I'm angry today. I'm angry at myself, my dogs, God, my family and anything and anyone else. This is one of those I can't do anything days. One of those days when getting out of bed, dressed and into the living room seems an insurmountable struggle. I mean come on how many people actually need their son to get them to the couch? I feel I have let down a wonderful friend, my wife, my sons and my Lord. I can't stand the frustration and want to hurt something.
It use to be that when I got angry I could go out and do something about it, you know throw some students around a little, beat on the heavy bag, spar with a superior fighter, break some boards or blocks, now all I can do is sit around and wait to get the muscle control back enough to punch myself in the side of the face. I can't read, I can't follow a movie, I can't follow a television show. I can't even remember my sign ins for most things.
I don't like what I am becoming and my faith is starting to falter. Lord give me the strength to remain sane, to accept your will even when I don't understand it and most of all to remember that it is Who You are that is important not what I am.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Words of our Risen Lord
Mat 28:8 And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.
Mat 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet and adored him.
Mat 28:10 Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee. There they shall see me.
“All Hail, Fear not!” (Peace) As far as we know these are the first words spoken by our Risen Lord. We can assume that there was praise of the Father and Prayer but as recorded this is what we are told he said. Well actually what he said was the Greek word χαίρω which we are told means “be full of cheer, be calmly happy”. In a few translations such as the Good News Bible this is translated “Peace”. The English Standard Version translates it “Greetings!” No matter how it is translated it is clear that His intention was to put the women at ease. Did they wonder if their senses were deceiving them? I probably would have. Did they think they were seeing the dead? Again I might have.
We have differing accounts of the morning that Jesus resurrected. It is my opinion that each gives the same story from a different perspective but what I wish to emphasize is this one word; “Peace.” It is a word that is used in Scripture often and there are variances of it in both Greek and Hebrew. But what exactly is it that Jesus wanted to communicate?
Strongs Dictionary of the Bible indicates that this is a word that was used mostly to set people at ease. I would imagine that today it would be similar to saying something like “Friends Relax.” Why would this be our Lords first words? The Risen Lord had just taken the keys of hell and death away from the adversary. The Risen Lord through His suffering and death had forever removed the veil between man and his creator. (This was signified quite well by the rending of the veil in the Temple.) This was a conquering hero, this was a figure that had just experienced mans curse (death) to redeem man and to return him to fellowship with the Father.
Nobody really knows what the Marys’ and the Apostles’ first thoughts were but we know many of them were afraid. Certainly the women were afraid according to the Scriptures quoted above. Jesus our ever loving savior knows the grief and the pain that these disciples of His just experienced. He knows how many hairs were on their heads {Thanks to a friend of mine for reminding me of this} so it is reasonable to assume he knows the depth of the grief and the guilt that his followers, those who loved Him, had been experiencing the previous three days. Jesus had experienced grief, separation, torture, and death. One can understand why He would want to set at ease those who were suffering after all that was the whole purpose of the incarnation; to relieve our suffering (by taking it Himself) thus reuniting us with the Father.
It is hard for many in this world to attain peace. There are many reasons for this, the demands of everyday living is probably most at fault. It eats away at us demanding our time, our attention, our resources; it demands well nothing less than “us”. How do I get Tommy to orchestra practice? How do I get Christopher to the Rec Center where his team is waiting on “The Wall”? What will we do about Karen’s Insulin when she loses her insurance? How do I tell mom that I need yet one more surgery? How do I make Social Security pay the $300.00 in bills that it is short of? What about the soldiers and civilians losing their lives in the Middle East? How do we feed the hundreds of children that will starve to death today? Does my elderly neighbor need me to mow her lawn again? How will I ever make time for that Apologetics paper? The list goes on and on and on seemingly endlessly. How can one have peace? It is clear that Jesus is telling the women and the disciples and us to have peace. I would say that since these were the first words of our Risen Lord that this peace must be pretty important. So how do we have peace?
[more to come my friends I do have that paper to finish]
Mat 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet and adored him.
Mat 28:10 Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee. There they shall see me.
“All Hail, Fear not!” (Peace) As far as we know these are the first words spoken by our Risen Lord. We can assume that there was praise of the Father and Prayer but as recorded this is what we are told he said. Well actually what he said was the Greek word χαίρω which we are told means “be full of cheer, be calmly happy”. In a few translations such as the Good News Bible this is translated “Peace”. The English Standard Version translates it “Greetings!” No matter how it is translated it is clear that His intention was to put the women at ease. Did they wonder if their senses were deceiving them? I probably would have. Did they think they were seeing the dead? Again I might have.
We have differing accounts of the morning that Jesus resurrected. It is my opinion that each gives the same story from a different perspective but what I wish to emphasize is this one word; “Peace.” It is a word that is used in Scripture often and there are variances of it in both Greek and Hebrew. But what exactly is it that Jesus wanted to communicate?
Strongs Dictionary of the Bible indicates that this is a word that was used mostly to set people at ease. I would imagine that today it would be similar to saying something like “Friends Relax.” Why would this be our Lords first words? The Risen Lord had just taken the keys of hell and death away from the adversary. The Risen Lord through His suffering and death had forever removed the veil between man and his creator. (This was signified quite well by the rending of the veil in the Temple.) This was a conquering hero, this was a figure that had just experienced mans curse (death) to redeem man and to return him to fellowship with the Father.
Nobody really knows what the Marys’ and the Apostles’ first thoughts were but we know many of them were afraid. Certainly the women were afraid according to the Scriptures quoted above. Jesus our ever loving savior knows the grief and the pain that these disciples of His just experienced. He knows how many hairs were on their heads {Thanks to a friend of mine for reminding me of this} so it is reasonable to assume he knows the depth of the grief and the guilt that his followers, those who loved Him, had been experiencing the previous three days. Jesus had experienced grief, separation, torture, and death. One can understand why He would want to set at ease those who were suffering after all that was the whole purpose of the incarnation; to relieve our suffering (by taking it Himself) thus reuniting us with the Father.
It is hard for many in this world to attain peace. There are many reasons for this, the demands of everyday living is probably most at fault. It eats away at us demanding our time, our attention, our resources; it demands well nothing less than “us”. How do I get Tommy to orchestra practice? How do I get Christopher to the Rec Center where his team is waiting on “The Wall”? What will we do about Karen’s Insulin when she loses her insurance? How do I tell mom that I need yet one more surgery? How do I make Social Security pay the $300.00 in bills that it is short of? What about the soldiers and civilians losing their lives in the Middle East? How do we feed the hundreds of children that will starve to death today? Does my elderly neighbor need me to mow her lawn again? How will I ever make time for that Apologetics paper? The list goes on and on and on seemingly endlessly. How can one have peace? It is clear that Jesus is telling the women and the disciples and us to have peace. I would say that since these were the first words of our Risen Lord that this peace must be pretty important. So how do we have peace?
[more to come my friends I do have that paper to finish]
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Hi everyone
Hello. I'm John Beaver, John's son (hahaha, lame i know). Dad, as he mentioned, has a fairly severe seizure disorder, and sometimes due to either medication or the physical trauma of seizures, becomes confused and posts nonsensically. Generally, he is an intelligent well reasoned person, but sometimes he will need help.
I have been added to this blog so that I may correct or remove any posts that may embarrass him when he is himself again. This will be my only post, but you may see me editing and commenting on his posts.
God Bless everyone, enjoy the blog.
I have been added to this blog so that I may correct or remove any posts that may embarrass him when he is himself again. This will be my only post, but you may see me editing and commenting on his posts.
God Bless everyone, enjoy the blog.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Words of our Risen Lord
Lately I have been pondering the words of the Risen Lord. I am not speaking of the words contained in the Gospels except for those few recorded after his death, burial and resurrection. I am speaking specifically of those words recorded that Jesus spoke after His resurrection. We find these words recorded in various places; some in the Gospels, some in Acts and in some of Paul’s writings and those most famous being recorded in the book of the Revelation to John.
In this opening post I wish only to look at the first mention of the words of the Risen Lord that we find in Matthew which starts as a rather anxious scene. Mary of Magdela and another Mary whom we are told is the mother of James and Salome walk outside the city to care for the body of their Lord. Jesus, it should be remembered, was rather hastily placed inside a burial cloth and placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb after His death. The women would be approaching the tomb to anoint the body with spices and oils. There must have been some trepidation on their part, after all there were Roman guards who may or may not comply in allowing them to complete their task. Even if they did allow them to there most certainly would have been some level of harassment for them to endure.
The loss of their Lord would also have caused them some fear and certainly grief. It is possible that these women felt that Jesus would not die despite his comments to the contrary. He was after all the Messiah and so far as these women knew He certainly had not filled all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah. So they approach the tomb, perhaps dumbfounded, perhaps faltering in faith, likely fearful and most assuredly cautious.
Some have argued that these women approached the burial place expecting to find the grave empty. I do not believe this position to be likely, these women after all were human beings and at least one of them watched Him die. (or so tradition tells us) Most certainly they had spoken with those who had watched Him die. We also know from Matthews’s account that they were discussing who would remove the stone from the opening to the tomb. These women were not expecting to find the Risen Lord they were expecting to anoint the body of their Lord because He was dead.
But…As they approach the tomb we are told of some pretty spectacular events. First we are told of an earthquake, then of an Angel descending and moving the stone from the front of the sepulcher. We are told the guards became as if they were dead. Then the Angel who was a spectacular site to behold told the women that he knew why they were there and that Jesus had arisen and was going ahead of them.
Then, and I want to make this clear, they were sent by the Angel to proclaim the resurrection of Christ. That is correct for those who oppose women preaching the Gospel, the first that were sent to tell of the Risen Lord, to witness to his resurrection, were women. We know from this passage alone that women can not only be sent to preach but that the first preachers of the Risen Lord were women.
They hurry away fearful yet also full of joy, their Lord is risen, He is going before them and they would see Him soon, Oh how joyful the Apostles and the other disciples would be, his family would rejoice even the Joseph and Lazarus would be speechless.
Then completely unexpected there He was! They fell at His feet and He spoke to them. He said…………
[More to come my friends I have finished the rough draft but still need some finishing touches]
In this opening post I wish only to look at the first mention of the words of the Risen Lord that we find in Matthew which starts as a rather anxious scene. Mary of Magdela and another Mary whom we are told is the mother of James and Salome walk outside the city to care for the body of their Lord. Jesus, it should be remembered, was rather hastily placed inside a burial cloth and placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb after His death. The women would be approaching the tomb to anoint the body with spices and oils. There must have been some trepidation on their part, after all there were Roman guards who may or may not comply in allowing them to complete their task. Even if they did allow them to there most certainly would have been some level of harassment for them to endure.
The loss of their Lord would also have caused them some fear and certainly grief. It is possible that these women felt that Jesus would not die despite his comments to the contrary. He was after all the Messiah and so far as these women knew He certainly had not filled all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah. So they approach the tomb, perhaps dumbfounded, perhaps faltering in faith, likely fearful and most assuredly cautious.
Some have argued that these women approached the burial place expecting to find the grave empty. I do not believe this position to be likely, these women after all were human beings and at least one of them watched Him die. (or so tradition tells us) Most certainly they had spoken with those who had watched Him die. We also know from Matthews’s account that they were discussing who would remove the stone from the opening to the tomb. These women were not expecting to find the Risen Lord they were expecting to anoint the body of their Lord because He was dead.
But…As they approach the tomb we are told of some pretty spectacular events. First we are told of an earthquake, then of an Angel descending and moving the stone from the front of the sepulcher. We are told the guards became as if they were dead. Then the Angel who was a spectacular site to behold told the women that he knew why they were there and that Jesus had arisen and was going ahead of them.
Then, and I want to make this clear, they were sent by the Angel to proclaim the resurrection of Christ. That is correct for those who oppose women preaching the Gospel, the first that were sent to tell of the Risen Lord, to witness to his resurrection, were women. We know from this passage alone that women can not only be sent to preach but that the first preachers of the Risen Lord were women.
They hurry away fearful yet also full of joy, their Lord is risen, He is going before them and they would see Him soon, Oh how joyful the Apostles and the other disciples would be, his family would rejoice even the Joseph and Lazarus would be speechless.
Then completely unexpected there He was! They fell at His feet and He spoke to them. He said…………
[More to come my friends I have finished the rough draft but still need some finishing touches]
Thursday, May 21, 2009
An answer to my son
Why do you want a blog? While helping me to establish this blog my oldest son asked me this question. He is known for such questions. You see he didn’t ask because he doesn’t believe that I have something to share, he asked because he wanted to know with whom I wanted to share? Blogs take many forms; for some they are a type of digital journal. For others a blog is a method for disseminating family, company, or industry news. Yet for others a blog is a means of teaching. My purpose is all of the above, and more.
I am inspired to start this blog after reading the opening entry of the blog of a friend and schoolmate from my past. Whether she knows it or not she and her family (her sister and her mother) have had a strong influence upon my life. I, like my friend, believe that I have been called to write. I have three unfinished books all which are progressing slowly. Two are works of fiction, one is not. `
I am sure that much of my blog will contain my thoughts on Theology, Scripture, Ecclesiology, Prayer, and of course Jesus Christ. I am sure that I will also write of my family, my history, my present, my future and my dreams for how I could be a more obedient, loving and learned servant of my Lord.
I will probably also write about current events, music, art, politics, and anything else I am moved to share. In this particular blog I will write of any subject that moves me. Perhaps in the future I will diversify, perhaps not. For now the blinking cursor is my enemy. A soul stealing, enemy that attempts to accomplish what no other human being has ever been able to accomplish. It has caused me to question my ability.
My blog my dear son is intended for you, mom and Christopher, my friends, your friends, and their friends and family, my former co-workers, my current teachers, mentors, fathers in the faith and those who were in my past and will be in my future.
Pray for me as I pray for you.
I am inspired to start this blog after reading the opening entry of the blog of a friend and schoolmate from my past. Whether she knows it or not she and her family (her sister and her mother) have had a strong influence upon my life. I, like my friend, believe that I have been called to write. I have three unfinished books all which are progressing slowly. Two are works of fiction, one is not. `
I am sure that much of my blog will contain my thoughts on Theology, Scripture, Ecclesiology, Prayer, and of course Jesus Christ. I am sure that I will also write of my family, my history, my present, my future and my dreams for how I could be a more obedient, loving and learned servant of my Lord.
I will probably also write about current events, music, art, politics, and anything else I am moved to share. In this particular blog I will write of any subject that moves me. Perhaps in the future I will diversify, perhaps not. For now the blinking cursor is my enemy. A soul stealing, enemy that attempts to accomplish what no other human being has ever been able to accomplish. It has caused me to question my ability.
My blog my dear son is intended for you, mom and Christopher, my friends, your friends, and their friends and family, my former co-workers, my current teachers, mentors, fathers in the faith and those who were in my past and will be in my future.
Pray for me as I pray for you.
Just a primary message to start the blog off right
My friends, family and those interested in reading. This first blog is simply something I had to write in order to continue to construct the blog. My next blog will actually be my introuctory blog.
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