The Cup of Death
One of my “old favorite” movies is geared around the search for the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, some call this cup the Holy Grail.
And why in this film are the Nazis, a medieval-oriented religious group, and Indiana Jones on a mad-dash against each other to find Christ’s sacred cup? Because they believe anyone who drinks of it will have eternal life – but they are not talking about eternal life as a new and forever relationship with God, as the Bible defines it. No, they think it is like the so-called “Fountain of Youth” that will give them life forever, immortality right now, and invincibility (which, of course was very important to the Nazi general). Now all that is a silly twisting in order to make a Hollywood blockbuster film…
But what was the cup Jesus spoke of? Not the actual cup He drank from at the Last Supper, but the cup Jesus spoke of when He expressed His desire to let “this cup” pass by Him, meaning that He longed to not drink of it?
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No Longer Indestructible
Tears welled up in my eyes. Fear raced across my mind. Anxiety tightened my heart. I never thought it would come to this. Not at thirty-one years of age. Not now… not ever! Never did I dream I’d be pushed along in a wheelchair into the triage unit of a large ER department… in order to evaluate ongoing chest pain that had bothered me for more than four weeks.
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We Almost Lost Him
The last several days have been a whirlwind of activity, stress, and no sleep. This past Monday, Hudson came down with a cough that increasingly worsened over the course of Wednesday and Thursday. . . . Five minutes after I left for evening work at Dallas Bible Church, he fell into a coughing spell and stopped breathing altogether. Stephanie quickly tried to help him cough it up, but then decided to call 911. Through the instruction of the 911 attendant, Stephanie successfully resuscitated him after 4 attempts…and approximately 1 minute.
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It’s Still Raining
Why would God send me to India, and then take away the gift that I was so sure he had given me? Why does it have to be my voice? “God, why does it have to be me?” As the doctor showed me the video from the stroboscope he had put down my throat and said, “Well Michael, what you have is a laryngeal asymmetry caused by the apparent viral damage of your upper superior laryngeal nerve…in other words a semi-paresis of your left vocal fold”…I don’t remember crying outwardly, but if I wasn’t, I certainly was weeping on the inside.
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God’s Not Changing (even though our clocks are)
Our great and almighty God is unchanging in character, power, and authority (cf. Mal. 3:6). He is steadfast in His loyal, covenant-love (Psa. 100:5; 117::2; Lam. 3:22-24). Our Lord is immovable in His precepts. What He has established will not be shaken. His Word will endure forever (Isa. 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25). . . .
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Church = Family?
Family. I love the sound of that word. Why? Because I believe the word family embodies the picture of God’s plan for His people. Are we perfect? No. Do we always get along? Sadly, no. Do we have occasional squabbles and disagreements? Sure….
