JOEL 2 GENERATION

I learned early on in my Christian life that there were some bad guys in New Testament, namely the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day, the worst being the Pharisees.  Being called a "Pharisee" is not something anybody wants to be called. In common Christian usage it is entirely derogatory with connotations of being judgmental, hypocritical and self-righteous. As I grew a bit more, I realized that in many ways the Pharisees were the well-meaning conservatives. The Sadducees were more like liberals who compromised with the culture and didn't take the Bible nearly as seriously as the Pharisees. I began to read the passages with the Pharisees a bit more carefully.  I realized that as a conservative Christian, I was a lot more like the Pharisees than I had originally thought. And as I was involved (and still am involved) in Christian leadership, I should probably consider Jesus' interactions with them as important to the way He would interact with me! In Romans 15:4 , the Ap...

We are now in the final days of Lent and today we consider the event when Jesus cleansed the temple. Yes, He did so in history. But He continues to do so today. He is doing it in the Church at large in this hour (think of those who have been and are being exposed) but of course, most importantly, He would have us assess our own personal lives. What part of His Temple, which we have become as followers of Christ, is He cleansing?  What part needs cleansing? Purification?  Holy Week historically became the most important week in the Christian calendar. As I have recounted, the final week before Easter is where Lent began. It was historically a week that all Christians fasted, if not the beginning, most definitely at the end. There are still churches that take this fasting seriously, while sadly, most have departed from a practice that began in the 2nd century. Christians sought to enter into the emotions of this week. Palm Sunday’s optimistic expectancy quickly gives way to the ...