforms. Thus the church operates as a reformed and always reforming congregation.

Many of us have long thought of St. Patrick’s Day as a day to wear green and eat corned beef and cabbage. However, we should examine what our friend Patrick did and how we can use it as a beautiful example of how we can bring God’s grace to a world that is often devoid of hope. Today, the supposed anniversary of his death should serve to remind Christians everywhere that our God is powerful and can use us no matter where we come from or what stratus of life from which we come. 

Although recognized as Ireland’s patron saint, Patrick was not Irish but came to Ireland as a slave when he was only a teen. He was captive for about six years and worked primarily as a shepherd. During his captivity, Patrick, buoyed by his faith in Christ, found comfort in the promises that God would never leave him or forsake him in his circumstances. During captivity, God also gave Patrick a sense of call, similar to the sense of call God puts on our hearts.

After returning to Britain, escaping his captors, God called Patrick into ordination as a Priest. After becoming a Priest, he petitioned to go back to Ireland to bring God’s Gospel message to Ireland’s Celtic people. Instead of casting aside the people’s traditions and denouncing their pagan roots, Patrick sought to share the Gospel as it is working in their lives already. Through his actions, and practices he translated the Gospel into a language that they would understand. In much the same way, Paul was able to explain the Gospel to those at the Areopagus.

Today, we must follow the Saints’ example and share the Gospel with people, not in judgment, but with grace, just as Christ came to us with a Spirit of Love. We must seek to understand the culture. Learn the language, speak with humility, and bring hope, justice, peace, and love. Speak truth to power, but you must first speak the culture’s language to be heard and understood. Saint Patrick understood and embodied this and integrated notably Irish items into the worship of God. 

It is not the job of evangelism to wash over and eradicate culture. Instead, through our understanding of culture, we translate the Gospel into the language of culture. Instead of appropriating and colonizing, we see where God is already at work and join into God’s Kingdom work right where we live and play.

No matter what we find ourselves afflicted by, God reminds us that we must respond with worship. Even during war, persecution, plagues, and separation, God reminds us that we are not forgotten and belong to the Almighty and called us to worship him with all of our heart. Worship is engrained into our very core, and that circumstance tries to cover up that calling upon our hearts by distracting us with any number of problems in our lives. 

The danger we face is the same danger that faced the people of Israel and Judah. When we focus upon the affliction, we tend toward thinking that God has abandoned us or is absent from us, but that is contrary to the truth. God has written our names upon His hands. Jesus reminded the apostles to look upon him and the sacrifice Jesus made. God calls the people to look upon God’s hands and remember that the work of salvation is complete; therefore, we must look at God’s hands and worship, casting aside any afflictions, as they are not worthy of our focus.

Isaiah 49:13-18 (NIV)

13Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

14But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”

15“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

16See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

17Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.18Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

None of us belong, and all of us belong. We all have done wrong, treated each other improperly, and allowed sinful thoughts to affect our actions and lives. However, we have all been called to the foot of the cross, welcomed by the Almighty, to salvation. Our previous shortcomings, our current sins, nor our future problems do not withhold the grace found at the cross. Before we proceed with anything involving the church, we must affirm that our faith and salvation comes from no other place than the Almighty God, which did not consider sending Christ Jesus to Earth an act beneath the Creator. Therefore, because Christ pulls us out of sin, we cannot think that any of us is too perfect or too far gone for God’s salvation.

The church can never become a gatekeeper for salvation but must embody the sacrificial love that God has for followers of Christ. We must let go of our notions about who belongs and who doesn’t belong because we must all recognize that we are all lawbreakers and deserve death, but because of God’s mercy, we are saved by grace. The church gathers rule breakers and fugitives. For God calls us all to put down all of our idols and names and come before the cross, laying EVERYTHING down before Christ. Any idea that we carry any other identity other than a child of the Almighty God is foolish and idolatrous.

Isaiah 45:20-25 (NIV)

²⁰“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.

²¹Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord ? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.

²²“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

²³By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

²⁴They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.’ ” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.

²⁵But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the Lord and will make their boast in him.

I have been approached by more than a few asking about the vaccine and the mark of the beast. I want to just say, “No, it isn’t.” Part of me thinks it is a fear tactic, and another ploy by many Christians to undermine the medical community. However, we must address these matters with sincerity and a desire to understand and adequately discern the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. We must guard against the mindless chatter and indulging of things meant to divide us from one another. God knows his children, and we should put on the clothing that shows the fruits of the Spirit.

Some may think that I am granting too much credence to the conspiracy theories, and I may be doing just that, but I feel compelled to give at least my thoughts on the matter.

In the second chapter of 2 Timothy, it states:

¹⁴Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”  

How do you feel about vaccines in general? This vaccine is no different than any other vaccine in many respects. 

We should be careful when making some broad proclamations about this situation. Many conspiracy theorists will exacerbate our fears and point to the imagery contained within John’s Revelation. The Revelation of John is apocalyptic literature. We need to look at the reason for this type of literature and what we can understand about what God is instructing us through this scripture. John called pointed out the mark of the beast as something that people did to proclaim allegiance to the world in opposition to our devotion to Christ.

The mark of the beast has been claimed about many things throughout the history of the world. In the last several decades, it has been attributed to identification (driver’s licenses and such), credit cards, cell phones, or anything broadly used in society. In each of these interpretations, they interpreted the mark of the beast as something that you need to interact with commerce in society, and without it, you cannot engage in trade. However, none of these things are asking us to pledge our allegiance to human institutions; they are used to keep order in society. None of them ask you to renounce your devotion to Christ to receive them; therefore, they do not pass the mark of the beast test.

Similarly, many things have been said about this vaccine, many of which are untrue. Two of the vaccines that have been approved are mRNA vaccines; therefore, people have stated that they change your DNA, which is patently false, and a 101 level of biology would help understand how messenger RNA works. They give the instructions to the body, which help promote an immune response without ever having the SARS-Cov-2 virus in our bodies. The development of such a vaccine is quite a marvel about how God creates humans to understand and figure this out and help destroy the virus’s effects on our society, which is a reason to give thanks to God and not for fear. 

Another aspect of the anti-vaccine is the worry of a tracking microchip. While they do have microchips as small as 3 nanometers, it would simply be impractical to place a chip in anything like this. Further, since many of the vaccines are being transported in vials that contain multiple doses, it would require the ability to ensure that there was a chip in each dose. This is an absurd assertion, especially since many people carry a device with a camera and a microphone that tracks our location and internet history. There is absolutely no reason for any need for a tracking microchip.

The vaccine has undergone extensive testing that has was verified through peer review and the FDA. These are of course human institutions and are thus fallible, so ultimately it would require you to prayerfully consider if you trust those institutions.

With all of the reasons above, I have zero qualms about taking the vaccine, and will proudly recommend that any person that is healthy and not allergic to the vaccine ingredients to get the vaccine, as no one is asking you to renounce your faith to take it. Further, my faith instructs me God has created and guided the people that have developed this vaccine. Lastly, God has called us to care for others, and my willingness to take the vaccine protects the people I come across from contracting this disease that has killed many people throughout the world, and that God calls us to love one another and that the best way we can love one another at this time is to protect each other from a deadly illness.

In short, the vaccine is not the mark of the beast, and if you can take it I would recommend it, and I will take it as soon as I can.

A Reflection on Acts 1:6-14

When is life going to be normal again? God why don’t you just make this all go away? These are a couple of the questions that must swirl through our heads at a time like this. We don’t embrace terms like “new normal” and we are simply fatigued with our circumstance. However, God is not a static God, He is not like a bridge or a building, but rather God is active, God is moving, God is a dynamic force on the world, and the Church is called to be powerful, dynamic, and moving into the world.

Kingdoms of the world are generally static, and are defined by the buildings and structures that they have built. Egypt had it’s iconic pyramids, Rome had the Colosseum, China had its wall, throughout the world there are palaces and castles dedicated to the kingdoms throughout history. The followers of Christ sit in contrast to that, they focus upon a cross, an empty cross, a cross that reminds the church that God’s kingdom is on the move.

There is a temptation of the church to mimic the worldly kingdoms by building extravagant churches and edifices intended to honor Christ, as we can see throughout the world extraordinary cathedrals and churches. These churches and buildings, while dedicated to the service of God, are static, and only good if they promote the church to get up and go out and spread God’s message and kingdom.

The disciples of Christ still thought like much of the world that the kingdom was a static place, and that Israel would get its land back from Rome, and it prompted this interaction with Jesus just prior to His ascension, in Acts chapter 1.

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” 

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 

Commission

Jesus opens up correcting the assumptions of the disciples, for they were thinking about a transformation that looked like the conquering kingdoms of the past. They still hoped that Jesus was going to lead an army into Jerusalem and take over, and yet Jesus patiently reminds them that their thinking is incorrect, and that they needed to rely upon the Father as He is the ultimate authority and provider of all things. They wanted to know the ending, but Jesus reminds them that the next step is the most important step, and that God is calling them to yield their thoughts and vision away from the physical and political, and toward the Spirit.

When we focus on the Spirit, our understanding shifts away from the world as geography, to the Kingdom of God as a spiritual kingdom that extends beyond geographical boundaries. Jesus tells the disciples that their power, and our power comes not from government, or money, or property, but it comes directly from the Holy Spirit. God’s Kingdom is spread by witness, not by soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not a declaration of war, and by the work of the Spirit, not by force, political intrigue, or violence. At the same time, when we reject the politics of the kingdom, we must avoid super-spiritualizing it, because God’s rule operates on Earth and not only in heaven.

Just as Jesus told the disciples that the ministry did not have boundaries like the kingdoms of the Earth, so too we must appreciate that our ministry must be focused outside our church buildings and out into the communities that we are called to serve. This requires us to release our attachments to the Earth and allow God to take everything and use us to our full capacity.  

Vision

In order to operate at this capacity, we must allow our vision to synchronize with God’s plan for the world. We must take time to be in awe of all the things that God has done for us, but there also comes a time when we must fulfill and act upon the commission God has given to us. While we come up with ideas, and plans, if they do not have an understanding of the fullness of God’s mission in the world they are lacking and without vision. 

The disciples needed a reminder from the people dressed in white, that Jesus is coming back, don’t be fixated upon when and where, but trust God and carry out His plan, and that we only need to be better at carrying out what God has planned for us. The vision God has planned for us is unique, and we must be adaptable to the circumstances that we find ourselves.

Unique times put us in unique circumstances that require the church to adapt. This adaptation requires us to be flexible in our vision, and try new things. Most of us have had to learn how to attend church via YouTube, Facebook, or Zoom, something that most of us had not even thought about before it became a necessity. However, the successes in this new way of church have shown us the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the negative, and continue to spread the message of hope, peace, and love in spite of physical distancing. This should encourage us to be able to move forward trusting that God’s vision for the church will succeed, no matter the circumstances. 

Prayer

To begin trusting this vision, we need to start in the same place as the disciples after Christ’s ascension, in prayer. Prayer is where we seek God’s vision, where we ask for the Holy Spirit to come and lead us, and we quiet our voice and vision and yield to what God desires for us. As we move forward may God’s blessings be upon us, His vision guide us, and the Holy Spirit power our mission in the world to spread God’s Kingdom beyond our walls, and all boundaries.

A Reflection on 1 Peter 1:3-9

Unprecedented times have led to changes in our lifestyle. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we were not ready for the changes that have happened in our lives over the last month. So much of the world we had thought was secure, so many of the institutions in which we placed our faith have let us down, and we are left grasping the air.

Peter found himself thinking the same way after Christ was taken away. All that he thought was secure was nailed to the cross, and his sworn allegiance to Jesus was shaken because when pushed, Peter denied. With this lapse in faith and judgement Peter found himself in a situation where he needed a Savior, he needed a fresh faith.

We don’t need to give up on our faith because the fabric of life seems to be breaking apart at the seams. Through bitterness about our circumstance, we may be willing to give everything up and walk away from obedience to Christ. However, we have a lot to learn about ourselves, and about how Christ meets us in this temporary time. This same Christ met Peter after the resurrection, and even when Peter had denied Christ, God’s grace removed the disgrace, and reinstated Peter as the rock of foundation for the Church. It was in this grace-filled circumstance that Peter writes the following:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:3-9 NIV

No failure of faith keeps us away from the salvation that Christ offers to us through His death and resurrection. No matter the things that we end up putting in front of God, we are not beyond redemption. No matter how hard we try to make things work for ourselves, we are reminded that none of the things we do for ourselves lead us toward salvation, not our job, our bank account, or even our government. Christ is our only Hope, He saves us from our own stubbornness, and our sin.

Salvation is God’s work and not our work, this is the Hope that comforts us in this current situation. The hope is not something that we do to cause an effect, like wearing a mask or washing our hands to keep from getting sick, but rather a knowledge that God has already done the work that leads to salvation. Our actions give us a better chance, but God’s actions are assured to be efficacious.

It was this Hope that led the Israelites out of Egypt, and into the promised land. God promised Israel a land that was flowing with milk and honey, which was their inheritance. Peter reminds us that our inheritance is the Hope in Christ Jesus, and our faith in God cannot be removed, does not expire, and will not spoil.

When we start walking in this faith is where we are able to begin our life with Christ. When we are obedient to God, we can more easily be identified as Christ’s disciples. Even in our struggles: like missing our friends, our jobs, sports, and our church, God provides us with the Holy Spirit to walk near us and lift us up when we need support. We need to lean into this support, as it is the same God that raised Jesus from the dead, can certainly support us in our limited darkness.

Our circumstances are temporary, these times will come to an end, and we need to allow our faith to instruct us at this time. Peter reminds us that at times of darkness and despair help refine our faith, like fire refines gold, and to God our faith is far more valuable than the most pure gold. When we lean into this faith, all things are put into their proper perspective, and joy is produced deep within our soul.

This joy is not a result of achievement, but a gift from the Almighty God, as it disconnects us from our dependence on good circumstances. We can have joy in our grief, we can grieve the pain so many are experiencing, we can grieve those that are dying, we can grieve in the midst of pain; but in grief God reminds us about that which is true – God loves us and saves us from death. In this, we have Hope that doesn’t fail, Faith that doesn’t spoil, because God loves us and grants us a beautiful and wonderful joy.