We've all sung the children's song: " Them bones, them bones, them dry bones.." This song is taken from today's lection written by the Prophet Ezekiel. In this passage, we Lord comes upon Ezekiel and gives him a vision of a valley full of dried up bones. In the vision he sees the bones come together and sinew and flesh comes upon them, but still there is something missing. They are not living. Life only came when the "breath of God" came upon the bones. Sometimes, I think that we are much like this valley of dry bones. The bones are knit together. The sinew and muscle is in place, but something is missing. We don't seem to have the new life that God has promised us in Jesus Christ. We continue to act as if we are dead, rather that alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. We continue to forget that God has called us--empowered us--and sent us into the world to be--not just a bunch of dry bones--but the living body of Jesus Christ. |
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If you read these two passages, you will note a common theme. Peter quoting earlier from Isaiah 53:9, makes the following allusion to another part of that same chapter (53:5) when he says "you are healed because of his wounds." I grew up with the more traditional reading of Isaiah 53:5 -"By his stripes we are healed."
Having been influenced by a charismatic interpretation of that scripture, I used it as a passage to claim physical healing of the body. There is more, though, than just a physical healing that comes about through the stripes that Jesus endured on our behalf. In reality, a physical healing will only prolong this earthly life for a few more days. In the light of eternity, it is not physical healing that our soul ultimately craves. Our soul longs for a spiritual healing that comes through Christ's death on the cross because of our sins. So, I won't tell you not to claim that verse to help with your physical healing. Do it. First realize, however, that unless your soul is right with God all the physical healing in the world will not stop you from the spiritual death that awaits you if you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Please share with me your thoughts on this matter by making a comment. As I read the Romans 12 article this week, from the General Board of Discipleship, the following sentence jumped out at me: “Hospitality is not just a committee, it's a whole church effort.”
I think that too many church members like to relegate things to committees. If there is a committee, then whatever the task may be, becomes the responsibility of the committee members. Unfortunately, such attitudes are detrimental to the overall growth and function of the church. To be a disciple means that you are actively engaged in the ministries and life of the church. It’s not the responsibility of the evangelism committee to do all the evangelism. It’s not the responsibility of the worship committee to do all the worshiping. It’s not the responsibility of the Shepherd Team to do all the caring. It’s not the responsibility of the Hospitality Team to … do you get my point? Most people act as if the only team that they are on is the sit-in-pews-on-Sunday-morning-team. Don’t get me wrong it’s nice to have bodies in the pews, but those bodies have to want to carry on the ministry of the church and not just assume that someone else is going to do the ministry—for them. That is one key to being a disciple that makes other disciples. You have to want to get ACTIVELY involved in ministry and mission and not just leave it to someone else. This isn't the first blog I have created--and most likely--it won't be the last. I'll be using it to share some of my thoughts on topics related to the church and her ministry. Not all of them will be original. Some of them will be my response to an article I might have read or some event that caught my attention. Some of them might be God sightings--those moments in time when I see God at work in the world. I invite you into my thoughts and encourage you to share your thoughts with me via the comment section associated with each of the blog posts.
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Pastor Terry GoodmanHere's the place to get an idea about some of the thoughts and ideas that are on my mind. Archives
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