Devotional

Jesus’ Love Is More Than A Temporary Vibe Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | September 1, 2024 In our current culture, it seems to be the trend for people to seek out people, places and events where that can catch a good vibe. Cambridge Dictionary defines “vibe” as the mood of a place, situation, person, etc. and the way that they make you feel. Some people judge their relationships and the places they frequent by the number of good vibes they feel.       Jesus had just fed a huge crowd of over 5000, but after they pursued him for more food to fill their bellies, he now gives them a long lecture on the Bread of Heaven. And many in the crowd didn’t like his message. They found it weird— eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The multitude now is no longer getting good vibes from Jesus, and the crowd begins to thin out considerably.       Isn’t that how many of us respond to certain passages in the Bible. Some of Jesus’ teachings make us uneasy. They come too close to what we know is not right within us. Some of his teachings are so countercultural that to be brutally honest, they turn many people away or those who remain in the faith pick and choose the teachings they can tolerate.       At the end of John 6, the crowd’s vibe was fading fast. Some of the disciples were so offended, they turned back. Jesus knew where their hearts were. He explains to them that no one can come to God unless God enables them to do so. Think about that for a moment. So many Christians get this all wrong. God who is full of grace and mercy comes to us and gives us faith. We don’t acquire faith.  It is given to us. Time and time again, in our performance-based society, we supplant the free gift of faith with our need to achieve it and work for it—no pain, no gain. Some of us can give gifts and yet, we have a hard time receiving them. We feel unworthy. But self-judgment can paralyze us. It is God who gives us faith. Paul explains this very well in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is a free undeserved gift from God.       Now some of Jesus’ disciples did turn back. So, Jesus turns to the twelve, his inner circle and asks them, “Are you leaving me too?” Peter immediately responds, “Lord, where else could we go, who else offers the gift of eternal life? We believe you. You are the Holy One of God.”      There are times in the church, it happens in just about every congregation, where people leave because they disagree with a teaching or a doctrine, or a conflict arises, or people don’t get a good vibe anymore, maybe it’s the preaching or the music and they decide to leave the congregation—people rotate in and out churches all the time. There are times when people you once trusted in the faith, desert you and walk away. It is times like these where we have no other option but to respond like Peter, “Where else do I have to go Lord—you are the only one that truly matters.”      So, often we get fooled or caught off guard. Sometimes we place too much faith in the good vibes, people’s personalities and credentials. We place pastors and leaders on pedestals rather than placing our faith totally in the one who gives us faith. People and institutions can disappoint us. But Jesus, doesn’t disappoint. He is more than a temporary vibe. His love is eternal. His love will never desert you nor will he ever abandon you! Prayer: Lord, help me to seek and place you first in my life above ‘all’ else. I cannot to this without your help. Jesus, help me draw closer to you. Amen.

Belief follows in the echo of Christlikeness Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | Jan 21, 2024 Paul summons the Christians in Ephesus to “be careful.” He in fact, summons them to be “very careful.” “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph 5:15-17). In other words, he is saying be extra careful. So what did living carefully look like for these early followers of Jesus? The word live literally means to walk. Paul is summoning Jesus’ followers to walk carefully, to be always be reminded that to follow Jesus in many ways means to live with intentionality and be deliberate in one’s devotion to God, to above all things love God and unconditionally love our neighbor.        The whole of Ephesians 5, emphasizes how the re-created status of Christians should result in changed lives, lives that look different from those who do not serve God and whose deeds will bring about God’s wrath. The church is universal in the sense of being open to all, but the church still exists in a “present darkness” where evil is at work against it (Ephesians 6:12) . Paul continues with a warning to the followers of Jesus to be wise. One must make the most of each day and every opportunity, to walk carefully, in-step and cooperate with God and one another because the days hold evil. It’s dangerous being a disciple of Jesus. As we walk the road of discipleship, the road is lined with shifting allies, fierce temptations and worldly distractions that pull us away from our Christian values. It is difficult being good and doing the right thing.        There is a lot of evil and darkness in our world today. It is no different than when Paul wrote his letter to the congregations in Ephesus urging them to be careful and wise. When we think of evil, we often think of the violence in others or Christian persecutions and those who gather secretly in countries where they run the risk of being harassed, imprisoned and executed for their beliefs. But there are more subtler kinds of evil that affect all Christians in the 21st century. What about materialism and affluence which a large majority of us wrestle with—are we living carefully? What about the lust for power, status and our insatiable drive to acquire an identity and sense of importance—are we wise or unwise? What about our battle with self-righteous attitudes, spiritual superiority and extreme self-involvement which today we call narcissism. What about living a life of confession without any attempt of repentance?         Robert Mulholland Jr., author of “The Deeper Journey” writes, “I heard a wise teacher say, “Repentance is not being sorry for the things you have done, but being sorry you are the kind for person who does bad things. I began to realize that underneath my thin layer of religiosity, lived a perversive and deeply entrenched self-referenced being which was driven by its own agendas, its own desires, its own purposes, and no amount of superficial tinkering with the religious façade made any appreciable difference.”       The world will not believe in Christ because of our sound theology, our correct creed or our well-defined dogma, although essential. The world will believe when we manifest Christ-likeness. When we walk in the way of Jesus; wise in how we form a Christian world view, careful in how we interpret the times and how we resist being influenced by secular values and beliefs. The world will know that God sent his Son not because we say it is so but when those in the world see with their own eyes Christlikeness lived out in us.Prayer: As we walk into each day, help us to walk carefully, to discern with Christlike wisdom where we place our hearts and where we place our feet. Amen.

Faith Disrupts Our Lives Taken from a Red Rock News Article (August 16, 2024) Rev. Dona Johnson | August 18, 2024       Faith disrupts. Have you ever prayed and asked God to disturb your life? How many of us would have the courage to pray this prayer? Let that sink in for a moment. “Lord please disturb me.” Who in the world wants their lives disturbed. Who wants their daily routines, their lifestyles and their comfort zones disrupted. Sometimes in our lives, when we least expect it, our life, plans get interrupted or put on hold. And how we respond to disruptions and change says a lot about our temperaments, but more importantly, it says much more about our faith.       When a disruption comes into our lives, it can feel as if the floor we are standing on has been pulled out from under us. It could be the loss of a job opportunity, a sudden illness or injury, an unforeseen rejection or betrayal in what you thought was a trusted relationship or it could be a new biblical insight—that tests and disrupts your once held tried and true assumptions about God.       Are daily disruptions interruptions or holy invitations to grow our faith? They can stretch our understanding of what it means to deeply live out our faith, to depend solely on God’s power to sustain us. Christians are called to make ourselves available to daily interruptions, knowing God is in the center of every encounter.  There are also times when disruptions bring us at a crossroads. Where what once worked for us and served us quite well is no longer moving us forward but holding us back. This could be for believers as well as entire congregations. In the words of Jeremiah, “This is what the Lord says” “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls (Jer. 6:16). How do you respond when you come to a crossroad? How do you handle unexpected disruptions? Maybe you grumble, maybe you resent your life being interrupted? Or maybe you use it to open yourself up to what God is about to do.       Throughout biblical history, there have been several huge disruptions that changed how humanity viewed the world. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ was a monumental interruption to a religion that had grown cold and stagnated (Luke 2). Throughout his ministry, Jesus’ days were filled with endless disruptions. Crowds of suffering people swarmed around him. Wanting to be healed. People came interrupting him at all hours of the day and night to find out how they might inherit eternal life (John 3). Jesus never turned anyone away. He stopped. He stayed. He listened. He ministered to them. Then the ultimate disruption that dramatically changed the course of human history was Jesus’ death and resurrection, upending the stronghold of sin and death.      Large or small, daily disruptions are holy invitations to wake us up to people and opportunities that bring us closer and more dependent on God’s will and his power to grow us spiritually. We often get so locked-in to our daily routines that when they are disrupted, we easily become irritated. Routines can become a form of self-protection and self absorption. Many people today live life on autopilot—just going through the motions.      In closing, here are a few wonderful words from a prayer by Sir Francis Drake, “Disturb us Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves…Disturb us Lord, when having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity…Disturb us Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. Amen.

I Am the Bread of Life Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | August 11, 2024 Like many ancient societies, Egyptians and Israelites were dependent upon cereals and grain; so much so that the word for bread, “lechem,” is synonymous with food. And in many countries today, bread is still a major source of food that satisfies the hunger, malnourishment and nutritional needs of both people of poverty and people of means. Now Jesus understood and often addressed the reality of human hunger. In John 6:22-35, Jesus had just fed over 5000 people by multiplying several loaves of bread and a few fish. But he also understood at a deeper level that every human being lives with a spiritual hunger. The crowds who had witnessed Jesus supernaturally multiply the bread and fish and those who were fed, were truly amazed at the miracle. They were so intrigued by the whole encounter, that the crowd wanted more of this good thing. So they followed Jesus and the disciples to the other side of the lake. They saw something was strangely different about Jesus. When the crowd finally caught up with Jesus, he went right to the heart of the matter. He was not their gravy-train or traveling food truck. He said, ‘You’ve seen wonderful things. You’ve seen how God’s grace enabled thousands of people to be fed. Your attention and affections ought to have been turned to God who fed you. But instead, you are still thinking about how you can get more free food. It’s as if Jesus said, ‘You cannot take a moment to think about your souls because your focused on your stomachs.’ Jesus was concerned not for their physical hunger but on the state of their souls—the eternal. He proclaimed and offered himself as the bread of life, an eternal bread. A bread that satisfies hungry hearts. A bread that feeds the soul, tempers our lustful desires, quells our greediness and need for power and our insatiable appetite for wealth and possessions. There is a human temptation to see God as a Genie in a bottle. If you worship God and pray in the right way, God will grant your wishes, keep you from all hardship and increase your prosperity. Some of us worship God with the hope that all our prayers will be answered quickly and meet our desired outcomes. In other words, some of us seek all the benefits of Christ without the desire to commit our lives to him. And this is exactly what we see in the hearts of the crowds who followed Jesus. All the crowds cared about was getting their stomachs filled with bread from the world, rather than feeding their souls with bread from heaven.God desires nothing more from us than that we love him and seek him not with divided loyalties, but with our whole hearts. God desires that we put him first in our lives. Because when we do this, all the others things in life fall into place— our marriages, relationships, livelihoods and our consumptive lifestyles.Once Napoleon and a friend were talking about life. It was dark; they walked to the window and looked out at all the distant stars. Napoleon, who had sharp eyes while his friend was dimmed sighted, pointed to the sky: ‘Do you see all those stars?’ he asked. ‘No,’ his friend answered. ‘I can’t see them.’ ‘That,’ said Napoleon, ‘is the difference between you and me.’Are we too dimmed-sighted? Sometimes our vision of God is too small. Sometimes our concerns and what we don’t have right now are so anchored in the present, in getting our own needs met, that we can’t see the hope and power of God that lies right in front of us and beyond our current circumstances. Jesus sums all this up quite nicely, ‘Don’t work for the food which perishes but for that which lasts forever and gives eternal live.’ Amen.

Patience and the Slow Work of God Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | Aug 4, 2024 Being more patient in your daily life reduces stress levels and involves a concerted effort to manage negative emotions, reframe challenging situations, and maintain a focus on long-term goals and values. Many of us experience periods or times when we are impatient. We pack a lot of activities into each day. Due to technologies, we are more accessible than ever before. Traffic congestion, 24-hour-news-cycle and people’s various moods and personalities can trigger our emotions and cause us to react impatiently.       What causes a person to be impatient? Impatience is expressed when something we want to accomplish takes longer than expected. We become impatient when our efforts towards a goal or a desire get frustrated. Or we become impatient when we’re forced to compromise on something or someone disappoints us. When any of these things happen, we can easily become annoyed, anxious, bitter, resentful and for some, we feel offended and disrespected. Our impatience, if not kept in check can hurt our loved ones, and long-term impact the quality of our relationships. Patient people have an easier time cultivating deeper friendships with others. But in terms of faith, many sins, impulsive mistakes, outbursts and flared tempers come from the lack of patience. Biblically speaking, at the heart of impatience is self-centeredness or selfishness. In other words, impatient people want theirexpectations met on their terms and timeframe. In the real world, this is not the way the world works.      Paul tells us that patience is the fruit of the Spirit, it is evidence of the Holy Spirit alive and working in us (Gal. 5:22-23). Paul also describes patience as an important characteristic of love—love displays patience and kindness (1 Cor 13:4). God is much more patient than we are. As a general rule God works incrementally—a shift in perspective here, a small breakthrough there, slowly enlarging our capacity to see and receive what he has for us. Of course, God has the will, the power and capacity to transform us on the spot. When someone suddenly is cured of an addiction or illness, it’s a tremendous spiritual lift. And yet, most of the time becoming like Jesus is more often a slow, steady journey. Eugene Peterson has named this journey in patience “a long obedience in the same direction.” Learning to be still, to be at peace in the midst of chaos, crisis and reactive people doesn’t happen overnight. We live in a world that expects quick fixes or looks for the short cut. However, changes in the heart, replacing bad habits and doing the inner spiritual work takes time, intentional effort and prayer because God works exceedingly slow.      And yet. sometimes, we think we are ready for what God is preparing for us, and yet we are not. So, God takes the time to grow and transform us in ways we are able to grasp and receive. And although God’s work is often slow, it does not mean God is inactive. Peter beautifully describes God’s patience, ““Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8–9). And so we pray, we examine and lay out our lives before God and we thank him for the slow, patient and grace-filled work he is doing within us every minute of every day.

Is Your S0ul In Danger? Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | July 28, 2024 A deep and abiding question for people of faith is this: is my soul in danger? In other words, what is the state of your spiritual life. Is your moral integrity in danger? Does it seem like today, there is a shorter supply of moral integrity than ever before? Social media, texting, videotaping have all rapidly expanded a platform for people to raise their voices like never before. Social media has provided an immediate way, a communal way to speak out about wrong doing both in helpful and wrongful ways. It has also provided a way to unleash information that is untrue, that tears apart people’s reputations and normalizes harmful behaviors. We see in real time news cycles displaying harmful behaviors in all its forms: misogyny, racism, prejudices and discrimination existing everywhere—in religion, politics, academics and in family life.       Moral integrity or the lack thereof has been so much a part of the human condition from the very beginning of time. It is a human problem and it is present in every generation. The culture has such a gravitational pull on every Christian’s heart. It has the church by the scruff of the neck wanting to force it to agree with the ways of the world.       What is integrity anyway? The Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘integrity’ as the virtue of being honest and having strong moral principles that you live out and refuse to change. Integrity also represents a consistency and congruency in how we think, what we say and what we do. For Christians it means to embody at a very deep level the faith practices and live out the teachings of Jesus. These practices reshape our personalities and how we react to others.       Rich Villodas author of “The Deeply Formed Life,” in a recent podcast said, “I have the theological conviction that I am susceptible of living with integrity, as well as not living with integrity. I try to live with the practice that my soul is in danger of losing its center.”      Jesus often talked about this spiritual center. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matt. 16:26). Paul also understood the human temptation to be selfish and self-centered, to live a life where you will go to any length to get what you want. All things are lawful [that is, morally legitimate, permissible says Paul, but not all things are beneficial or advantageous (1 Cor 10:24). There is nothing more real than Christian freedom, but as we are freed of sin through the life and death of Jesus Christ, we are at the same time bound to him in love to live a life of integrity before him.      How do you keep the state of your soul free from the sin and distractions in this world? For one, make yourself available to honest counsel from close friends or spouses, people who see your life through the lens of the Christian faith. We need a lot of trusted friends around us to help us protect our integrity. There are also seasons in our lives, where we may need to seek therapy or spiritual direction to sort through unresolved conflicts and hurts that rob our souls of peace. We may have friends who no matter what always agree and take our side. While other friends offer needed criticism that will help us improve ourselves and our walk with Christ (Proverbs 27:17). Another way we can protect our souls is to honor the Fourth Commandment, keep the Sabbath holy. A lot of things get violated when we are tired, overworked and fraught with too many demands. We may say something mean-spirited; tempers flare and we may lie and cheat in our fidelity to God and others. Keeping trusted friends close to us, examining our reactions with others, keeping one day a week free to worship God, we live from a place of depth, wisdom and discernment and that produces a life of integrity and keeps our souls safe from danger.

Jesus Chooses Not to Leave Us In The Conditions Where He Finds Us Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | July 14, 2024 For anyone who has had a seriously sick child or a loved one taken ill, knows the deep pain and anguish that comes when you’re waiting for some sign of recovery to happen. The pain of not knowing the final outcome. Where the wavering back and forth between hope and despair can be quite upsetting.       Jairus who was a ruler in the synagogue experienced that same type of trauma when his young daughter had taken ill. Jairus was a well known member in his local community and a respected leader in the synagogue. But something happened to him the day his young daughter died. In his desperation, his thoughts turned to Jesus. Had Jairus forgot his prejudices? Anyone in the Jewish ruling class knew Jesus was someone to steer clear of, an outlier and a dangerous heretic. But at the death of his daughter, Jairus humbled himself and fell at Jesus’ feet begging for help— save my daughter’s life. Few things have done more to hold things back from moving in the right direction than our prejudices.       Jesus was deeply moved by Jairus’ situation. So, he calls upon Jairus’ faith, telling Jairus that now is not the time to give up, but instead to keep on in the faith. Jesus then goes to Jairus’ home. Death had struck this little household; people were sobbing as if all hope had run out. Jesus calmed the crowd. He tells them not to worry, that the child is only asleep. Then taking Jairus, his wife and his inner circle Peter, James and John, he cleared the house. He walked over to the young child and takes her hand. He calls out to her in Aramaic, “Talitha cum,” which means “little girl get up.” Time stood still for a moment. For those standing there could hear their own hearts beating in their chests. Instantly the girl sighed, took a deep breath, sat up and began to walk around the room. Using just his words he resurrected her from the dead, fully restored to the point of walking around and needing to eat some food. Whether she was dead or sleeping in a coma, this was by far a miracle healing.       It was not just the life of the little girl that Jesus gave back, but also the life of the father and the mother. In fact the worst thing that could have happened became the best thing that had ever happened to them—they had witnessed the power of God to give back life! Who can say for sure exactly what Jesus did in that house or how far down into the darkness he had to reach to do it, but in a way who cares any more than her mother and father could have cared. They had their child back. She was alive again, and that was all that mattered.      There are many times when we feel as if life has been taken from us—the death of a loved one or a relationship, the loss of health through acute or chronic illness, the sudden death of a lifestyle that you have so loved and grown accustomed to and of course the death of a dream—a career, having children or the desire to be married. And those losses can truly shake us at our core. But Jesus chooses not to leave people in the condition in which he finds them. He has the power to alter their conditions. Jesus says to us in those moments when we want to quit, when life gives us no other options, when we feel only partly alive, Jesus comes to us and says, “Little boy, little girl get up.” Life is not over—there are miracles all around you.       Can the Christian community alter the conditions of people’s lives? Can it, too, bring healing into troubled circumstances? Must it not also cross boundaries of pride, prejudices and conquest — whether they are related to ethnicity, gender, race, politics or any other boundaries that divide our society, and advocate life-giving meaning and change? The answer is yes! Amen.

Compassion, the touchstone of the Christian life Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | July 7, 2024 Jesus’ compassion for the sick and suffering was beyond human words and our ability to comprehend. He was so deeply moved with mercy and compassion when he saw the hungry multitudes without food that he fed them. He was so moved by the leper who was contagious and disfigured by his disease that he reached out his hand and touched him. He was so moved when he heard his close friend Lazarus had died that he wept with them. He was so deeply moved by the adulterous woman who was shamed and embarrassed when the Pharisees wanted to stone her and rub her sins in her face, Jesus in mercy forgave her. Jesus also wept over Jerusalem. How often do we weep over the great cities of this country or for people in our midst who suffer and are oppressed? Do we even weep for our own communities when we see poverty, abuse, and suffering? As believers we have a special responsibility to have compassion on the poor, the sick, the oppressed, the hungry and the outcast.      The word compassion comes from the Greek noun “spalgchna,” which means “internal organs.” In other words, compassion is a gut feeling. It means a visceral, gut-wrenching, emotional response that is so strong that we are physically moved to action. It is the willingness to enter into the pain and chaos of others. It is to be fully present to those who suffer. It is every Christian’s commission to announce the mercy of God and be an oasis of mercy and compassion to others. It is the beating heart of the Gospel.      It is true that in his common grace, God enables even unbelievers to display some measure of compassion for the preservation of society. It’s also true that some people, both believers and unbelievers, seem more naturally geared toward compassion than others. But although both these points may be true, it’s crucial to understand that compassion is a virtue that should increasingly characterize all believers in Christ, regardless of personality. No Christian, therefore, can rightly say, “I’m just not a very compassionate person,” thinking that their self-assessment frees them from expressing mercy and compassion towards others.     Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What some people desire most is to dismiss suffering pretending it’s not there. Or they cast judgment on others thinking they deserve to suffer. But as Henri Nouwen says, “Compassion can never coexist with judgement because judgement creates the distance, the distinction and excuse not to enter into the suffering of others.”When Job had lost everything, his family, his wealth and everything known to him, his friends sat with him day and night for seven days and said not one word, because they saw that Job’s suffering was too great for words (Job 2:13). How can we respond to someone’s loneliness unless we are in touch with our own experience of loneliness? How can we be close to handicapped people when we refuse to acknowledge our own handicaps? How can we be with the poor when we are unwilling to confess our own poverty? Those who can sit with their fellow man, not knowing what to say but knowing that they should be there, can bring new life into a dying heart. Henri Nouwen writes, “Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears of grief, and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken.” Amen.

God Longs for Us to Listen to Our Lives Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | June 30, 2024 We live in a world of ubiquitous information—the information age and now AI. Our schedules are overbooked with more and more responsibilities and activities. We cannot detach ourselves long enough from the dopamine rush that comes from scrolling our devices to listen to what is really going on deep in our souls.      In Luke 5:16; Mark 1:35, 6:31 Jesus slips away to a quiet place to pray. He did this many times in his life to escape from the crowds, the daunting list of needs and the noise of the world. Sometimes, he chose solitude over people. In that quiet space Jesus rested. He caught his breath. He let go and released himself to his Father. Letting go, resting and releasing ourselves to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are what our souls truly long for the most. In prayer, Jesus placed his entire life—his thoughts, his relationships and feelings before God and found comfort and guidance. In prayer, he listened for the deep recesses of his soul to speak. And so it is with us, our task as human beings is to pay attention, to stop, look and listen for what God is doing.      Many people today, including a great many Christians, are afraid of silence. They fear silence, losing control and finding out something about themselves that they would rather suppress or not deal with. So we devote enormous amounts of energy and time creating noise and distractions to numb the troubling thoughts and voices that rob us of our peace of mind. Maybe the real issue is that we are under-resourced with opportunities to truly listen to our lives, to listen deeply to our longings, our joys, our conflicts and our losses. Augustine said in his Confessions, “I am scattered.” Do you ever feel scattered? Do you find your heart is sometimes divided, plagued with too many opinions, too many critical voices and self-doubts competing and overshadowing God’s voice that speaks from your heart.      Our culture has been schooled in consumption, pseudo connections, and insecure attachments. One way to find rest from these pseudo connections is to truly stop and listen to your life. Create an intentional space, a listening space where all the internal chatter is muted. Stop. Listen. Look for signs of life—they are all around you. In the presence of God lay out your life. Welcome everything that comes to mind and resist nothing. As soon as we accept how we really feel, who we really are, then and lonely then can we begin to live and n the world not out of a false sense of self but our true self. Welcome feelings of shame and guilt, joy and grief, anger and complaint. Welcome those triggers and don’t be afraid to explore were they come from. God wants you to live a life of freedom.     Fredrick Buechner writes, “If I were called upon to state in a few words the essence of everything I was trying to say both as a novelist and as a preacher, it would be something like this: Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”     God longs for us to listen to our lives. To be attentive to the unforced rhythms of God’s grace. In the resting, in the releasing, the Holy Spirit gently speaks to our hearts and we will come away refreshed—fully known and fully loved by God. And you will come to know yourself maybe for the first time or in a new and better way. Listen to your life, let your life speak to you—all of it. For your soul so longs to be heard.

The Birth of the Early Church – Part 2 Rev. Dona Johnson | June 2, 2024 During the first three centuries of the early church,  Christians suffered intense persecutions, shunning  by Jewish neighbors and outcasted by family  members. There was an on-going surveillance by  Roman  authorities and the Sanhedrin.   Constantine became Emperor  of Rome, he put  But, when an end to the persecutions, ordered the return of  the church properties which were confiscated and  proclaimed freedom of religion, especially for  Christians. He even had his soldiers engrave the  Chi-Rho symbol, (the first two Greek letters in  Christ) on their shields. Constantine thought if he  paid homage to God, God would make him  victorious in battle. Of course this was a skewed  view of faith. Since he was also worshiping the Sun  god.            Constantine eventually had a conversion  which prompted him to do make more sweeping  declarations. One has to remember that up until  Constantine’s reign, Jewish and Gentile Christians worshiped in homes. The home was the basic cell  of the church. The early Christians also worshiped   in cemeteries and gathered in catacombs.           By the second century, Bishops were   introduced to oversee teaching, theological disputes and confront heretical teaching. Pagan  beliefs were constantly being woven into the  proclamation of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And  this was a huge threat to the Christian message.            After his conversion, Constantine began to  institute a more imperial protocol. He introduced incense (pagan ritual). Officiating ministers who  once wore plain clothes were asked to wear  luxurious vestments. Gestures of respect used in  the presence of the Emperor were now  incorporated within the worship experience, large  choirs and alters were also added. Thus, the  imperial/secular protocols of the Emperor were  integrated into the structure of worship within the  more elaborate churches.           The Roman Catholic Church is not on the  scene as of yet. Christians were by and large still  gathering in homes and the larger churches that  had been built. Constantine found by organizing  the new Jesus movement, he could solidify the  Empire and be victorious against invading armies  and marauders. Eventually, Christianity became the  official religion of the Roman Empire and it spread  as far as northern Europe. The state also had the  power to settle theological issues and/or conflicts.  And of course, there were many.            Christians who rebelled against the wealth,  luxuries and all the pomp and circumstance of the  more formalized church its worship protocols, fled  to the deserts to withdraw from society. This began   what we call today the Monastic Movement. They  moved into the deserts of Egypt and Syria, ate  sparse meals, renounced most material  possessions, prayed and memorized in their hearts  the Scripture.            During his reign, Constantine called several  councils. The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., called  Bishops from all over the Empire to discern the  Arian controversy. The Nicene Creed, a beautiful  credo was written as a way to put guardrails  around the interpretation of Scripture and to  reduce heretical teachings. Also during this time, there was an intense effort made in theological writings, to establish and interpret the deep meaning of Scripture in their original languages—an attempt to get everyone on the same page.          Eventually Rome fell to barbarian invaders in 476 A.D. Pope Leo, who at that time had been the Bishop of Rome became the first Pope (Pope means father). This was done to reinstate stability. He expanded authority of the papacy and declaring authority over bishops and secular matters. This begins the very early history of the Roman Catholic Church.          It was not until the mid 1500’s, that the authority of popes and the Roman Catholic Church were finally challenged. Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest protested against the church’s corruption and the selling of salvation through the sale of indulgences. He called for the Pope to institute reforms. The Roman Catholic Church held Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” But Luther trusted Scripture and said, Faith in Christ alone, sola fide is what saves a person. Salvation can be found outside the church but not outside Christ. Let me preface this statement with Luther also believed the church was the incubator for faith. From Luther’s protest, the Protest-ant Reformation took hold and protestant denominations were also formed by other major reformers such as Calvin and Zwingli.           In concluding, it’s very important to know how the first Apostles formed Christ’s Church. The Church is born out of their eyewitness accounts, gift of the Holy Spirit poured out on the Apostle’s and those whom the Spirit still calls today to follow Jesus Christ. Iron sharpens iron, so Proverb 27:17 tells us. And so it is with the church. It was formed out of the crucible of trial, pain and suffering. The mission of the church lives on—to proclaim Christ crucified and risen. And you and I have a role in this proclamation. The church is always being forged anew, and always in need of reform as it responds to the changing culture and the sin of humankind.           I will end in the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Matthew 16:17-19 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Amen. Te Deum.