What you are about to hear in this PODCAST is truly remarkable. A rare occurrence, where Paul gets personal; where Paul keeps it real.
Thank you for listening, and for sharing this message!!!
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God bless you richly as you listen.
Oh, my friends, you are in for an intellectual and spiritual treat, a veritable banquet table of biblical truth.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, THIS is where I live.
I rather suspect, if I may be so presumptuous, that this is where you live as well.
Get ready for a massive amount of encouragement, courtesy of our old friend, Peter.
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God bless you richly as you listen.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, all you need to know about the precious people to whom Peter wrote is summarized in three telling terms. One phrase, really.
One phrase that so accurately described them.
One phrase that so accurately describes each of us.
ἐκ-λεκ-τοῖς παρ-επι-δή-μοις διασ-πορᾶς—literally, “elect foreigners in the diaspora.”
Now why in the world would Peter begin his first letter with this carefully crafted first phrase?
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect foreigners in the diaspora.”
Because the one question looming in minds of Peter’s distressed audience was this:
Has God abandoned us?
Not to get too personal with you, and at the risk of invading your private space, I cannot help but to wonder if you have ever asked of yourself that exact same question:
Has God abandoned me?
And Peter wanted them—and us—and you!—to know that as he penned this epistle, that same question was looming large in his own mind and his own soul.
Peter knew his audience.
Peter knew them.
Peter knows us.
Peter knows you!
Peter feels our pain.
Peter asks our questions.
Peter understands our doubts.
Peter feels our fears.
Peter can relate.
Peter “gets” it.
Peter “gets” us.
And I, for one, am profoundly grateful that he does.
And in “getting” us, he will assure us in this podcast that NO!!! God has NOT abandoned you. He has NOT turned His back on you. He will NEVER stop loving you. He will NEVER leave you. He will not now or EVER forsake you.
In a word, we are SECURE in His omnipotent hand.
Aren’t you glad?
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
Welcome to one of the strangest stories — many would call this a troubling tale — in Jesus’ entire life and ministry.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, what happens here in Mark 7, and its parallel passage in Matthew 15, seems highly uncharacteristic of Jesus; uncharitable to a tragically needy-yet-remarkable mommy; and unnecessarily cold and calloused as far as a Jesus is concerned.
A Jesus, I will humbly remind you, who defined Himself as “gentle” in Matthew 11, and who described His mission as one “to seek and to save the lost in Luke 19.
As you read this story, at first blush anyway, Jesus was Anything.But.Gentle in the way He spoke to this panic-stricken mother who was understandably distraught over the condition of her daughter.
Tell you what: If His mission was to seek and to save the lost, you couldn’t find anyone more lost than this woman.
As we read this story together (it’s only 8 verses in Matthew’s account), you tell me if you find this encounter between Jesus and this mom at all unsettling or unnerving. Put yourself in the mom’s sandals for a second and imagine that Jesus is talking to you about your little girl.
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
A happy ending to be sure.
But what an insensitive, ungracious, uncaring way to get to that happy ending..
You talk about showing a little kindness (as we did last week), there was no kindness shown to this woman; no kindness of any kind was shown to her at all. Until the very end.
Jesus (apparently) ignored her (“Jesus did not answer a word.”), then (apparently) refused and rebuffed her (“I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”), then (apparently) belittled her (“It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”).
Curiously enough, that’s it as far as Jesus’ road trip up North into what is today Lebanon, what was then Phoenicia, was concerned.
This one strange story.
And as always, my friend, we have much to talk about.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
She was a footnote in this chapter of the Jesus Story. But she was NEVER a footnote to Jesus.
And neither are you, as you will be reminded in this poignant PODCAST.
If I had to choose one word to describe this woman — and let me assure you, there are many to choose from, such as desperate, fearful, impoverished, unclean, shunned, rejected, lonely, isolated, alone, damaged — If I had to choose one word to describe this woman, the one word I would choose is invisible.
She was indeed invisible. Totally and completely invisible.
She was invisible to her family, her former friends, her neighbors, her faith community… No one gave a thought to, or cared one whit about, this poor precious woman.
Except for Jesus.
If you have ever been tempted to think that Jesus is mean, harsh, angry, impossible to please, time to meet this woman — who will never look at Jesus the same way again.
And neither will you.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it might take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play. And PLEASE, if it is a blessing, consider sharing a link to this podcast with your family and friends.
God bless you as you listen.
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The Latest News from Jerusalem
Dewey Bertolini 