Gen. 42:1ff Three Days!

© 1998-2014
Fellowship at Cross Creek
Gen. 42:1ff
Three Days!
3.30.14

Intro… Being strategically or tactically Spiritually smart or wise. Too often I find Christians too willing to believe, to trust, to be naive, to be foolish in a world that worships evil, deception, what I want and what I want NOW and the Great Con! Like lambs led to slaughter, we don’t see the evil coming…the great betrayal…the fall. Like Christian ostriches with our heads buried in the sand, all too often, we refuse to see the obvious. But Jesus warned his disciples to be shrewd as serpents as they were also seeking to be innocent as doves (Matt. 10). Do the right thing…be innocent, but at the same time, DON’T BE STUPID. BE WISE! Why? Because the world is both, NOT INNOCENT AND CRAFTY. Jesus calls us to be different, INNOCENT AND CRAFTY. The common trait is to be wise, crafty, shrewd and smart when dealing with man’s evil, sin and immorality. Assume people…assume your family…assume those you love and know, are SINNERS, WILL FAIL, WILL LET YOU DOWN, WILL LIE, WILL DECEIVE in order to cover up their sin. In fact, they are NORMAL. We all cheat. We all fudge and we all attempt to cover up our sin to those who would hold us accountable. WE ARE SINNERS. WE ARE NOT PERFECT! NO ONE IS! Thus, Jesus’ warning to his disciples to be good, do your best, strive to be righteous, but understand man’s propensity to mess up…understand man’s weakness and be prepared to fight a little fire with fire. Jesus was constantly doing this with his religious opposition. Just watch his deeds and words. He is very shrewd. He tells truths in cryptic parables so that only those who have the interpretive code or key will really know what he is talking about? When asked a trick question in order to entrap himself, he often answered with another question. Christians, STOP BEING FOOLS! STOP BEING NAIVE IDIOTS! Be aware; be wise; be vigilant. And NOT so that you will NOT be taken advantage of. That’s NOT the issue at all. But to wage a smart war against a craft enemy…or to recapture the captured. This is a war, and you might as well accept it. The enemy plays for keeps, and we must be willing, righteously of course, to play for keeps back. Over the next few chapters, you are about to witness one the great examples of being innocent, but wise. Watch, observe, listen, ponder well, because it may be that close friend or brother or sister in Christ, your child, someone you care deeply about…that indeed you may have to be very Spiritually crafty at in confronting their sinful imperfection and waywardness. Lives, families, even friendships are at stake in this Spiritual war of denial and deception.

Recently, we began a new unit or section or person of study…the life of Joseph. Essentially, the story of Joseph, is for the most part, our story. Chosen by God for a special purpose, Joseph must first endure much suffering and injustice before arriving at his God-ordained purpose and calling, and what a purpose it will be.

As we read, I want you to continue pondering, your special identity in Christ, and that just because you may be going through difficult days, your suffering…your waiting is NOT in vain. As God’s child…as God’s children, just as with Joseph and his brothers, you…we…all have a purpose in Christ (Romans 8; Eph. 1; 1 Peter 1).

Your servant,
jc Continue reading →

Gen. 41:38ff Fruitful in the Land of Affliction 3.23.14

Intro… Years ago, I watched two partners have a business meeting. One partner had invited the other into the business and now the partner who had been invited into the business was in essence trying to squeeze the other out. The partner who had been squeezed out had invited me to come along to the meeting as a witness because he had intentions of retaking his business and kicking the other partner out. But somewhere in the midst of the negotiations, the original partner paused and stepped out of the meeting. Later he came back into the meeting and gave up the business. He had put Isaac on the altar. Taking back the business was not worth losing his relationship with his brother and business partner. You heard me right – his partner was his younger brother, so he gave it up. The older brother turned the other cheek and let his dream go.

Time passed, the older brother struggled with his decision of letting the business go almost every day, but he trudged on running another business he operated across the alley from his brother and former partner. Finally, through a series of events, the younger brother had to file bankruptcy and in the process lost the business. The owner of the building where the business was located and who had originally asked the older brother to operate the business to begin with came back to the older brother once again offered him the location back. He took it.

End of story, right? Redemption? Yes, but much more than that. In the process of giving up his coveted partnership, my friend, rededicated himself to God and his family. From seldom attending church, he began attending every Sunday and helps out in our worship. Then God gave him his business back. So who got the better end of the deal? I would say God got his servant back – and a family, its Spiritual leader. Are things perfect? I doubt it. But it has been one heck of a story…a story of letting go and getting back…a story of suffering and redemption…a story of God’s amazing grace.

Ever had something like this happen to you? You gave up something you really wanted, and in time, God gave it back to you? How is this? Why is this? Why do you think God has built a time lag in between planting and harvesting? Between the cause and the effect? Is there anything like this going on in your life right now? A cause with seemingly no affect? Pain and no reward? Joseph’s story has a lot to say about this…

Your servant,
jc Continue reading →

The Story of Sin: Part XV: The Authority to All Erase Imperfection!

© 2014
Fellowship at Cross Creek
The Story of Sin… Part XV:
The Authority to Erase All Imperfection!
By Joseph M. Cross
3/19/14

Essentially, via the story of “Yah-Saves’ Elijah” or “John the Baptist,” we have been making the case that what the Lord’s angel meant when he instructed Joseph “to name the child (to be born to his betrothed, Mary) ‘Yah-Saves‘ (that is ‘Jesus’ in Greek) because he will save the people from their sins” and what others, including Joseph himself, would have understood the angel’s words to mean, particularly his last words, “because he will save the people from their sins,” may have been light years apart!

The angels’ s meaning is still unfolding within our New Testament “Story of Sin”; how the people thought Yah-Saves would save them from their sins, well that is another matter and leads us to two critical questions: 1) What is at the heart of this huge interpretative disconnect between Jesus and the religious leaders and 2) how was Yah-Saves’ Elijah or John the Baptist attempting to correct this critical misunderstanding?

Below is a story from early in the life of Yah-Saves that brings this interpretative disconnect into a much sharper focus. Continue reading →

Gen. 41:1ff At the End of Two Full Years …. 3-9-14

Intro… Two possible thoughts here: 1) Does life seem to always get better, worse, stay the same or go up and down and why so? And if up and down, when things are up, do we expect them to go back down, or if things are down, do we expect them to go back up again? Or do we think things will continue to become better and better or worse and worse? Why is this? Why is it human nature not to expect change? And finally, is God big enough to sustain us through the change, unexpected or not? How? How can or does or could he do this?

2) What do you think you are good at? What are your gifts and abilities? Now ask yourself, could and how could God use these someday to minister, serve, deliver or help other people in significantly meaningful ways? For example, as a kid I thought I wanted to be a football player, lawyer or doctor, but I could argue with a fence post my family always said. So maybe I should have been a lawyer? But my passion to communicate led me into the ministry where I both teach and counsel today. My passion is to help take what was difficult to me and make it understandable to others, particularly, how to live and think about life and its many struggles with God’s help and the truth of his Word…so that a person has half a chance in this difficult world. I want to make things understandable…the difficult, but practical and important…understandable and repeatable. I want to teach people how to live life. What about you? What are your skillsets and gifts and how may God be using your gifts to make a difference in the lives of others?

Your servant,
jc
Continue reading →

The Story of Sin:  Part XIV: Regaining the Story’s Big Picture…

© 2014
Fellowship at Cross Creek
The Story of Sin… Part XIV:
Regaining the Story of Sin’s Big Picture…
By Joseph M. Cross
2/22/14

For just a moment, since we seemingly have covered a lot of ground through the first thirteen parts of our “Story of Sin,” let’s take a look back…

Here’s the chapter by chapter overview…

Part I: It Started with a Christmas Curiosity: What did the angel truly mean when he instructed Joseph to “…name the child Yah-Saves (Jesus) because he will save the people from their sins” Matt. 1:21?

Parts II-IV: What does biblical scholarship say about “sin”?
Part V: The Overview of my Exhaustive NT studies concerning Sin…

(Here we go…The fruits of my labors…)

Part VI: The Priest Zacharias’ Prophesies that His Son John will Give the People the “Knowledge of Salvation by the Forgiveness of Sins” (Luke 1).
Parts VII-XI: John’s Preaching Fulfills Isaiah and Malachi’s Ancient Prophecies Concerning the Preparing of God’s People for the LORD’s Coming Deliverance and Forgiveness (the Gospels).
Parts VIII-X: The Reason for the People’s Powerful Response to John’s Preaching: Yah’s Original Covenant’s Blessings, Judgment and Forgiveness (Deut. 28-30).
Part XII: Elijah’s Voice, John, Blazes a Trail for God’s People and God’s Deliverance to Meet (the Gospels).
Part XIII: John’s Great Declaration: God’s Slaughtered Lamb—the One Who Stands Before Us–Will Take Away the Sins of the World! (Is. 53; John 1.)

Now here are the summaries for the first thirteen parts or chapters… Continue reading →

Gen. 40:1ff Momentarily Forgotten

© 1998-2014
Fellowship at Cross Creek
Gen. 40:1ff
Momentarily Forgotten…
2.23.14

Intro… What kind of dreamer are you? Do you dream much? Did you dream last night? Or was it a nightmare perhaps? If you do dream, can you retrace the possible source of your dreams? Ever had a crazy or strange dream? Ever had a recurring dream? Do you like dreams or not? Do you think that God can speak to people in dreams?

Several years ago, I had two dreams separated by a short time space…I can’t recall how long of a time space, but perhaps within two weeks of each other. In my dream a good friend that was about to leave on a six-month missions trip was sitting in a certain seat in our church. Eventually, I told her about my dreams and wondered if she would remain and be a shot in the arm to our body? She did and served as my part-time assistant for a year. In the process she served as a much-needed sounding board for me. She knew how I thought. She was incredibly helpful. In addition, because she stayed around, she was able to explore a friendship with a guy whom she had just met—a relationship that no doubt would have gone by the way side had she left. Eventually their friendship, mutual respect and love for one another grew to the point that this past year I officiated their marriage. Was my dream God’s way of keeping her around so that she could get to know what turned out to be her future husband? I am not sure, but I am highly suspicious.

Also several years ago, I experienced what for me was somewhat of a traumatic ministry experience. Afterwards, I had several troubling nightmares. Though the dreams were very symbolic, it was easy to figure out their connection to my recent trauma. Even though I had really done nothing wrong, it was as if my mind was trying to work through what felt like a shared guilt in the matter. Someone died who was dying anyway…just a bit sooner. All I could have done was spoken up to possibly delay it a few hours, but I didn’t. And although I have been with quite a few dying souls in their last minutes, I had never been in that particular moment before when I knew what was about to happen—and it did happen much as I had feared. Even today, several years later, I can discuss that night and once again dream, and the dream will be symbolic, much like the dreams Joseph is about to interpret within this story, but I know exactly my dream’s interpretation. Exactly.

Things may get a bit wild or out there, but in order for your students to better connect with this story, I would risk some time discussing their dream experiences. One never knows what they will come up with. Bottom line…dreams are important, and they do have a function, even if that function is not always clear.

Recently, we began a new unit or section or person of study…the life of Joseph. Essentially, the story of Joseph, is for the most part, our story. Chosen by God for a special purpose, Joseph must first endure much suffering and injustice before arriving at his God-ordained purpose and calling, and what a purpose it will be.

The Story of Sin: Part XIII God’s Slaughtered Lamb Takes Away Man’s Imperfection…

© 2014
Fellowship at Cross Creek
The Story of Sin…
Part XIII: God’s Slaughtered Lamb Takes Away Man’s Imperfection…
By Joseph M. Cross
2/14/14

Last time… It was clear from the synoptic gospels–Matthew, Mark, Luke–that Isaiah 40’s Crying Voice or Malachi 4’s figurative Elijah was indeed the priest Zacharias’ son, John the Baptist. His role or purpose…to cut a path or road through the world’s harshest, hottest, most desolate, brutal desert wilderness…the wilderness of man’s imperfection–misunderstanding, ignorance, foolishness, thoughtlessness, immaturity, hurt, crime, poverty, injustice, immorality, fear, worry and rebellion…just to name a few… or everything that is less than perfect, which is… EVERYTHING…SIN and the effects of man’s deadly fall from the Creator’s supernatural protective grace, love, mercy, kindness, peace and presence …IMPERFECTION!

And how is Isaiah’s Crying Voice doing this? 1) By preparing the people to NOT miss out on the LORD’s appearing and his deliverance from their imperfection or sin, as well as, 2) identifying the LORD’s actual appearing. In other words, the Voice, much as a mediator attempts to reconcile two unreconciled parties, is cutting a path both ways through the wilderness of man’s sins or imperfection…one way, which leads from man to God via man’s repentance from, confession of and symbolic cleansing of sin, and the other, leading from God to man, via John’s divinely-inspired identifying of Yah-Saves as God’s Son (as one who is the Son of God, or a the very least, represents the Father).

So now…what does the son of Zebedee, Yah-Saves’ beloved disciple and gospel writer, John, now add to the Voice’s song? Everything–the gospel in a nutshell…the good news in one sentence…one dramatic metaphor that says it all. Will John’s audience fully get it? Probably not, but with this one profound declaration by the Voice, the reader gains a huge, curious insight as to just how Yah-Saves will save or deliver the people from their sins.

Finally, the Fourth Gospel declares… Continue reading →

Gen 39:1ff Lie with Me! 2-16-14

As we read, I want you to continue pondering, your special identity in Christ, and that just because you may be going through difficult days, your suffering…your waiting is NOT in vain. As God’s child…as God’s children, just as with Joseph and his brothers, you…we…have a purpose in Christ (Romans 8; Eph. 1; 1 Peter 1).

Intro… Why does it seem to be within our human nature to want things either totally good or bad as opposed to in-between? Why does the glass need to be completely full or none at all…or we think…none at all, when in all reality, it is more than we imagined? Perhaps perfect is never perfect enough? Perhaps our hearts long for heaven? For bliss? How does one ask this of kids or students, I am not quite sure. Perhaps, some of them can either embrace the question abstractly or you can set up a scenario…such as…think of the perfect event, more or time…what you really love. Why do you love it so? Now mess it up a bit. Throw in a wrench. Has anyone experienced this lately? The fly in the ointment? How did or would you react to the distraction? How do you feel about the proposition that God is with us through our difficulties? That God uses others’ sins or imperfections to do a Spiritual work within our lives? If this is true, why would God work in such a manner? Continue reading →

The Story of Sin: Part XII Elijah’s Voice Prepares a Path…

© 2014
Fellowship at Cross Creek
The Story of Sin…
Part XII: Elijah’s Voice Prepares a Path for both Sinner and Savior to Meet…
By Joseph M. Cross
2/8/14

So if the son of a late first-century B.C.E. Jewish priest named Zacharias—that is, John the Baptist–was prophetically destined to become Isaiah 40’s Crying Voice, Malachi 3’s Messenger and Malachi 4’s figurative Elijah, then just how did John specifically clear the way for the LORD’s promised appearing and deliverance?

Remember John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, and his prophecy at John’s birth?

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways…

(And how will Zacharias’ son prepare the Lord’s ways or the Lord’s way? By…)

“…giving his people knowledge (or understanding) of salvation by the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 1:76-77).

And how did John the Baptist give God’s people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins? Well, lets’ look at how the Four Gospels (the stories of Yah-Save’s life…Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) described John’s prophetic ministry.

First, Mark’s account… Continue reading →

The Story of Sin: Part XI A Voice Arises in the Wilderness

© 2014
Fellowship at Cross Creek
The Story of Sin…
Part XI: A Voice Arises in the Wilderness
By Joseph M. Cross
2/7/14

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways…to give people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 1:76-77).

In addition to prophesying Judah’s national forgiveness and salvation (as explained in “The Story of Sin: Parts IX and X), a late first century B.C.E Jewish priest named Zacharias was prophesying that his new-born son, John (who would later come to be known as John the Baptist) was in some manner, a fulfillment of the last words of the Old Covenant or Testament, found in Malachi 4:5-6 and spoken over four hundred years earlier:

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6.

Zacharias, inspired by God, was now prophesying that his son, John the Baptist, was indeed Malachi’s prophetic and “figurative” Elijah.

I say Malachi’s figurative “Elijah” because when some Jewish priests and Levites were sent to John later as he was preaching and baptizing at the River Jordan and asked him if was Elijah, he answered that he was NOT…meaning I am NOT THE Elijah, the 9th century Old Testament prophet (John 1:21), and John wasn’t. Continue reading →

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Imperfect Pastor

An Imperfect Pastor for An Imperfect Church