two days before

Good morning,

Take the time today to read and soak in Mark 14:1-11….the scene is two days before the festival of the Passover. Jesus is in Bethany and he and his disciples are seated for a meal. Recall the exuberance they felt two days prior on Palm Sunday as they head toward to the cross, Jesus knowing that He is and will be fulfilling prophecy by transferring the LAW into GRACE by placing himself on a cross for our eternal and daily security in HIM. But He must travel through Tuesday before He gets to Friday.

Ask yourself and family questions today in preparation for our time together on Thursday (Maundy Thursday service @ Roasteries 6:30 pm). What is the aroma that we as followers of Jesus Christ fill the room with. You see nard (not a cool name for a perfume hahaha) or known as spikenard is an aromatic perennial herb, some say in the scent of roses. And when Jesus was anointed, when she poured the perfume over His head, scripture tells us the aroma filled the room. The presence and attitudes of the others also filled the room. Quite a different aroma. Which aroma are we?

Go back and look who is in the room, a man who had leprosy (past tense), disciples who probably knowing that they heard Jesus say he must die and suffer, then 3 days later return, but didn't really believe it YET. Or can we relate to the woman, who no matter what the crowd was saying, came in with an alabaster box of spikenard and did exactly what she knew was best for her to do and that was to pour, to anoint Jesus…. I love how Jesus replies in verse 8…She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.

wow, she did what she could, she didn't allow the thought of what she didn't have, she didn't compare to the others who were "busy" around her, she did what she could do.

Let's not concern ourselves with what we can't do, but let's do what we can with what we have!

Have a fabulous day as you journey to the cross and then the EMPTY TOMB this week

"i didn't know"

Hello family,

It has been a while since we have talked. Going through some withdrawals here. How have you been? Yea, the weather is crazy, hello middle Tennessee weather, the ol adage holds true if you don't like the weather stick around for 24 hours and it will change. That is until we hit July, August when there are varying degrees of extreme heat, where the only change is the humidity from a kazillion percent to a bazillion percent humidity. Yes bazillion is larger than kazillion thank you very much.

Ok enough of the surface chit chat. Let's dive in. The other day, which means in my world I can't quite remember the day so it could have been a week, a month or just a few minutes ago, I recalled a conversation with an individual several years ago

The year was 2001 I'm still in corporate America, but for those that remember in January of 2001 my Damascus road event, the real eye opener occured in Knoxville TN with blue lights flashing. My road to healing began and will continue until we see Jesus face to face. So at this time it is in the fall and i have months of sobriety under my belt, God has started to place men in my life that will help me understand what transparency, vulnerability, humility, openeness really mean. i actually started reading the BOOK, yep the Bible (hey go get yours right quick we are about to open it up) and seeing that God through Jesus Christ absolutely loves me and YOU too...yea yea...My role at the time was in National Account sales, so local sales guys through the state would line up folks for us to go chit chat with. This particular Monday the sales team from Memphis is calling to set up the week and they had stuff planned on Wednesday. I can't remember what the classes were, but i was carving out time to be at the worship barn on Wednesday nights. When i asked them to push everything back to get it done on Monday and Tuesday so i could be back in the boro' for church. (which is a whole other story, letting guys that i used to party like crazy with know i was going to church). The voice on the other end said "i didn't know you were a Christian"

.....silence on my end as the truth of his words penetrated my being...how would he know? since our brains are like supersonic computers that can process bakazillion (that's a whole lot if your wondering) thoughts in a nanosecond. My brain is retracing the events of 13 years of living a life of fake. Oh i was a nice guy, fun to hang out with, played the game, but never a glimpse of anything spiritual, heck probably made snide remarks if the subject came up. So fast forward to today 10 years of sobriety later, that's not the coolest. The coolest is that through Christ the war that wages in our minds daily is won. (Romans 7:15-25) Go read the verses, doesn't matter the translation. Just read it man! I'll wait......you back?

What about that? Can we relate? Absolutely, but look, don't close that Book yet....look at verse 25 again. v25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.....wait wait wait...go on down or over to chapter 8 and you'll see a "i didn't know" moment for me back in 2001. v1 So now there is NO condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus (emphasis on the no is mine) v2 For the power of the life giving Spirit has FREED (emphasis mine) you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.

THAT' S RIGHT, THAT'S RIGHT, THAT'S RIGHT....my brain goes into ultrasonic processing mode to remember that yes Jesus did state that IT IS FINISHED and that He did state that our belief, faith in Him gives us eternal life, but also gives us the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the Might Counselor that gives us the strength to live daily; to take our thoughts captive, to live a life of freedom through Jesus....the processor is going and going. The world will know that we are Jesus lovers by the way we love each other (John 13:35) and that by seeing, feeling, tasting, experiencing who we are in Christ, the "i didn't know's " from others start to disappear!

Guys, thanks for journeying with Debby and I over the years. This week we will celebrate 22 years of marriage. It is an amazing ride, one that is filled with awe and wonder of who Jesus Christ is in our lives. The awe and wonder of how living without masks on with each other absolutely sets us free daily, and that we don't take that for granted. We love you, thanks for loving us!

love em up!

mike and debby
www.loveemupministries.com

P.S.

Will you do us a favor and if you are led, will you share this with someone out there in circle of influence. We have a safe place for folks to come back to if they have unplugged from a local body of folks that love Jesus. It's also a place for folks that desire to find out where they are in their faith, it's a place to learn how to rid themselves of the " i didn't know" when they desire.....It's called the Refuge, we meet 5:30 pm at Siegel High School in the choir room. You can keep up with the upcoming series on facebook (no deb and i haven't waivered on our stance on facebook hahah) and or twitter @theRefugeMboro.

never say never

Happy Valentine's Day,



Never say Never....no this isn't going to be a discussion on how cute and lovable Justin Beiber is (although i admit he is pretty good). Let's chit chat a bit on why we make some defining statements like I'll never buy a minivan, or I'll never eat 5000 reese's pieces again, or man I'll never stay up that late again, whew I'll never drink that many beers again and we see ourselves go out and buy the aforementioned minivan to drive to the store to pick up another kazillion beers to wash down the reese's pieces that too all night to eat and drink..



WHY WHY WHY?

Heck Let's ask Peter, he did it too. Isn't that just like us, to bring someone into our mess in order to feel better about ourselves hahaha....we are a fun messy bunch aren't we? Well we really can learn from our friend Simon Peter. Surely we remember this guy, he was one of the original 12 that heard Jesus say a couple of words "Follow Me" and they did. He is one that was pretty quick to talk and desire to be out front when Jesus was teaching or asking questions for their reply. Let's look at a couple of the conversations.



Matthew 16.....(i'm whistling here........why?.....uh to go get your Bible!) Ok Jesus is in the midst of feeding folks spiritually and physically. I mean on the physical side when a crowd gathers, they get hungry, the disciples look around at each other, shrug their shoulders, find a few loaves, hand over to Jesus, Jesus blesses and feeds everyone until they are full as tics (southern term for eating too much) and they would have leftovers. After one such meal, the boys (disciples) are gathered around he asks a question in the last half of Matthew 16:13...."who do people say the Son of Man is"?

The replies come in and then Jesus asked them point blank, "who do you say that I am" Look at our boy Peter in verse 16 You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus responds with the affirmative and in verse 18 tells Peter....Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

So Peter jumps in and declared..no he just didn't make a statement, Peter declared v33 "Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will."

H Oh there's that word, let's see how this unfolds. Jesus says uh.... yes Peter you will, and as a matter of fact ,tonight before the rooster crows three times, you will deny me. Matthew 26:35 No!" Peter insisted. "Not even if I have to die with you! I will never deny you!" And all the other disciples vowed the same.

jeeeezzzz there's that word again, dang Peter! Well we know what happened don't we? Yep Peter bought the minivan....no that's us...he denied Christ. We can stop here and come up with a bazillion reasons why he denied our Lord, and we can say or make those statements, "man if that would've been me i woulda done __________ " and fill in the blank. But we weren't and before we even go down the path of placing ourselves in a similar scene to apply this event. Let's take a look at John 21.

The scene is amazing. Jesus on the beach with the disciples, he just helped them catch 153 fish,

they come ashore, sharing another meal and Jesus asks Peter 3 times (the number 3 pops up a bunch around Jesus doesn't it?) do you love me? and each time Peter answers yes. I understand the various words used for love in this scene are different, but the focus for me is on what Jesus didn't ask...Jesus didn't ask "Peter why did you run"? He didn't say "I told you so man" Jesus doesn't make him wholler in it by saying "are you sure you love me, you sure was running pretty fast from that servant girl" nope....

Jesus gives him everything we desire each day from each other. GRACE, GRACE, GRACE....Peter learned a ton that day about himself and about who this man named Jesus really is...how about us?

Well i know that there is someone that when He says never it sticks....here are a few.

Hebrews 13:5...For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never forsake you."

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me,

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you.

1 Peter 2:6 As the Scriptures express it, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed."