Thursday nights are usually reserved for school cleaning. I get home shortly before six and we're off to the school. But not this last Thursday. Tina and Ben had gone ahead and did much of the cleaning, leaving only the cafeteria floors. And why were they in such a hurry to get ahead of things? Because it was open-house night at the Ankeny Christian Academy.

We showed up around 7:30 and went into Ben's class. The teacher was there as expected and was surrounded by kids and parents, causing me to smile about the no longer used "halo rule" in college football. Under the halo rule, the kicking team was penalized if a player came within 2 yards of a returner before he caught the ball. The rule led to many borderline penalties and gave the returner a cushion as he tried to get away from the initial tackle. Mrs. Sanderson wouldn't have made it very far with the ball, let me tell you!

Ben showed us his how his reading has improved, as if we didn't already notice, and showed us around the Kindergarten room. Very nice! After that, we headed to the cafeteria and grabbed some sliced apples covered in melted caramel and a cup of coffee. Open House is really about the parents of the kids getting to know one another, and that's pretty cool. I did cringe at the sight of all those people with food and drink around my cleaning area, however. I didn't need to worry, though, because there weren't any big spills to clean up. In fact, my only problem came after dumping the mop water. The doors locked behind me and I don't have (nor do I want) a key. After a few knocks, I left the bucket and went home.

The moral of the story? Contributing to any organization, be it a church, school, club, or anything else, can be more than just getting your hands dirty. It is also a matter of being responsible for your actions and making the job of those who clean up after you as easy as possible. That's not human nature, you know. If it was, we wouldn't be reading about the cleaning job of Jesus right now!

Yours in Christ,

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What is prayer without faith? What use is going to church once a week without faith? The answer to both questions is that each one brings you miniscule results, and that's if you're lucky. Today, we read about some men of such faith that blindness was taken from them. After that, Jesus returned to His hometown, and was not honored in any way. The lack of faith in that town didn't weaken Jesus, but only a few people were healed. God provides the power for miracles to perform, but our faith is what allows them to happen.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. That is as true today as it ever has been. To be a harvester, you don't need to hold tent meetings or go door-to-door with the message. Oftentimes it begins at home or the workplace. It begins wherever you are, and you don't have to get fired to show your faith. Just display your fruits of the spirit and let it be known that you serve God and you will be a good example for others to use when they think of church. In God's own time, opportunities to witness others will come up and you likely won't be the one starting the conversation. That's my interpretation of the message Jesus gave as he sent his disciples out to spread the word. He was speaking directly to them and also to us.

I especially like the statement about taking up your own cross and following Him. I heard a speaker a couple years ago who had a life-size cross to use as a prop. He had it rested on his shoulder and he demonstrated that with a cross on your back, you can't look back or to the side, you can only look forward to your goal. Make sure your goal is a worthy one, take up your own cross, and follow Him, for my Lord knows the way through the wilderness!

Day 2

Have you noticed yet how famous the stories of Jesus are? Each one is another I remember from my childhood days. I was raised in a Christian home, but many of these stories are used as catch phrases and even punchlines in today's society. I disagree with these uses of the stories, but it does say something about how Jesus is more of a factor in America than most would care to admit. Remember from yesterday what Jesus said about denying Him? Scary, huh?

The feeding of the five thousand is a story of blessing and sharing. I had heard it said that food is never enough unless it is shared, but from my bachelor days, I can tell you that it does become enough. I had enough peanut butter and raman in those years and had enough of it! Seriously though, the bread of Christ is sufficient for all of your needs. There is more than enough to feed the world and only those who don't accept it are the ones who will go hungry.

I'll leave off today with a quick thought. Peter looked away from Jesus and started to sink in the water and many people fault him for this. I don't see that so much in this story. What I see is a man courageous enough to get out of the boat in the first place. I also see a God that will catch you if you happen to start to sink. God doesn't require perfect faith in most things. Sometimes all you have to do is trust Him enough to step out of the boat.

Day 3

Jesus cautions the people to work for goals that are eternal, not for goals that are fleeting. Ask anyone what their goals are and common answers will have to do with finances and prestige. When it is all said and done, what will these do for you? When you are asked why you should have the honor of an eternity with God, will you mention that you made your way to a management position at work? Will God care that you retired early? I don't think so. Jesus paid the only price that will buy your admission into glory and any other attempt is absolutely futile.

Here's another time that Jesus turned the popular religious beliefs around. Ever since the exodus from Egypt, there were certain foods that were considered to be unclean and certain practices that determined whether a person could be considered clean or unclean. Some of these rules came from God and some were added later by people. This leads to Jesus declaring that nothing from outside a person could cause him or her to become unclean, but it was the products of that person's life that made them clean or unclean. Are your thoughts and actions pure or do you need some help with this? I suggest prayer for this. I know that I pray for my own shortcomings on a regular basis.

The practice of hand washing had little to do with cleanliness. It was a practice invented by the church, not God. Jesus is saying in this passage that there is nothing you can do from the outside that will truly clean you in His eyes. No ceremonial invention of man can do that. Even the foods that would now be considered "kosher" are no "cleaner" than foods that would fall out of that category. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse a person, and I challenge you to find any food or act stronger than the sacrifice of Jesus.

Day 4

Have you ever been compared to a dog? That's generally taken as an insult, unless you are able to catch a frisbee in your teeth. Why would Jesus say such a thing? That was the attitude that His disciples had taken toward this woman, but she clung to Him, knowing that He was the only hope that she had. For her tenacity, her prayer was granted and God himself commended her faith. Patience and persistence were her qualities that saved her daughter's day.

So just what sort of a sign did the Pharisees and Sadducees need? Hadn't Jesus fed the 5000 and the 4000? Wasn't he casting out demons and healing people wherever He went? I'm of the mind now that these Pharisees and Sadducees needed to show us some sign that proved that they spoke with any legitimate authority.

Day 5

Even though Peter was one of the twelve and had witnessed the power of Jesus, he was still asked to vocalize to Jesus what he thought. Does this seem redundant to you? I kind of thought this, but on later inspection, I realized that we all need to come to terms with just who Jesus is. Is He a great figure in history? Is He the savior of all? Of course. But have you actually accepted these facts and applied them to yourself? Or do you go to church for your weekly ritual? It needs to be a personal decision that you make. God doesn't just want you to go with the crowd on this one.

Have you ever played "HORSE" with a basketball? The game involves announcing what you will do, then doing it. This is necessary to show that a great shot was more than mere luck. In this sense, I read about Jesus as he foretells his own crucifixion. Would it have been valid if he didn't "call it?" Of course it would have been valid. But in a sense, He had been giving his enemies of the day all of the info they would have needed to discredit Him. They could have decided to take Him out quietly rather than making it a public humiliation, but they didn't. Jesus was here to be scorned and rejected, then killed in as painful a way as possible and there was nothing humans could have done to alter the course of prophesy, for it had already been pre-determined. Jesus is our own slam dunk!

Day 6

Here's another necessity that Jesus "called". He was to be betrayed. I wonder if that made Judas tremble. In most cases, betrayal doesn't just happen suddenly. It begins in the heart and grows into something that eventually must be carried out. I'm sure Judas had harbored these thoughts by this time, and the fact that he isn't mentioned much other than that fact makes me think of him as a bit of a loner. A loner is often one who feels betrayed himself, for the lack of esteem they notice. He may have felt that he was deserving of more credit than he got, so why not get some monetary reward for his sufferings? But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, aren't we?

A famous concept from this reading mentions plucking out your eyeball if it causes you to sin. I don't know about you, but I'd be in bad shape if Jesus was speaking literally here. No eyes, no feet, no hands, you get the idea. What He meant was that the act of sinning should horrify you as much as removing your eye. It's a good thing that God offers redemption! The parable of the lost sheep shows this. If you're straying from His wishes, you can know that He is seeking you and will be happy when you return. We all have strayed, so this forgiveness in God needs to be freely given in our own hearts as well.

Day 7

The cost of following Jesus can be high, but the rewards are uncountable. Show me a rich preacher and I'll show you a man who needs to reconsider his priorities. There's a saying that I believe in. "If you're too big to do the small things, you're too small to do the big things" Many people today are trying to achieve their own power in life, both in the church and outside it's walls. With this power, many become more of the type that would delegate tasks rather than roll up their own sleeves. While delegation is important, let's not forget that the work of God must start on the front lines.

Weekly Link Chonda Pierce Comedy is the very thing that Chonda Pierce uses to risk vulnerability, to be transparent about her life in a way that allows for healing in the hilarity. Through all the personal tragedy in her life, Chonda made peace with God, "I'm living proof of that verse that God works things for good," says Chonda. In her disarming, genuine, and completely captivating manner, Chonda Pierce tells stories that let you in on the darkest times of her life, and show you how her gracious, loving God redeemed those moments with the gentle warmth of healing and hope. "I'd really rather not have a testimony like that," she says. "I'd rather be able to talk and laugh with my sisters. But if that had to happen, I'm glad to see what God does when you're willing to tell your story." These days, there are more funny women than ever - in comedy clubs, on TV, in the movies - who have the talent to make an audience laugh out loud. It's that rare woman who can be encouraging as she is entertaining, as warm and wise as she is witty, but Chonda Pierce is all that and much more. In a culture of cynicism, Chonda offers a solid, serious take on herself and our world without taking either too seriously. "I would like to say that God appeared to me and said, 'Go, ye, and be funny'," she says. "But it was more than that . I believe that we should all aspire to impact the world with what we do." She laughs, as she often does while telling her story. "And when I started enjoying talking to people rather than singing to 'em, that was a pretty good clue to me." http://www.chonda.org

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Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!