Dear Rachel, How are you?

When my father, mother, and I lived in the remote village of Akiak, Alaska we had two ways to communicate with family and friends in the “lower 48”; by using the only telephone in the village or by writing letters. The telephone was located in a Quonset hut that was sort of a community building. If it rang whoever happened to hear it would answer and then run to try and find the person who was being called. If you were the caller, you needed to calculate the time zone difference and hope that someone on the other end would answer.

Letter writing was more reliable, but slower. Sometimes my mother would write to arrange a phone call; e.g., “on Friday I will be calling you at 5 pm your time.” I still have some letters that I received during those summers. There is something very intimate about holding paper that you know the sender also held and who spent time writing their thoughts so the two of you could stay connected.

Is letter writing still taught in schools? Or has technology (word processing, email, text, social media, cell phones, etc.) taken over so that pen and paper have become a lost form of communication? I remember learning in grade school how to properly begin an informal letter;

                            September 27, 1975

                                               Dear Rachel,
                                               How are you? I am fine.
                                               Love, Debbie

(Hey, it was grade school; there wasn’t much going on in my life at that time! And please don’t call me Debbie.)

While we are taught to begin a letter by addressing the person to whom we are writing, people in the first century began a letter with their own names, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph 1:1-2

“Grace” was a customary greeting for the Greeks. “Peace” was a customary greeting for the Jews. Glance at the beginning of other New Testament books written by Paul and you see how important this greeting was for him. By using both “grace and peace” Paul included both the Greeks and the Jews in his writings;

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” Eph 2:14-18

We don’t think much about Paul’s “grace and peace to you” openings. But it was really radical for his time! With just two words he emphasized that everyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior is part of God’s family. Rather remarkable, really.

How do you greet people? What two words could you use that carry more far more weight than our usual “Hey! How ya doin?” Maybe you can start a new trend by greeting everyone with "Grace and peace, yo!"

Think about it, friends.

What's your super power? Ephesians 1:18-21

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Ephesians 1:18-21

The Greek word used in these verses for power is dynamai (which is the root of our word, dynamite!). It means force, miraculous power, ability, and mighty strength.

The Greek word used for strength is kratos. It means vigor, dominion, mighty strength or power.

Paul wants the believers at Ephesus to understand and know:

Hope! 

Promise of eternity! 

God’s power for everyday living!

And Paul makes an amazing announcement that the dynamai God used to resurrect Jesus from the dead gives us kratos!

Here are two of my favorite stories where that power was at work:
-When Jesus was arrested his words “I am he” knocked the soldiers flat! John 18:4-6
-When Jesus was resurrected, that same power knocked the guards at the tomb flat, “like dead men.” Matthew 28:2-4

Friends, we are not to just exist from one day to the next. We are not supposed to whine about our circumstances or be fatalistic about our future. The incomparably great power that came from the mouth of Jesus, is the same power God used to raise Jesus from the dead, is the same power he gives us who believe…every day!!

Super Friends, you have dynamite resurrection power coursing through your veins right now!! You have the mighty strength of God rushing through your lungs with every breath!!

So write these verses on your bathroom mirror; memorize them!

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, 

of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

And if you ever think or say, “I can’t!” You better add to it “…but God can!”

I'm praying for you!

Surprise? Ephesians 1:4-6

I am the youngest child of five and showed up a number of years after the first four. When I had my first child my mother told me how she thought four children were plenty and then suddenly she learned she was pregnant again, and she wasn’t happy about it. But she said that after I was born she was very thankful for #5. I had never heard that story before and my first response was a teasing, “So I was an accident?” And she quickly and forcefully replied, “No! You were a surprise, but not an accident!”

While I was a surprise to my parents, I am no surprise to God!

And neither are you. God knew you before you were even conceived…

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16 NIV

And God focuses his love on you through Jesus Christ…

“How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.” Ephesians 1:4-6 The Message

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

 Lavish. 

I just love that word; extravagant, over-the-top, unrestrained, generous, luxurious, excessive.

 “For God so extravagantly over-the-top loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” 1 John 3:16a

“So if your flesh ever tires to rant and rave that you’re not worthy enough to be used or that you’re just an accident, you need to take authority over your flesh and tell it to shut its stupid mouth!” Rick Renner

You are not an accident.

God knows you.

God loves you.

God poured out Himself for you.

God has plans for you.

You. Are. Loved.

Let that sink into your brain, friend.  

Talking about Ephesians, Chapter 1

Those crazy Facebook quizzes annoy me. 

     “What Mexican food are you?” 

     “What Twilight character do you resemble?” 

     “What’s your real age?” 

     “What would be your prison stereotype?” Okay, for the sake of this post I took that one. Results were that I would be a prison leader. Fantastic.

     “What prison sentence would you get?” Life sentence. Well, that’s just great.

Maybe I should create a quiz. 

     “If you were in jail what would you do with all your spare time?”

The apostle Paul spent quite a bit of time in jail. What a great example, huh? Well, actually, yea, he is. Because, he was thrown in jail for preaching about Jesus. But before all that, Saul (the pre-Paul) actually was a Jesus-hater who ran around throwing Jesus-followers in prison (Acts 8:1-3). Then Jesus got hold of him; shined a bright light in his eyes which blinded him, told him to knock it off, healed him, and gave him a new purpose in life (Acts 9:1-22). See, most of the Jews thought Jesus was dead and gone and was no longer a threat to their religious way of life. Then Saul/Paul jumped the fence and preached about Jesus. And the Jews didn’t like that very much (Acts 13:44-52).

Nothing scared Paul. Not shipwrecks (Acts 29), or snake bites (28:1-6), politicians or wealthy people, being beaten or stoned (14:19-20; 21:27-32), being thrown in jail (Acts 16), or even dying for his faith in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 4:6-8; 16-18). You can read Paul’s own words about all that crazy stuff in 2 Corinthians 11:21-30; 12:9-10.

Jails in the first century weren’t very comfy; dark, dirty, and smelly are fitting descriptions. So, what did Paul do with all his spare time while chained in jail cells?

                -Had hymn sings Acts 16:25

                -Kept talking about Jesus Acts 16:31-32

                -Wrote letters to churches that he had visited on his travels. 

                  Ephesus, Acts chapters 19-20

The New Testament books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon are called Paul’s “prison epistles” (letters) because he wrote them while he was in jail, and there were probably many more letters that never survived. Most likely he had a lot of time to think and pray, and the Holy Spirit taught him a lot about Jesus, too. Paul was then able to pass on that knowledge to those first Christians through his writings. And to us!

The beginning of his letter to the church in Ephesus contains rich words of praise and blessing for who God is and what he has done in and through Jesus Christ vs 3-10; how God has blessings for everyone who believes in Jesus v 11-14; and praise and  thanksgiving for the believers in that church vs 15-23. It is an amazing way to start a letter!

You see, Paul wasn’t sitting in his cell pouting about his circumstances (Philippians 4:11-13)! No dank jail cell or thick iron bars were going to stop him from his unending commitment of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ (Acts 28:30-31)! Paul wrote that he was “in chains for Christ” (Philippians 1:13) and a “prisoner of Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:1). That was his purpose, his calling, and his goal until his dying day. Church tradition taught that Paul was beheaded in Rome in the mid to late 60’s AD. 

Killed because he wouldn’t stop talkin’ ‘bout Jesus.

So. What’s my/our problem?

What are my current circumstances? I’m not in jail; I live rather comfortably.

What do you do with all your spare time?

What do I consider more important than Jesus Christ? Popularity? My future? My job (wait that doesn’t count ‘cause I’m a pastor)? 

Are we willing to take risks so that the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus Christ will be shared with the people we are with every day? Or anyone we happen to meet?

Is there anything that keeps me from saying, “I, Deb, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you youth…”

I hope not. Jesus might have to shine a blinding bright light in MY eyes to straighten me up.