Messages from a hospitable community for spiritual wanderers.
The story of Jesus is an age-old story; Jesus lived a perfect life, performed many healings, miracles, and teachings to show his divinity, died on the cross for the world's sins, and resurrected on the Third Day, which Christians now celebrate as Easter Sunday. But have you ever asked why Jesus resurrected? Did Jesus resurrect for a political reason? Did Jesus resurrected simply to get people into heaven? and for whom did Jesus resurrect?
Luke 24:1-12
What does Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem 2,000 years ago have to do with us in 2021? More than you may realize. Racism, sexism, and elitism are not new inventions, yet they seem just as prevalent now as they did in ancient Jerusalem. While most kingdoms of the world rule with sword, dominance, and fear, Rev. Lauren Blanco reminds us that Jesus’ kingdom is one of steadfast peace, unmerited mercy, and unconditional love.
Mark 11:1-11
March 19 marks exactly one year since California issued its “stay-at-home” order to all of its residents with the rest of the United States to follow shortly thereafter. As a result, the past year has revealed how truly depraved and dark our world has become ranging from global pandemics, civil unrest, and hate-crimes committed against BIPOC. The only thing that can truly save humanity is Jesus Christ; not “save us so that we can go to heaven.” Jesus Christ is the only one who can save us from ourselves in the HERE and NOW. Repair the brokenhearted, bring freedom to the captives, bring good news to the poor, release the prisoners, and comfort those who mourn.
Isaiah 61:1-3
Since the beginning of time, the earth was shrouded in mystery and wonder. When God calls us to be people of faith, God calls us to step into mystery, enter into the unknown, and get out of our comfort zones. While human being love our enclaves of comfort and security, we were never designed to be creatures of safety; we were created to take regular steps of faith. Faith can only exist when mystery exists.
Matthew 14:22-33
Recent hate crimes committed against Asians and Pacific Islanders in America go in direct opposition to the good news of Jesus Christ. When God created humankind, He created everyone in His image, His likeness; every people group, every ethnicity, every language. But for those of us who are AAPI or have friends who are AAPI, how are we to live? Anger, grief, and frustration are normal responses to everything that's been happening in this nation, but there are also pragmatic steps we can take to overcome feelings of hatred.
Galatians 3:23-29
America's economy thrives off of our addictions. The more people eat, consume internet, watch TV, or do social media, the better America's economy performs. This has led to Americans having addictive personalities. But what's so wrong with addiction? Why should we restrict ourselves of anything? Is it really detrimental to our health?
Proverbs 23
Have you ever fasted before? Fasting is not a practice just for the uber-religious; in fact, especially if you don’t consider yourself religious, you should fast because there are innumerable psychological, emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits of fasting. We tend to binge on things that aren’t too good for us and I tend to deprive ourselves on things that are better for us. This is precisely why we fast. We fast from the things of this world so that we can hold fast to the things of God. We detox ourselves from certain pleasures so that we can be more grateful for the things that we have. It has been said that “man does not live on bread alone.” But what happens to our spirits when we have too much bread?
Matthew 6:16-21
Since many of us started living in quarantine in March 2020, the line between workspace and homespace has become very blurry. We work from our phones in bed, we take our laptops to the dinner table, and we even do work from the toilet. This is caused us to neglect caring for our souls. Binging on Netflix and mindlessly scrolling on Instagram may be a way of ceasing from work, but it most certainly is not sabbath. So what is required for sabbath and why is it so important for our souls?
Exodus 20:1-2, 8-11
