Are there experts on the subject of worship?

Maybe there are; I am not one of these. With what little I bring to the table, I must rely on my understanding of the Bible along with my personal experience to speak to the massive subject of worship. Why? Because I am convinced there is both safe and dangerous worship.

Just this week Earthen Vessel Media published our new Little Book, Dangerous Worship. It is available at Amazon.com in print form and ebook.

Too much attention is given to feeling good, movin’ and grovin’ in the spirit, having dreams, visions, hearing God’s voice, and “going deeper, pressing in” and so on.

As Christians we need to step back and examine some of this band driven, beat enhanced experience. This Little Book will help us do that.

The Gospel of John

John 21:1–25

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples, Jesus and Peter,

Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         Chapter 21 of John’s Gospel is considered an ‘epilogue’ that was written some time following the writing of the main text of the Gospel. It is evident that the chapter is an eye witness account.

2.         Over the centuries commentators have mentioned three possible reasons for the inclusion of chapter 21.

3.         One, that the resurrection was actual, that Jesus was not a spiritual entity, a ghost, an angel, or anything other than the real Jesus, now risen from the dead. He actually ate a breakfast in full view of His seven disciples.

4.         Two, that the reputation and position of Peter is established by Jesus thus preventing Peter’s betrayals from following him. Jesus gives Peter fresh encouragement and direction.

4.         Three, is that John is clearing up a misunderstanding that had been noised abroad to the effect that he would live until the return of Jesus.

5.         The seven disciples, likely those who lived in that part of Galilee, had returned to their homes and work. Jesus performs another sign by the catching of 153 fish. Proof to the fisherman of the authority and power of Jesus.

6.         Jesus walks along the beach of the Sea of Galilee with Peter and assures him of His love and concern in addition to giving Peter an opportunity to express his love for Jesus.

7.         Concluding the conversation with Peter, Jesus makes it clear that He had not told John that he, John, would never die.

8.         The timing of this is debated. Did it happen before the ascension, between the ascension and Pentecost, or after Pentecost. It remains a mystery to this day.

Pentecost

Acts 1 – Acts 2

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.   Joel 2:28-29 speaks of a time when the Holy Spirit would be “poured” out on all flesh, men and women alike. Prior to Jesus’ ascension to heaven He directed the disciples  stay in Jerusalem for the arrival of the great promise.

2.   When those early followers of Jesus were gathered together somewhere on the Mt. of Olives, with Jesus present, they asked Him if the kingdom of Israel would now be restored. Jesus then spoke of a coming empowering by the Holy Spirit, which would result in their being His witnesses to the entire world. At that point His ascending to heaven occurred.

3.   At this time there were eleven apostles, due to Judas’ death, and Matthias, who had been with them from the beginning, was chosen to replace Judas. It would seem that with the entire 120 early believers present, likely in the Upper Room, Matthias was chosen to replace Judas. As to the means of selecting, some think by vote, others by choosing one of two stones in a pouch.

4.   Now on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after Passover, and which was one of the great festivals of Israel (see Leviticus 23:15–22 where it is called the “Feast of Weeks.”)

5.   Suddenly there was a powerful spiritual intervention and presence, and the disciples gathered began speaking in tongues, and apparently loudly and wildly. In a way we are not told, this noise was broadcast and a large crowd gathered.

6.   The crowd’s conclusion was that these believers in Jesus were drunk. This set the stage for the first Christian sermon preached, and that by the Apostle Peter.

The Gospel of John

John 20:19–31

Jesus Appears to the Disciples, Jesus and Thomas

& The Purpose of This Book

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         One week after the resurrection, a Sunday evening, Jesus suddenly and miraculously appears to His disciples who out of fear, are in a locked room. He says, “Peace be with you.”

2.           He shows them His hands and side, the scars made by the nails and spear. The disciples were “glad” when they saw the Lord.

3.           Again He said, “Peace be with you” and then gave them, and us, the great commission: “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

4.           Then He “breathed on them” and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is the moment of the full conversion of the disciples.

5.           The sending commission is of the highest of all since it concerns whether hearers are forgiven or not, since no unforgiven sinner can enter into God’s presence.

6.           Thomas, who was not present, when told that Jesus had been there, declares he will not believe unless he sees for himself.

7.           Eight days later, again a Sunday, Jesus appears and lets Thomas touch His wounds now healed. Thomas then expresses faith by saying, “My Lord and my God!”

8.           Jesus’ reaction shows that those who have not seen yet believe are blessed.

9.           John then goes on to state the purpose for the writing of his Gospel, which is that readers will believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

10.         We note chapter 20 is not the last chapter in the Gospel; there is a final chapter, added on later perhaps.

The Gospel of John

John 20:1–18

The Resurrection & Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         All four Gospel writers record the resurrection of Jesus. A woman, Mary Magdalene, is the first to see the resurrected Jesus. (In other Gospel accounts, Mary is not alone. Also, each account has a difference when it comes to who first greeted Mary. In John there are 2 angels in white, in Matthew it is one dazzling angel, in Mark 1 young man in white, in Luke 2 dazzling men.)

2.         The men looked angelic but were identifiable as humans, there is no contradiction.

3.         Mary only is mentioned by John, but finding the tomb empty she runs to where Peter and the “other disciple” are and tells them that “they” have taken away Jesus’ body. She has no idea what happened.

4.         Peter and John (so very likely this “other disciple”) come to the tomb. The linen cloths are found there and the face cloth folded up, this indicating there had not been a stealing of Jesus’ body.

5.         As yet, the disciples did not understand what Jesus had been telling them right along, that He would rise from the dead. Then they returned home.

6.         Mary remains, weeping, outside the tomb, then stooping to look in the tomb, she sees 2 angels in white, actually sitting where Jesus’ body had been. Mary tells the angels that “they” have taken His body. Turning around now she finds Jesus standing there but she does not immediately recognize Him.

7.         Mary thought she was talking with the gardener and thinks he has taken the body away, and if so, she will take the body away.

8.         Jesus then utters “Mary” and hearing that she knows who it is who is before her. She says, “Rabboni!” In addition she touches Jesus’ body, probably His feet, falling on her knees.

9.         Jesus says to her, “Do not cling to me” since He has not yet ascended, but that she is to go to His “brothers,” that is, His disciples, and tell them “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

10.       These words of comfort Mary reports to the disciples, and in Mark’s and Luke’s accounts, they do not believe her.

AN INVITATION

At the book signing booth at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, February 26, six or seven people to whom I signed this book told me of members of their families who were in the process of transitioning. One wife of a pastor said their 18 year old son was nearing the time for hormones and surgery.

During the remaining days of  the convention, numbers of others approached my wife Katie and myself  relating similar stories. It was a kind of pastoral ministry for these; they had someone to talk to who might understand something of what they were going through.

You may have a story to tell also. Our intention is to compile numbers of such stories for a second, or follow-up book, to the one you are reading now.

We invite you to send us your story, your experience, in 1000 words or less. We will not publish any names, nor the city and state you are writing from.

Please send your story to: kentphilpott@comcast.net or katielcPhilpott@usa.net

Our intention is to bring some encouragement to others, knowning they are not alone in their time of sorrow and grief.

Kent and Katie Philpott

GOSPEL MEDITATION

John 19:28–42

The Death of Jesus, Jesus’ Side is Pierced, Jesus is Buried

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.           Friday late afternoon, the 14^th of Nisan, the first day of Passover, and the Day of Unleavened Bread about to commence. Jesus is crucified on Passover, the Passover Lamb of God, now to be buried and with Him our sin as the yeast, representing sin, is removed from the Jewish households.

2.         Jesus then is fulfilling the intent of the first two feasts of Israel. He will fulfill the third feast also, the Feast of First Fruits, the third major feast of Israel, by His resurrection.

3.         “I thirst” said Jesus, which fulfills a Scripture; Jesus did not say it in order to fulfill it, but because He was thirsty which is typical for a crucified person.

4.         At the very last then, Jesus cries out, “It is finished.” It is a cry of victory in that all that He was to do has now, with His dying, been completed.

5.         The day, Friday was ending and the law stated (Deuteronomy 21:22–23) that a body hung on a tree must be taken down before the beginning of the new day, at sundown.

6.         If a hung person was yet alive, his legs would be broken meaning this person could not hoist himself up to breath so would soon die of asphyxiation. Jesus’ legs were not broken (fulfilling yet another prophecy) since He was already dead and the spear that pierced His side clearly revealed that.

7.         Two leading members of the Council of Israel, the Sanhedrin, now play a major role in Jesus’ burial–Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. They were secret followers of Jesus. Normally the Romans allowed the bodies to remain of the cross thus letting the birds and other animals consume the body. But Joseph secures Jesus’ body and Nicodemus has prepared what was necessary for a proper Jewish burial.

8.         Jesus’ body is placed in a tomb in a nearby garden.                   

GOSPEL MEDITATION

John 19:17–27

The Crucifixion

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         Sometime before 9am that Passover Day (our Good Friday), Jesus is lead away from the Fortress of Antonio to be crucified on the hill of the skull, supposedly where Adam was buried, known as Golgotha, to be lifted up on a cross.

2.         Sometimes the two separate parts of the cross, the vertical and horizontal pieces, only the horizontal piece was carried by the condemned. Sometimes both. Here the Gospels make it clear that Jesus carried the horizontal piece due to the savage scourging He has just received. Still, He stumbled, and another finished that work. (Simon of Cyrene–Matthew 27:32)

3.         Are we reminded of Isaac carrying the wood for the fire that would burn His body? (Genesis 22, known as the Akida)

3.         The inscription, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” Pilate ordered fixed to the cross in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, and was perhaps Pilate’s last jab at the Jewish leaders. These leaders protested but Pilate remained resolute.

4.         Jesus was crucified between two criminals, thus linking Him with such deplorable people. Did Pilate arrange for this?

5.         The death squad of Roman soldiers, usually four in number, were rewarded by receiving what clothes the condemned was wearing. Interesting enough, some 1000 years before King David mentions this as found in Psalm 22:18. Historians tell us crucifixion was not invented some several hundred years after the days of King David.

6.         There at the cross were either three or four women. Scholars are divided on this, and with them young John the Apostle and the author of the Gospel. They had the courage to stand close to the cross so that Jesus could speak directly to them.

7.         Jesus utters one of the seven sayings from the cross now:  He said to His mother: “Woman, behold your son!” and to John, the son, “Behold your mother!” John then did what the oldest son, by custom, was supposed to do upon the death of the mother’s husband. Jesus had been acting that part now John.

8.         Fairly reliable history says that John lived in Ephesus until Mary died.

In January of this year we published The Third Sex? Revisited: Homosexual and Transgender Issues from a Biblical Perspective.

(It is available at Amazon.com)

Now we are deep into a second book whose focus is transgender. Katie and I invite anyone who have a story to tell to send it to us, and for possible inclusion in our new volume. Kent’s email address is: kentphilpott@comcast.net. If you would like to talk about it, please call Kent at 415.302-1199 or Katie at 415.299-2910.

1. Are we a culture that is unable to say that there are wrong choices? 
2. Why is the LGBTQ+ community so invested in transgender issues? 
3. Why do the LGBTQ+ folks reject the designation homosexual? 
4. If being homosexual is only natural, why oppose the usage of the term? 
5. Do they think there is something wrong with the term heterosexual? 
6. Shouldn’t the gay community be opposing transgenderism? Is the connection rooted in the struggle with same-sex attraction? 
7. Is it about protecting sexual freedom from the standard norms of the West, and of course, of Christianity? 
8. Must everyone get on board? 
9. If some people believe homosexual behavior is sinful, are they then “homophobic?” 
10. Must everyone think alike? 

Challenging