Sunday, May 6, 2012
Puke at work
I look forward to Sunday every week. It's the day that hundreds of extended family come together and worship God... the great part about this for me.... it's also my job!!
I've said this before, being a pastor is a crazy job. But, having church under a bar/night club is even crazier. Our church is located under one of the greatest places a church can be.
The problem is on Sundays I never know what I'm going to find when I arrive early to pray and get ready for church. One thing I expect every Sunday morning: lots of cigarette butts, empty beer cans, and the horrific effect of excessive drinking - PUKE! Those things are not your norm in most church parking lots; but they are at JOURNEY CHURCH.
With every cigarette butt and puke that gets cleaned up we know there is a person, a human loved by God. It's not always easy to remember that. But, after preaching about John 3:16 today I am reminded of the depth of God's love. There is only one condition to God's love - belief in the one that loves you - JESUS!
I'm proud to have puke at work. Praying I can make a difference in Bend and beyond. - Keith Kirkpatrick
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Why I love JOURNEY CHURCH! (From Hymns to Hip Hop)
I have a funny job. I'm the boss at JOURNEY.... I mean... the Head Honcho... uh... I mean Executive Spiritual Leader... what I'm trying to say is Pastor.
Trying to describe my job sometimes is hard, weird, and always great! I get crazy reactions from some people, reverent from others, and still awkward from a few.
I get the privilege to lead one of one of the most unique communities I've ever been a part of. JOURNEY is fully of diverse, broken, and incredibly hopeful people. We have young, old, rich, and poor. There are houseless and house builders. We have jobless and business owners. JOURNEY is amazing.
Let me share one reason I love JOURNEY CHURCH. Once a month we have "Hymn" Sunday. It's a day when older spiritually rich songs are a part of our Sunday morning gatherings. They are not always done in traditional form, however, the lyrics and stories greatly inspire many. It's awesome.
This month, Hymn Sunday is April 29. And get this, the next Sunday, May 6 we have two hip hop artists leading our music. So, we go from Hymns to Hip Hop! I love it. Both musical styles are heavily loved; rarely if ever in the same place by the same people.
JOURNEY CHURCH embraces a Creative God. JOURNEY loves music that points to Jesus. No matter the genre. God's people are diverse, His Church is diverse, and I am honored to be a part of this great place! I love that we sing Hymns and Hip Hop. - Keith Kirkpatrick
Trying to describe my job sometimes is hard, weird, and always great! I get crazy reactions from some people, reverent from others, and still awkward from a few.
I get the privilege to lead one of one of the most unique communities I've ever been a part of. JOURNEY is fully of diverse, broken, and incredibly hopeful people. We have young, old, rich, and poor. There are houseless and house builders. We have jobless and business owners. JOURNEY is amazing.
Let me share one reason I love JOURNEY CHURCH. Once a month we have "Hymn" Sunday. It's a day when older spiritually rich songs are a part of our Sunday morning gatherings. They are not always done in traditional form, however, the lyrics and stories greatly inspire many. It's awesome.
This month, Hymn Sunday is April 29. And get this, the next Sunday, May 6 we have two hip hop artists leading our music. So, we go from Hymns to Hip Hop! I love it. Both musical styles are heavily loved; rarely if ever in the same place by the same people.
JOURNEY CHURCH embraces a Creative God. JOURNEY loves music that points to Jesus. No matter the genre. God's people are diverse, His Church is diverse, and I am honored to be a part of this great place! I love that we sing Hymns and Hip Hop. - Keith Kirkpatrick
Friday, April 6, 2012
GOOD FRIDAY
Easter weekend is one of the biggest holidays, scratch that, THEE biggest holiday for Christians. Friday is called “Good Friday”. It is the day that Jesus the Christ was horrifically and brutally murdered and shamed in front of thousands of people. His torture was so intense, they had to invent a word for it. Excruciating. The root meaning of this word comes from the word “cross”.
So we call it Good Friday? Doesn’t sound very good. Jesus was crucified for committing no crime, or no sin. What he was accused of was outright blasphemy. He claimed to be God. This threw the Jews into a rage, and actually brought the political and religious leaders together for one of the few times in history. They were known as the Pharisees, and the Saducees. They agreed that this man Jesus was a threat to both systems. The jews wanted Him dead because of His claims to be God. This would make Him the most powerful man on the earth. Neither party was willing to let this stand.
His death is candy coated in bible stories; simply stating that “Jesus died on the cross for your sins.” That doesn’t even begin to explain the severity and depth of His death. Even if you don’t believe Jesus was who he claimed to be, the way He was tortured should be enough to turn anyone’s stomach. People say that the movie “The Passion of the Christ” was too offensive, and too brutal. I still believe it was tame compared to the actual process of torture he endured. I can not imagine, well, maybe i can only imagine, what He must have gone through or looked like. Blood pouring from His head, and His skin literally ripped off His body. Blind folded, He didn’t see where the punches were coming from. Stripped almost naked, and completely shamed. Beaten beyond recognition to a bloody pulp.
His mother got to see Him walk by as spectators jeered at him, and cheered his torture on further. Imagine as a parent or a mother how you would feel watching this carnival like atmosphere of public torture. Imagine. Imagine as He hung on the cross with huge metal spikes driven through His hands and feet finding some of the most sensitive nerve bundles in our bodies, the uncontrollable shaking, and shock his body was enduring. By now His bodily functions were involuntarily taking over. Use your own imagination.
A spear was then thrust in His side, and a vinegar dipped sponge jammed in His mouth to shut Him up. A special sponge on a stick that was used to clean people up when they sat down to go to the bathroom. Yes, they used those sponges as a sort of ancient toilet paper. Then they would dip them in a vinegar solution to prevent diseases the next time that sponge was used for its purpose. If you’re not disgusted by now, you probably don’t have a heart.
Now. Picture all the sins of the world placed on a perfect sacrificial lamb so to speak.
Jesus was now completely repulsive to His own father. Imagine how Jesus felt about now. Dying for the very people who vehemently hated Him. Why?
The only, and I mean only reason I can think of is absolute unconditional love. There is no other reason. A love like that is un-comprehendible to me. Yet people ask the question; how in the world could God punish and send people to hell?!!
People: If God himself is willing to suffer that we might be forgiven, and we reject that gracious offer of salvation - what else would we expect?! Would we expect the guilty to not suffer though we are glad that jesus did suffer? - thought He was without guilt or sin?!
If God is willing to suffer, He is willing to allow you to suffer as well. That is justice.
For God so loved the world He gave his only son; that whoever believes in Him will not perish. He died for us while we were sinners. Not because we did anything good, or great, but because we didn’t. God is Love. - Steve Coats
All this would be for naught if He didn’t fulfill his promise to conquer death and rise from it three days later. He did.
So we call it Good Friday? Doesn’t sound very good. Jesus was crucified for committing no crime, or no sin. What he was accused of was outright blasphemy. He claimed to be God. This threw the Jews into a rage, and actually brought the political and religious leaders together for one of the few times in history. They were known as the Pharisees, and the Saducees. They agreed that this man Jesus was a threat to both systems. The jews wanted Him dead because of His claims to be God. This would make Him the most powerful man on the earth. Neither party was willing to let this stand.
His death is candy coated in bible stories; simply stating that “Jesus died on the cross for your sins.” That doesn’t even begin to explain the severity and depth of His death. Even if you don’t believe Jesus was who he claimed to be, the way He was tortured should be enough to turn anyone’s stomach. People say that the movie “The Passion of the Christ” was too offensive, and too brutal. I still believe it was tame compared to the actual process of torture he endured. I can not imagine, well, maybe i can only imagine, what He must have gone through or looked like. Blood pouring from His head, and His skin literally ripped off His body. Blind folded, He didn’t see where the punches were coming from. Stripped almost naked, and completely shamed. Beaten beyond recognition to a bloody pulp.
His mother got to see Him walk by as spectators jeered at him, and cheered his torture on further. Imagine as a parent or a mother how you would feel watching this carnival like atmosphere of public torture. Imagine. Imagine as He hung on the cross with huge metal spikes driven through His hands and feet finding some of the most sensitive nerve bundles in our bodies, the uncontrollable shaking, and shock his body was enduring. By now His bodily functions were involuntarily taking over. Use your own imagination.
A spear was then thrust in His side, and a vinegar dipped sponge jammed in His mouth to shut Him up. A special sponge on a stick that was used to clean people up when they sat down to go to the bathroom. Yes, they used those sponges as a sort of ancient toilet paper. Then they would dip them in a vinegar solution to prevent diseases the next time that sponge was used for its purpose. If you’re not disgusted by now, you probably don’t have a heart.
Now. Picture all the sins of the world placed on a perfect sacrificial lamb so to speak.
Jesus was now completely repulsive to His own father. Imagine how Jesus felt about now. Dying for the very people who vehemently hated Him. Why?
The only, and I mean only reason I can think of is absolute unconditional love. There is no other reason. A love like that is un-comprehendible to me. Yet people ask the question; how in the world could God punish and send people to hell?!!
People: If God himself is willing to suffer that we might be forgiven, and we reject that gracious offer of salvation - what else would we expect?! Would we expect the guilty to not suffer though we are glad that jesus did suffer? - thought He was without guilt or sin?!
If God is willing to suffer, He is willing to allow you to suffer as well. That is justice.
For God so loved the world He gave his only son; that whoever believes in Him will not perish. He died for us while we were sinners. Not because we did anything good, or great, but because we didn’t. God is Love. - Steve Coats
All this would be for naught if He didn’t fulfill his promise to conquer death and rise from it three days later. He did.
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