Music

Music is the sound track to my life. I can't remember a time when I didn't love music. Music moves me and it helps establish a timeline for my life. Whenever I hear certain songs they bring back memories. "Betty Davis Eyes" will always remind me of stretching exercises in 9th grade. "Oh What a Night" will always remind me of riding the bus to Kent Elementary in 3rd grade.

I like to listen to a variety of music. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but before we moved to Wenatchee my families Saturday evening tradition was to eat dinner while watching Lawrence Welk re-runs on PBS. That's how serious I am about liking different kind of music. Last night after getting home from work at 9:00 PM, I ate a late dinner and watched a little TV. As I was flipping channels (quite the male stereotype I know) I ran across a concert on PBS that I settled into. Never heard of the gal before but I really enjoyed her music. She looks more like a librarian than a musician but I can now add Ingrid Michaelson to my timeline.

Spring has sprung

All of a sudden spring came out of nowhere. The orchards are in full bloom and today it was in the mid 80's. I went for a little hike this morning exploring the hills to the South of Saddlerock.

A big thank you to Robbie Craker for making me think and for inspiring me with her Lenten devotionals. If tradition holds, she'll write an Advent devotional as well and I'll share it with you all. Thanks again Robbie.

I started a post yesterday but never finished about our Easter service at Wenatchee Nazarene (www.wenaz.org). All i can say is WOW!! The spirit was evident on the faces of those present and we had a tremendous first service with our Transitional Interim Pastor Ron Tyler and his wife Jane. If you haven't had a chance to meet them or talk to them yet I know you'll love them.

I'm excited to discover together what the Lord has in store for this great body.

Lenten Devotionals from our DS's wife Robbie Craker

I often try to imagine what that night and day was like for the disciples and followers of Jesus. They had fled the scene – all except a few women. It was a “secret” disciple, who sat on the Council of the Sanhedrin, who took care of the broken and battered body of Jesus – placing it in his tomb.

They were behind locked and closed doors – did they celebrate the Sabbath? They were afraid for their lives. Devastated. Undone. Knocked down. Did they pray? Or were they in such shock they were numb and unable to function normally?

Did the sun come up on Saturday? We know it got dark early on Friday – even the sun hiding its face from the scene. Even creation groaning– earthquakes – tombs opened. Was it a dark day on Saturday?

The rest of the world is going about their routine, but for the disciples and His followers, darkness reigns. Heaven is silent. Everything that they had given their lives to is gone. Defeat.

Did they talk about what He had said to them? Did they remember His words about His death? What are they arguing about now? Are they full of grief for the way they treated one another? Are they full of remorse for not paying closer attention to His teaching?

We’ve all been there in some way haven’t we? It’s the dark night of the soul; when everything seems lost. When it feels like darkness reigns.

Psalm 88 – The Message

God, you're my last chance of the day. I spend the night on my knees before you.
Put me on your salvation agenda;
take notes on the trouble I'm in.
I've had my fill of trouble;
I'm camped on the edge of hell.
I'm written off as a lost cause,
one more statistic, a hopeless case.
Abandoned as already dead,
one more body in a stack of corpses,
And not so much as a gravestone—
I'm a black hole in oblivion.
You've dropped me into a bottomless pit,
sunk me in a pitch-black abyss.
I'm battered senseless by your rage,
relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger.
You turned my friends against me,
made me horrible to them.
I'm caught in a maze and can't find my way out,
blinded by tears of pain and frustration.

I call to you, God; all day I call.
I wring my hands, I plead for help.
Are the dead a live audience for your miracles?
Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you?
Does your love make any difference in a graveyard?
Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell?
Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark,
your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory?

I'm standing my ground, God, shouting for help,
at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak.
Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear?
Why do you make yourself scarce?
For as long as I remember I've been hurting;
I've taken the worst you can hand out, and I've had it.
Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life;
I'm bleeding, black-and-blue.
You've attacked me fiercely from every side,
raining down blows till I'm nearly dead.
You made lover and neighbor alike dump me;
the only friend I have left is Darkness.

Lenten Devotionals from our DS's wife Robbie Craker

Good Friday…as I read the scriptures this morning it seems more like BAD Friday to me.

Jesus, before the Sanhedrin being questioned by the High Priest – ridiculed, lied about – all alone.

Peter on the outskirts of the crowd skulking around among the servants denying he even knew Jesus.

Jesus before Pilate and Herod – the crowds calling for His death – give us Barabbas – we’d rather have a murderer among us than this man stirring up trouble.

Herod, finally getting to meet this miracle worker, Jesus, he’s heard so much about. But Jesus won’t perform for him. So he’s disgusted and sends him away.

Pilate washing his hands of Jesus…

The soldiers mocking and spitting, beating and laughing.

Peter lying – Jesus turning, looking straight into Peter’s eyes. Betrayed. Alone. Peter, running, weeping. Desolate. Alone.

Darkness reigns.

As Jesus is standing in the midst of all of this, is He remembering the temptations? Possibly. But He has taken the cup. He has set His course and He will walk the path all the way to the CROSS.

Now the cross is not just a thought in His mind. Now the cross is not just a fear in His heart. Now the cross is not His future. It is His reality. He must carry it, weak, bruised and bleeding, exhausted from the night of prayer and trial.

His Father has given Him this great task. It’s not an easy task. It’s painful. It’s full of self-denial. He won’t fail the Father. He will obey.

Through the city with the crowds following – some to gape at that horror – some to mock and ridicule – some to weep bitter tears.

Up the hillside in the stark light of the noon-day sun. The pain of stumbling on the rocky path. The nails pounded into His hands and feet. The agony as He is raised and the cross is dropped into the hole.

He had said it to His disciples last night as He broke the bread – this is my body broken for you. I wonder if He’s thinking about that now. I wonder if He’s remembering Satan’s words – “turn these stones into bread. There is another way.”

Is He regretting His choice of emptying Himself of the glory and power and honor of heaven? Look what He has now, humility, weakness, and seeming defeat.

The Father asked and the Son answered. His life wasn’t taken from Him – He gave His life away.

It is finished.

Lenten Devotionals from our DS's wife Robbie Craker

Today is Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. It is the day we focus on four of the events of this night in the life of Christ and His disciples…

The washing of the disciples’ feet recorded in John 13--

The Lord’s Supper which institutes our celebration of Holy Communion--

The agony of Christ as He prays in the garden for the cup to be taken from Him, but surrenders His will to the will of the Father—

Both recorded in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22;

And the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot recorded in the same chapters above as well as John 18.

Here are the parts of these scriptures which spoke most to me today with a few comments along the way…

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.–John 13:1-6

Jesus, who has all authority and power, bends down to wash the disciples’ dirty, stinky feet. What am I being called to do to serve those who are dirty and stinky? Will I bend down both figuratively and in reality?

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."

They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"

Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me, “–Matthew 26:20-22

When I read this I’m often thinking of Judas, his betrayal, and agonizing end. But today I realized that all of the disciples dipped their hands into the bowl and all did betray Christ by falling away. I’m included in that picture – I must remember the times I have betrayed Christ by poor attitudes and behaviors.

But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same.

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." –Mark 14:31-38

I see myself in Peter so often – insisting emphatically that I’ll never fall away, I’ll never disown Jesus. But what have I been overwhelmed with sorrow for? What have I been willing to sacrifice sleep to pray for? How many times have I refused to see what is breaking the heart of God because it would cause me to drink a bitter cup of sacrifice? Would I have stayed awake and prayed with Jesus?

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns." –Luke 22:52-53

Darkness reigns. Don’t rush to Easter morning and the victory of Life over death. Remember how darkness reigned. Remember the forces of darkness are still at work in our world – they don’t reign unless we give them a foothold – but they are at work. Darkness reigns in the lives of many.

“Father, we thank You for Your Son and His willingness to serve, to be broken and spilled out, to agonize in prayer over Your will and surrender to You. Forgive us when we forget the agony and darkness that reigned. Amen”

Lenten Devotionals from our DS's wife Robbie Craker

The Story of the Greedy Farmhands

"Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.

"The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.'

"But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.

"Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?"

"He'll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time."

Jesus said, "Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:

The stone the masons threw out
is now the cornerstone.
This is God's work;
we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
"This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed." --Matthew 21:33-44 (The Message)

All three synoptic gospels have this as the parable Jesus tells following the great celebration – Palm Sunday. All three record the withering of the fig tree and the authority of Jesus being questioned - and then this story. We might feel safe – we’re not the people Jesus is talking about. He’s talking about the Pharisees.

Some people look around at the church of today and say it is full of Pharisees. Be careful. It goes both ways – you could be one who is willing to destroy others to have the “vineyard” to yourself. Or you could be the one who feels called to protect the “vineyard” – not even letting the workers in.

This story, apparently so important to Jesus that He told it during the last week of His life, must be important to us. The cross is looming closer and closer. This story isn’t easy --we all want to believe we’re the “good guy.” We don’t want God’s kingdom taken away from us and handed over to others. And this doesn’t have to happen if we deny ourselves pick up our cross and follow Jesus.

Don’t let the Stone be a stumbling block to you. Don’t get smashed by the Stone. Allow Him to be the “cornerstone.”

Don’t look around and judge others – pastor, leaders, laity – pick up your cross and follow Jesus. The vineyard is ripe – don’t spend time arguing over trivial matters – get in and reap the harvest. Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus.

“Father – we want to be in YOUR KINGDOM. Remind us that it doesn’t belong to us – it belongs to You! Help us to see clearly and understand our place. Help us to let go of what doesn’t matter so we can focus on the harvest. We love You. Give us love for each other. Amen”