John 2:13-22 Cleaning House to make room

In this passage Jesus chases the moneychangers and those who sold animals from the Temple. All my life I was taught that it was because of their dishonesty. In fact, it is part of the good news that Jesus came for all of us.

He did not run them out because their professions were sinful. They provided a much-needed service for those who traveled from great distances. Jewish law required that monetary offerings be made in Jewish currency.The Moneychangers made that possible.
But the moneychangers and those who sold animals for sacrifices set up their tables in the court of the Gentiles,thus crowding them out! How many times do we find our churches institutionalizing a good idea that marginalizes or excludes a group of people to which we are to be witnesses.

God's house was to be a house of prayer for all peoples (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17).
In this season of Lent, we need to examine our individual lives and our corporate life together. If our "church" concerns or polity take priority over the greater mission of making God's house a place of prayer for everyone, we might consider "Cleaning House"?

When A Musician Dies

WHEN A MUSICIAN DIES
By Greg Presley

WHEN A MUSICIAN DIES,
AND HIS LIFE’S CONCERT IS ENDED,
AND HE PRESENTS HIMSELF AT HEAVENS GATE;
WHEN HE HEARS A VOICE FROM WITHIN SAYING,
“YOU HAVE PLAYED WELL,“
“ENTER NOW INTO A PLACE PREPARED FOR YOU
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME”

“WELL DONE, MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT,
YOU HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL…”

AT THIS TIME WE SEE TWO VERY DIFFERENT REACTIONS:
THOSE WHO ARE LEFT HERE AND GRIEVE HIS PASSING,
AND THOSE BEYOND THE GATE WHO REJOICE AT HIS
HOMECOMING.

FROM LOVED ONES LEFT BEHIND COME SOUNDS OF
GRIEF AND SORROW.
FROM THOSE BEYOND THE PORTALS OF HEAVEN
THERE IS A HEAVENLY APPLAUSE.
AND I FANCY THAT I HEAR IN THE APPLAUSE
THE CLAPPING OF NAIL-SCARRED HANDS!

Sermon for Guitar by Greg Presley

SERMON FOR GUITAR;
By GREG PRESLEY

Greg Presley’s my name and music’s my game;
This thing on my lap is called a guitar,
When I got I thought it would make me a star!
Then I found that there was a hitch,
I’d have to have talent to really get rich.

I wanted to be a cowboy
And ride the range like Gene and Roy
I even learned to ride a horse (off and on)
But in contests of will,
The horse always won!

I was riding today, and true to my luck,
I fell off the horse and lay there in the muck.
My foot was caught in the stirrup
And I was flat on my back.
The horse was still running and alas and alack,
I might have been hurt trying to ride and sing,
But the manager of Wal-mart came out and
Unplugged the thing!

I have played the guitar since I was 12. My Dad taught me some chords when my brother went off to WWII and left his guitar at home. I played to accompany my dad while he played the fiddle. We played Hill-billy music. They call it bluegrass now. As I grew older I played the guitar to accompany myself when I would sing. That’s what Gene and Roy did, you know. I began to play with bands around in South Alabama when I was only 13. It was country music--4 chord country.

I guess I never thought of the guitar as an instrument for church music. Later on, I found that it fit well with country gospel but I really didn’t care much for that. I just didn’t believe that I could get my guitar sanctified.

But then, in the 60’s the guitar came from the hill-billy twang to the modern sounds of the day. History was repeating itself for once upon a time the court Jester strummed and sang his song of mirth and protest. With the folk singer of today we have a modern model of the court jester. The troubadour of today is bearded, dressed as a jester, and he sings songs of love and war, peace and hope, sin and protest. But mostly he sings of brotherly love. When I was a boy “Long-hair musician” meant something entirely different.

The youth of today tells us that times have changed. The recent generations are different. They need a new music. They need their own church service with their own music. Our churches are trying to accommodate them by having “contemporary services” and we finding that we have two separate congregations.

Young people of today tell us that all has changed. “We’re different!” “We have a message” and youth truly has a message. I’ve been listening to this message with the ear of a guitarist and the ear of a pastor. I think I’ve got the message. The problem is, though, my age, my Theological training, and my background as a musician and entertainer makes this new message sound strangely familiar.

You sing of love. Not love like Hames, Sinatra, and Crosby sang of but you sing of a universal love; love for everybody. It’s a good song. I heard it sung in the cotton fields of Georgia by the blacks who dreamed of a universal love before you were born!
The words were different, though. Those black workers sang of a love prompted in man by a relationship to God.

You sing of despair. I heard your song in the 30s sung by men and women whose stomachs were empty and whose jobs were gone. I sang your song of despair when my dad had no job and my mom worked for four dollars and a half per week to feed 5 hungry children.

You sing of freedom. This song has changed often in the past 5 decades. We sang of freedom in the 40’s longing for the lights to go on on Broadway. We sang your song in the 50’s longing for the end to the Korean war. We sang your songs of freedom when Viet Nam took so many of our brave young people. You sang during the fight to save Kuwait from Sadaam. You sang and still sing for freedom from fear of terrorism.
An older version was sung many years ago ”You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (Jno 8:32)

The songs of our young people have a message. We should listen. Youth should sing. Sing a song for today. Sing a song of love!

What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
That’s the only thing that there’s just not plenty of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone”

Some wag has said that love is a misunderstanding between two fools. Perhaps that is right in some cases but we should discuss this thing we call love. Who do you love? Young people today are likely to say they love everybody. Like who?

The person who says he loves everybody often doesn’t love anybody. As you sing of Love, please remember these things:

1. Love must be particularized to have meaning. Love for everybody is worthless unless it is shown in a love for somebody. Love is something you do, it’s a verb and it must have an object. Everybody is too general to be a good object of the verb.

The Bible, beginning with the 10 commandments, often begins a discourse or a lesson by revealing a relationship with God which results in a relationship with our fellow man. The first commandments deal with God and man; the rest deal with man to man. The Beatitudes do the same. There is a vertical relationship between God and man that, when established become the conduit through which the Love of God flows to man until he is filled to overflowing. Only then can he truly love his fellow man as the Love of God flows to him and through him to others.

So, The source of love is God. The object of love is the person you choose to love. You can’t love everybody. You have to love some somebody. You can’t love anybody unless you have received that love you wish to share. You can’t give what you haven’t got anymore than you can come back from where you haven’t been!

But, limitless love is available to you. The sweetest love story is summed up in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Wonderful it is that Jesus cared for me,
Coming from His home on high--
Into pain and sorrow, poverty and woe,
On Cal’vry’s cruel cross for me to die.

Oh, what love; that He should die for me,
Saving grace thus to supply for me.
Oh what love! Oh what love!
Ever more I’ll sing it--Oh what love!

Who do you love? Do you have a line of supply from the source of real love? The best way to bring peace, love, and freedom to the world is to establish that vertical relationship to God by accepting what God did for you in Jesus Christ. Jesus died for you that you could receive God’s love. If you will accept what God did for you in the death, burial, and resurection of His Son Jesus it will not change your song but it will give a Divine quality and meaning. The melody will be more tender. The rhythm will be more sure. The song will possess you and keep you for eternity.

Sing with me:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
That’s the only thing that there’s just too little of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone!

It Was First My Mother - by Greg Presley

IT WAS FIRST MY MOTHER

It was my mother who told me about Jesus,
But it was Jesus who spoke to my heart
It was my mother who told me that God loved me,
But it was Jesus who proved God’s love to me

It was my mother who taught me to sing about Jesus,
But it was Jesus who put a song in my heart.
It was my mother who taught me to sing of things above,
But it was Jesus who taught me to sing songs of love.

It was my mother who prayed for me,
That I would give my to Jesus my everything,
But it was Jesus who accepted me,
And gave me songs of praise to sing.

It was Jesus who filled my life with joy,
It was Jesus who told me who I am.
It was Jesus who blessed me with a message,
And it was Jesus who gave me this song:

Why should I sing of lesser things, and things that pass away,
When I’ve a friend like Jesus to sing about each day--
I have no song to sing, but that of Christ my King,
To Him true praise I bring, I’ll sing it o’er
I have no more delight, in other songs
My melody of love, to him belongs
I have to sing, but that of Christ my King
To Him My praise I’ll bring, forevermore.

Musings for Eternity by Earl Presley

Truth - people fail, churches fail, people hurt people, family hurt more because of relationship.
Truth - we question God when we should question people and ourselves.
Truth - God loves us, and we are called to reflect that love even when we are rejected - like Jesus did.
Truth - the cross was an instrument of torture and shame
Truth - we are called to be on one with Jesus
Truth - we were called to be on it together
Truth - we should love each other regardless of circumstance because that which we share is superior to all that is around us.

If your hurting, these are the things I believe...

The worst day with Jesus and those who really serve him is better than the best day with anyone else.

10 Things I don’t understand -

1. God making us and “all that is” for us,
2. Jesus redeeming us
3. The church surviving us
4. God’s will being accomplished in spite of us
5. People wasting what precious little time they have to be with and work for Jesus
6. People claiming Christ as Savior, but not being willing to submit to him as Lord
7. God’s seeming limitless patience with our ineptitude
8. People hurting one another and being clueless about it
9. Parents that hurt their kids
10. How easily we give up our dreams

Litany of Truth

True - people fail, churches fail, people hurt people, family hurt more because of relationship.

True - we question God when we should question people and ourselves.

True - God loves us, and we are called to reflect that love even when we are rejected - like Jesus did.

True - the cross was an instrument of torture and shame.

True - we are called to be on one with Jesus.

True - we were called to be on it together.

True - we should love each other regardless of circumstance because that which we share is superior to all that is around us.

True - many will not listen to those with the message of love.

True - we are called to share the gospel anyway.

If you're hurting, these are things I believe...and help me be obedient to the call.