POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
Bob Stiles

Earlier in the week I came across this newspaper story about an amazing basketball shot that helped win a Minnesota high school championship game! The story from the Minnesota Star Tribune went like this:

“It was an absurd shot. Taken out of desperation. With almost zero chance of going in. Yet Hoffarber swished it, lying on his back on the three-point line late Saturday night at Target Center with his legs and arms up, looking a lot like an upside-down turtle. The shot, taken just before the buzzer sounded to end the first overtime of the Minnesota Class 4A boys’ basketball championship game, merely tied the score at 58. Yet it proved every bit as devastating as a game-winner..

The Royals, amazingly given a second chance at victory, outscored Eastview 13-2 in the second overtime to win 71-60. The reaction of longtime high school basketball followers to Hoffarber’s incredible shot was universal disbelief.

“I still don’t believe it,” said Louie Mitteco, the former Totino-Grace boys’ basketball coach who has attended the state tournament since the mid-1940s. “… It’s a shot you will never see again.” David Stead, the longtime executive director of the Minnesota State High School League, said he too had never seen a shot like that. “Do you believe in miracles? That’s what happened on a basketball court [Saturday],” Stead said.”

Luke 24:1-12: “1But very early on Sunday morning the women came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2They found that the stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. 3So they went in, but they couldn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4They were puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Suddenly, two men appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. 5The women were terrified and bowed low before them. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? 6He isn’t here! He has risen from the dead! Don’t you remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again the third day?” 8Then they remembered that he had said this. 9So they rushed back to tell his eleven disciples–and everyone else–what had happened. 10The women who went to the tomb were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several others. They told the apostles what had happened, 11but the story sounded like nonsense, so they didn’t believe it. 12However, Peter ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.”

I’m sure those who were in attendance at that Minnesota basketball game will talk about that unbelievable shot for some time to come. I can imagine them trying to explain and describe the unbelievable shot they had witnessed to someone else. Unless you had been there and seen the shot for yourself, it was probably hard to believe. The next best thing would be to watch a “replay” of the shot on video. As I thought about this story, it got me thinking about Christ’s resurrection. After reading today’s scripture, does it make sense why some people have a hard time comprehending the resurrection of Jesus the first time they hear about it? Or at least until they see some evidence? Just like the disciples, many people have to go through various stages of belief: At first they may think it’s a fantasy, impossible to believe. Then, like Peter, they may check out the facts but still may be unsure about what happened. It’s only when they encounter Jesus in a personal way will they be able to accept the fact of the Resurrection. Then, as they commit themselves to Jesus and devote their lives to serving Him, they will begin to understand and experience His resurrection power and the reality of His presence with them.

Your life and words (if they are Christ-like) may be the evidence that someone else needs in order to believe that the miracle of the Resurrection has the power to change a person’s life. Thank God for His power which raised Christ from the dead! Ask the Holy Spirit to prepare your heart and mind this Easter for experiencing the “unbelievable miracle” of Christ’s resurrection in a fresh way in your life. Pray every day this week for God’s Spirit to help you focus on the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection. Pray for the opportunity to talk to a friend, who needs Jesus, about the “unbelievable miracle” of Easter. Ask God’s Spirit to enable you to live like Jesus, so that someone else will see a “replay” of Christ’s life-changing power.

Bob Stiles is the Worship Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH
Scott Pontier

Deuteronomy 6:4-9: Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

In the second phrase of this section of text, we are told to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your me’odecha (pronounced “may-o-day-ha”). Literally, the phrase means “with all your ‘very’ or ‘muchness’,” which sounds very odd to our ears. The definition in the biblical glossary is “exceedingly, much, force or abundance,” and traditionally it has been translated as “Love the Lord your God with all… your ‘strength’” or “might.”

But what is “all your me’odechah?” A few years ago I had signed up for a trip to the middle east to tour the land the Bible was written in and a teacher had prompted us to get in shape for the rigorous journey of hiking and climbing by saying “if your body is flabby, your faith tends to be flabby.” A bit frightened of spending time in a land where everything seems to be uphill, I took the prompting to heart. I learned much in my preparation time; but the main thing I learned was the meaning of the word me’odecha.

If you have ever undertaken a fitness regimen like Body for Life or something similar, you know the challenge of lifting that weight for just one more repetition or adding just one more pound to your weight-lifting routine. The result can bring tears to your eyes. This kind of straining with all of your being is to experience what the word me’odecha means. Some people describe it simply as “oomph.” But it means so much more – to have all of your body, soul and heart single-minded in its pursuit of one thing with all the intensity and energy you can muster – this is the call of Jesus on our lives. Are you up to it?

We often tend to disconnect the pieces of our life: Social, physical exercise, spiritual, financial mental learning, emotional, etc. It can be hard to learn how to love God with all of ourselves if we live in this schizophrenic understanding of ourselves. What would happen if you began to put those pieces together, one by one, and pursued God, truly with everything that you are and have – down to every penny in your wallet and minute in your day?

What areas of your life are “out of shape”? What areas are atrophied and not fully giving everything they could to the pursuit of God and His power in your life?
Are you seeking God’s power in your life in only some areas but not others?
What needs to be a part of your “fitness plan” to strengthen your pursuit of God?

Scott Pontier is the Student Ministries Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

Praying to the Right God
Tom Pauquette

Matthew 6.13: [Jesus said] “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen.

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. In His model prayer (Matthew 6.9-13), Jesus taught them to begin and end with a certain form of praise. He began, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name.” The word “hallowed” means “holy”. Jesus is teaching us that all good prayer begins with a surrendered recognition of the holiness of God.

The holiness of God is, in essence, the combined total of all of His individual attributes (righteousness, purity, wisdom, mercy, judgment, omniscience…). Holy is what God is. When we pray, “Holy is Your Name”, we are beginning with a surrendered recognition of the full nature and character of God Himself. It is very much meant to be an expression of worship.

At the end of the model prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to finish with the praise expression, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen.” The prayer comes full circle. Riveting our attention on three of God’s many attributes which contribute to His holiness; Jesus calls us to praise God for His own motivation for even hearing, let alone answering, our prayers. God hears and answers our prayers so that His kingdom will be established “on earth as it is in heaven.” God hears and answers our prayers so that His loving and mighty power can find avenues of expression in His creation. Ultimately God hears and answers our prayers for His own glory. Whatever God does, He does to glorify Himself (see, for example, John 2.11). That’s a good thing – a very good thing.

Jesus teaches us to begin our prayers in praise so that we are sure we understand the nature of God. He is holy. That is the sum total of His self-designed character. Jesus teaches us to conclude our prayers in specific praise so that we can, among our other things, check our own motivations. Believer, why are you praying today? Are you praying so that God’s kingdom will break in on the affairs of the earth? Are you praying so that you will be available as an avenue of God’s power to be displayed in His creation? Are you praying so that the glory of God will be evident to all?

The power of prayer is unmistakable. Let’s be sure to begin and conclude our prayers with the kind of praise Jesus taught us in the model prayer. If the beginning and the end are authentically the way Jesus taught us, what happens in between will have a way of righting itself.

Have a power day!

Tom Pauquette is the Senior Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

“GET RID OF THE RATS”
Bob Stiles

According to an AP news story in early 2006, about 9,500 Riverside CA, residents found themselves in the dark after a rat chewed through power equipment at a substation. The rodent had to gnaw through two barriers before it reached the 12,000-volt equipment that it shorted out on Tuesday night, Public Utilities deputy director Steve Badgett said. “We found him. What was left of him,” Badgett said. The rat made it to the live wires despite traps and rat poison placed in the substation, he said. Some 1,100 customers went without power until early Wednesday morning. Badgett said he braced for the worst when he realized that residents lost their power just as the semifinalists of “American Idol” were to perform on television.

Isaiah 59:1-2 “Listen! The LORD is not too weak to save you, and he is not becoming deaf. He can hear you when you call. But there is a problem–your sins have cut you off from God. Because of your sin, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.”

When a rat chewed through a wire in Riverside, people were without power. They were in the dark and couldn’t see ‘Idol’. When you and I idolize the things of this world rather than giving ourselves to God in complete worship, we will find ourselves cut off from His power and light in our lives.

Get rid of the ‘rats’!

Take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify any “rats” in your life that cut you off from God’s power. Confess them and receive Christ’s forgiveness. Thank God that He will restore you to a right relationship with Him. Thank Jesus for His love, His guiding light and power to live in obedience to Him. Thank Him that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to you through the Holy Spirit to live every day. Praise God for His ultimate power!

Bob Stiles is the Worship Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

WITH ALL YOUR SOUL
Scott Pontier

Deuteronomy 6:4-9: Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Jesus tells us that the command to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength is the greatest commandment. It is part of the section of the Scripture known as the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9) – the prayer that Jesus and Jews since him have prayed morning and evening to commit themselves to follow the Lord. When we think about those words we tend to pass by the phrase “heart and soul” quickly, attributing the idea to loving God with our spirit and emotions, very passionately.

Our understanding can be enriched by understanding the word “soul” (Nephesh) better. Nephesh means “life” as well as “soul.” So the Jewish interpretation of “love the LORD with all your soul” is actually that we should love God with all of our lives – every moment throughout our lives. Think about that for a moment. Could you catalog each of your moments in your life today? Yesterday? Would each one of those moments characterize a love of God? On one episode of “The Simpsons,” Marge urges Homer out of bed on a Sunday morning claiming that “God only asks for one hour a week” to which Homer replies, “the God should’ve made the week an hour longer!” Loving God with all our nephesh, “life,” is the opposite of being a one-hour-a-week Christian whose thoughts are largely filled with distractions of work, politics, hobbies, investments, sporting events, and entertainment. While many of those things are good, squeezing God in as an afterthought is exactly the opposite of this phrase in the Deuteronomy. This is hard in today’s world, even for those of us involved in paid ministry – the “professional Christians” in the room. For each of us, we must take stock of our choices and realize that choosing the “good” things in our lives can often be the enemy of choosing the “best” things instead.

What does it really mean to love God with all of your life? One traditional interpretation of “with all your nephesh” is the idea that we should love God even to the point of sacrificing our lives for him. There is a powerful story told to illustrate this idea. Rabbi Akiva, a greatly respected Jewish thinker and rabbi who lived in the first century AD, was tortured to death publicly by the Romans because he refused to give up teaching and studying the scriptures. It was the time of saying the Morning Prayer, and during his torture, his students heard him reciting the prayer from Deuteronomy instead of crying out in pain. His students called out to him, “Teacher, even now?” The dying rabbi said, “All my life I have wondered about the phrase that says ‘Love the Lord your God with all of your soul,’ wondering if I would ever have the privilege of doing this. Now that chance has come to me, shall I not grasp it with joy?” He repeated the first verse, “hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone,” until his soul left him.

What would it take for you to love God with all of your life? What keeps you from this?

What are the “good” things you are choosing that are keeping you from choosing the “best” things?

What do you need to submit to Christ in your life today?

Scott Pontier is the Student Ministries Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org