Holy Week Reflections Tuesday

Holy Week Reflections: Tuesday

Who do you say Jesus is?



"Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn't you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” (Matthew 21: 23-26)

It must have galled them to see Him there.  The chief priests and elders, the scribes and big shots, all to have the crowds not listening to *them* but to....Him.  And really, who was He anyway?  A carpenter's son from Nazareth?  An itinerant preacher?  One thing they were pretty sure on was that He was a trouble-maker.

They had a nice thing going, nice enough anyway.  The Romans didn't want to stir up problems more than necessary, so they left the religious life of the Jewish people in the hands of the Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees.  These elite of the Jews had their own religious courts, they got to wear fancy clothes, they got to be more righteous than the rest of the Hebrews....and almost no one questioned them, or their power.  As long as they could keep the dance up with the Romans, no one got hurt and life remained...comfortable.

Then He comes along.  This Jesus of Nazareth, who keeps contradicting them on Holy Scripture and using verbiage to say that *He's the Son of God*....blasphemy!  All those "I AM" statements...they knew what He meant.  And then He goes and does all these works, these miracles...touching lepers and giving sight to blind men...casting out demons.  Who ever heard of a righteous man touching the unclean? Or dining with rabble...He even had a tax collector trailing after Him!   And everywhere He goes...the people follow after.

He's dangerous, they know that.  They're not sure exactly where He gets His authority from, or from whence His power comes...but He has to be dealt with.  Before He upsets the whole balance of things, and brings the Romans crashing down in fury upon them.

They were fine with another Prophet in the desert if need be, or a teacher in a village. But a man who can do miracles and who says, "Before Abraham was, I AM,"....a man who would turn their religious society on its ear and change everything?  That they couldn't have.

So many of us, while we can feel scorn for the Pharisees and Saducees, are little different from them.  We like the idea of a tame-God, a manageable God, a Jesus we trot out for holidays, family graces and political rallies.  We like our social club Deity, but we don't want to have to really believe....because if we really believed, we'd have to change.

And we don't like change anymore than the old scribes and chief priests did.

We don't want to have to answer for how we live our lives.  What we watch. How we spend our money. How we dress, what we say, and who we are nice towards.

But if we believed, truly believed...we'd have to answer for it all.  Because Jesus says that if we love Him, we will follow His commands.  Jesus says that if we want to follow Him, then get in line and pick up our cross.  Jesus says that if we want to be His, we better love God, love our neighbors, love our enemies (and we hate that one), be generous to those in need and actually Live.Out.Our.Faith.

We can't just mouth the words....we have to live it.

And we're not sure we want our lives turned upside down. We're not sure if we want someone else in charge of our lives.  We're not sure we want to believe in an absolutely good and holy God, who by our actions, we have made our enemy....and from whom only Christ can offer us salvation.  Because..deep down, we know we're sinners.   We know in our heart of hearts that we're not righteous, and that we don't deserve mercy. So we don't really want to see that holy God.

So we have to make a choice...who do we believe Jesus Christ to be?  Is He Lord, or not?  Do we surrender ourselves to Him and live for Him....or not?

Everything ultimately boils down to what our answer is to that choice.  If we believe that Jesus is just a man, just a rule giver and a teacher, then we will harden our hearts against the parts of what He taught that we don't like.  And we'll end up no better than the Pharisees....or Judas.

Or....  we'll declare Him Lord.  And He'll turn our world all around, and change how we see everything and everyone. And we'll live for Him and His kingdom, above our own lives and wants.  We'll pick up our cross and we'll follow our Master, wherever He might lead.  And we'll trust in the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep.

Who is Jesus to you?

On towards the Cross,

--Beth Haynes Butler

You are not alone, He is there. Hold fast, my friends, hold fast.

It seems to me that it has been an especially heavy last few days to few weeks for so many people.  So many burdens, so much loss, so much illness, so much brokenness.

Have you felt it?

Or do one of these mountains of despair cast its long shadow over you, right now?

And you wonder where the respite is, where the ending will be..when can the new day start.

There are storms in our lives, terrible tempests that can drown us if we let them.  These storms come into the lives of the good, and the bad, and everyone in between.  Living a good life, trying to be faithful, trying to do the right things won't shelter you from them.....even though, in the back of our minds, we think it should.  Don't we?  Don't you ever wonder..."don't I get a pass from this God?  I follow You, I love you, I try and do Your will....couldn't this problem have missed me?"

I know, because we've been there.  And I'll be honest, there were times I was asking, out loud and in a not too pleased tone of voice, why God was letting this happen, why we needed to go through this, and when was it going to end.

But the storm stayed, and it didn't ease up for a while.  In that storm of health problems and business issues, and strife with who we thought were loved ones...God did something.  He didn't take the problems away, He came and sat with us in the middle of the problems.  He didn't make everything suddenly better, but we didn't go through it alone.  He tossed and turned our lives upside down and it was bewildering, but He taught us a deeper faith.  I had read somewhere before that faith was like a muscle, it had to be tested and strained to grow in strength...well, God did that to us.  But in the end, God had moved us, both our hearts and our location, to where He wanted us to be...He had changed our motivations and our goals, and He had taught us great dependency upon Him.

"Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands." Oswald Chambers, "The Faith to Persevere"

And if you are in that testing phase, where He is drawing you out for a purpose you're not sure of yet, hold on, be faithful.  His are the hands of love, and His love runs deeper than we can fathom.

But maybe, my friend, you are in a season of life where you are dealing with loss, which comes to us all.  No ardent faith prevents the death of those we love, and all we can do is cling to the Lord, and remember that even Christ wept for Lazarus.  And He will not leave you to mourn alone; He has been through loss, He can comfort you.

Or perhaps you're in a storm of life that you have no reasoning of, why it started or where it will go.  Misfortune befalls us all at one time or another.

Betrayal of a friend or a family member is painful, recall our Lord went through it too, with Judas.

Accidents happen and lives are shattered, and nothing ever fits quite the same again.

Your economic status changes, and you wonder how you're going to manage things.

This is a fallen world, friends, and sometimes the bad things of life come into our lives, not through fault of our own, but because life happens.

The comfort in dealing with these is the same as dealing with a storm God has sent you into, or finding yourself in mourning or fear, cling to Christ. He will not fail you, nor forsake you.

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

" Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

As He pulled Peter up from the sea, so He will grab and hold us.  The shadows and haunting pains of this life are nothing compared to His eternal life; and He promises this to us, that He will be with us, and that one day all things shall be set right.  On that day, the lame will run, the broken heart be healed, death shall haunt us no more; for He shall wipe our tears and comfort us...and we shall be made whole.

No matter what we face in this life, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus; and in Him all things shall be made anew, and all wounds healed. For love of us, He went to the Cross, and for love of us He stands before His Father as our High Priest and Advocate; He will not forsake us, He is faithful.

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

Whatever you are facing, my friends, you do not face it alone.  Not only do you have our love and prayers, but you have something of far greater value and comfort; the Lord Himself is with you.  Rest in Him who loves you enough to have died for you, and who has gone to prepare a place for you. No matter how high the waves of the storm may get, He is only ever a call away, and He has promised to be with us until the very end of the age.

You are not alone, He is there. Hold fast, my friends, hold fast.

-Beth Haynes Butler​

Holy Week Reflection: Maundy Thursday- Are you trading Jesus Christ for a shadow of your own making?

A thought...

I was reading the passages of Scripture that pertain to Holy Thursday ( Maundy Thursday); of the washing of the feet, the sending away of Judas from the table, the last supper. (I'll read the Garden passages later tonight.)

Jesus with Judas. Two distinct moments in a night.

Jesus knew Judas was the betrayer; and you and I if we knew someone was going to betray and hurt us terribly, would have nothing to do with them. Yet, when Jesus decided to wash the feet of the Disciples, a job reserved for the lowliest servant or ranking member of a group (notice none of the Disciples had jockeyed with each other for the role!) He washed the feet of them all. No where does it say, "except for Judas." That act, of servant leadership, of love, of grace, He gave even to the one who was about to give Him up.

Could any of us be so gracious with our enemies? I know I'm not there yet, and Christ's grace in this situation just floors and humbles me. What a God I serve.

And then the table. Down to business. It is time to give last instructions, share a last meal of intimacy and give the gift of the Eucharistic table to the Disciples. The people Christ had taught, traveled with, loved. As Christ sits with these who He loves, knowing what is to come, how it must have sorrowed Him to know that treachery festered in Judas. Yet, He still offers Judas a great gift; the first communion. He breaks bread with the one who is instrumental in the later breaking of His body. He offers wine to the one who will cause His blood to flow.

The problem is, Judas was looking for a Christ of his own making. A Messianic leader who would toss out the Romans and restore the Jewish people to their freedom. He was tired of Roman rule, and he had a love of money; his reaction to the woman anointing Christ with expensive perfume shows that. But Judas never really believed Christ was the Son of God, and thus when he took communion as an unbeliever, he set his betrayal into motion. Up until that point, he could have confessed, he could have repented, but taking the Lord's supper with an unbelieving heart let the devil have entrance.

"And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one, "Surely it is not I?" He said to them, "One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish. For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born." While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it." Mark 14:18-23

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the Apostles that one of them is to betray Him, and while they're all in an uproar of confusion, He tells Judas to go and do what must be done. (John 13:27) "As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, "What you are about to do, do quickly."

Why is it important that Judas partook of the Lord's Supper without faith? Because at that moment he brought down judgment upon himself because according to 1 Corinthians 11:28-30, “anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

Judas's problem was that he didn't believe in Christ as He is, and that unbelief was his undoing. By taking the Lord's Supper, by eating from that sacred Table, without belief, Judas brought down judgment about himself, and left to bring about the betrayal in the Garden.

We too are given both aspects of this night in our walk with Jesus. Even though we don't deserve His love and mercy, He gives it to us, as He did with Judas when He washed the betrayer's feet. Christ tends us with that same gentleness and love, shepherding us through life, giving of Himself for us.

And we are given the chance to partake of the Lord's Supper; on Maundy Thursday services, in Sunday Mass (or service if you prefer) or for occasions we meet with other believers, breaking bread and worshiping Christ. But we must do as the Apostle Paul warns us, and examine our souls and repent of our sins, before taking the Eucharist; lest we bring judgement down upon our souls.

Judas was given two gifts that fateful night; the God who made the stars washed his feet. And the Lord who would die for the sins of the world broke bread and shared wine with him. But Judas couldn't let go of the Messiah he wanted in order to grasp hold of the Messiah that was before Him; and thus he gave up the Lord of life for a shadow's dream. That ended in despair and death, instead of the joy the other Apostles would know at the Resurrection.

Are you trading Jesus Christ for a shadow of your own making? Are you giving up the Lamb because He doesn't quite fit what you want from a god? We don't get to make God into what we want, it is we that must conform. And when we let go of what we think God is or should be, and grab hold of the wonder of what God is: a God who is the creator of all, yet counts our tears, a God who is Almighty and Sovereign yet as close as our own heartbeat, a God who came down among us and was wounded and killed for us....out of love for us, then we see that God is more than we can imagine. Better than we can conceive; He turns our shadow gods to dust in the light of His glory.

That is a God worth serving, loving and living for.

Be blessed, my friends, and may you be a blessing unto others,
Beth Haynes Butler

This world is full of divisiveness, pettiness, gossip and greed. It is full of those who step on others to get ahead or who hold back others so they may delight in another's suffering. This world is full of those who are self righteous and cruel, who hand out judgement and anger like candy freely given away on Halloween. There are voices clamoring that you will never be good enough, strong enough or smart enough...so be happy in pity or mediocrity.

You can listen to those voices, or you can listen to God. God who says you are worth dying for to redeem. You are precious. You are so beloved of Him that He engraved your name into His palms (Isaiah 49:16) and He holds you up with His right hand (Isaiah 41:10.) You are a prodigal child, but God is the Father waiting for you to come to Him. He has the party planned and the robe of belonging waiting to throw over your shoulder. He has the ring of inheritance ready to slip on your finger. You are cherished and wanted for eternity.

Listen to the message of love God has for you, choose to belong through Christ's redemptive blood. Your inheritance is bought and waiting, you need only choose to believe and answer God's call to you.

And then, become a light in this swirling darkness of our society. Be a voice that gives cheer to the sorrowful, love to the lonely, friendship to the outcasts and comfort to the elderly. Help bring people together when this world wants them to be further apart. Help to heal wounded hearts, be a balm to a weary soul. You are a light unto the world (Matthew 5:14) if only you choose to be.

You can choose to further the discord, or help to heal it. What will you choose?

Be Blessed friends, and be a Blessing to someone else.

-Beth Haynes Butler

Lenten Reflection Why Ashes?

Lenten Reflection

Why Ashes?


Why Do We Use Ashes on Ash Wednesday?

Ashes are placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, in one of the most counter-cultural acts of our faith. It is done for two reasons: a personal act of remembrance and as a sign or a witness for others.

The ashes come from the burnt Palms from last year's Passion Sunday celebration, which begins Holy Week. So, these ashes bring us back to our last celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus for us. On this first day of Lent, we begin a journey of renewal - from death to life. This is a joyful season. We will make sacrifices, in order to try to let God reform our desiring, but this is a time for God to be generous to us.

When the ashes are placed on our foreheads, the minister says one of two formulas to help us remember who we are and the mission to which we are sent:

"Remember, man/woman, you are dust and to dust you will return."

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

We are reminded that we are creatures and that our lives were given to us. But, we are also reminded that our lasting home is in eternity, with God. This is not our lasting home.

We are reminded that our call is to turn away from sin and to believe the Good News of our salvation in Jesus. This is a joyful reminder. It challenges us, for sure, but reminds us of why we want to turn from sin.

Finally, we wear our ashes as a sign. It is not a boastful sign through which I say, "Look at me and see how holy I am." No, it is much more like, "I'm willing ot wear this sign in the world and say that I've been reminded of where I come from and where I am going. And, I've heard the call to turn away from a life of sin and to give my life to living the Gospel of Jesus." And, occasionally, in this world which is too often caught up in the denial of death, I might be required to answer the question, "What's with the smudge on your forehead?"

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. - Joel 2:12-13

Holy Week Reflection: Palm Sunday Hosanna

Holy Week Reflection: Palm Sunday

Hosanna

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem humbly, yet amid fanfare. People waving palm branches before Him, or laying them at the feet of the young donkey Jesus was astride, all crying Hosanna, Hosanna.

Maybe some of them had a stirring in their souls that this man, this worker of miracles and teacher of wisdom, came from God. That He had a high purpose beyond what they fully could grasp.

Some though, maybe most, hoped He would be the Messiah as they wanted Him to be- the one who would throw out the hated Romans and return Israel to self rule and greatness. They were looking for an earthly kingdom, when Christ had come to do so much more.

He, who was sinless, had come to make atonement for those who would believe in Him and call upon His Name for salvation. He had come to rescue the broken, save the sinner, restore the lost. He had come so that those who believe in Him might be secured for eternity, co-heirs in the Kingdom of God. An earthly kingdom was not on His agenda as He rode into Jerusalem; His sights were set upon the eternal.

This Palm Sunday, as we begin the holiest week in the Christian faith, who are you looking for Christ to be? Are you looking for a part-time Lord, at your convenience, a sort of feel good Messiah who does tricks or miracles upon command and will overlook a half hearted faith in the end? If so, friend, you are not serving Christ, and in the end, His death and resurrection will not save you. You must have a living, committed faith- a transforming belief- that marks you as His.

Today on Palm Sunday, raise branches of praise within your heart, and let your lips utter gladly, "Hosanna in the Highest, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord." See Christ as He is; the Son of God, very God of very God, part of the Triune God-head, who loves you enough to have ridden into Jerusalem knowing the betrayal, torture and death that awaited. He is Holy, and Just, Merciful and Loving. He is all the high and noble things we are not, and His righteousness and blood washes us clean. He is Lord and can save you, if you call upon Him and believe with a true faith.

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.

-Beth Butler

Holy Week: Monday

A Holy Week Reflection

Monday

Clearing the Temple

"On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,  and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ ”

 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching."  Mark 11:15-19

Most of us are pretty familiar with the story above: the day after Jesus arrives triumphantly into the city, riding upon a donkey to cheers of "Hosanna" and palm branches laid before Him, He goes into the Temple.

A holy place, the Temple.  At least, it was supposed to be.  A place where God came down in the holy of holies, where the people worshiped and the priests brought offerings before the Lord.  A place where nothing profane should have been found.

But we're people, fallen, wretched people...and we always mess things up.

Greed had kicked in; that favorite of so many even today. (Even, and perhaps especially amongst some religious folks today, hmm?)  Money changers and animal sellers had gathered to rip off the poor, who wanted to come and worship the Lord.  The money changers, and those selling merchandise, took advantage of the desire of so many to come before the Lord, to bring a suitable offering, and they were charging inflated rates, or offering bad exchanges.  They had turned the House of God into a place of vulgar business.

And Jesus threw 'em out.  Over turned their tables, chased people out. It must have been quite a scene.

As we sit in our homes, or go to our services, perhaps we smugly think of how much better we are than those money changers, how our lives and our places of worship are still clean.

Are they?  The love of money goes deep in our culture, and so often even in the best of churches, the pastor or elders pander to those who give deeper tithes, and give less attention to the poor of the church. Do we, as a people, give the same importance to the poor and insignificant as we do the rich and powerful, the beautiful and glamorous?  Our obsession, as a culture, suggests we do not.

I was reading this Bible account, when another verse came to mind suddenly;

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

And I thought...and I paused...if our souls, our bodies, our lives, are now a Temple for the Holy Spirit....how are *we* defiling them?  What are *we* allowing in to pollute us?  How are *we* cheapening a place meant to be holy?

What would Jesus do if He walked into our souls?  Would He be chasing out the worldly, the profane, the tawdry?

Maybe we have no room to be feeling smug at all about those money changers.

Lord,
On this most holy of weeks,

As we journey with You to the Cross,
Let us clean out our souls and prepare Your Temple anew,

That it might be kept always ready for You and Your Spirit.
Forgive us our sins,

and how we have not kept Your word,

nor lived a life fully in love for You or our neighbors,

Help us Lord,

to use this week to refocus and begin again.
In the name of Him who loved us first,
Amen


On towards the Cross,

--Beth Haynes Butler 

A Lenten Reflection The inclined ear

A Lenten Reflection

The inclined ear


"Because He hath inclined His ear unto me"....  it is a line out of one of the Psalms, and the imagery of it caught my eye, and reassured my heart.

He hath inclined His unto me....It brings to my mind times in the past when I was sick and in bed, barely able to speak loudly, and my Dad would bend down to catch every weak word I was feebly uttering up to him.  I've had doctors too, lean down to catch soft mumbles when I would be at endless visits to Shriner's as a child; that gentle ear leaning down because what I said was important to them.

Another image comes to mind as well, of when I'd be in trouble as a child, and my parents would be questioning me...and out of shame, I ducked my head and stumbled over words and confessions; and they leaned close to hear them...and closer to receive me in forgiveness.

"I love the LORD, because He has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because He inclined His ear to me,
therefore I will call on Him as long as I live." (Psalm 116:1-2)

I was blessed, with loving parents, and I know not everyone is.  But as greatly as my parents loved me (and they lavished love upon me, I was the only "their together" child of a Brady Bunch family, and the child they had when they were a little older)....I am comforted in the knowledge that God loves me even more.  And for those who did not grow up with two loving parents, or perhaps not even one, take heart, my friends, you have a Father in heaven who gave everything to know and secure you, to show His abundant love to you, and to name you as His own child.

For that love was expressed by the unreserved rich gift of God's only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, very God of very God, given for you and I, that we might find our salvation in Him.  God spared nothing in order to show you the depth of love that awaits you.

Just as my earthly cherished father would lean down to hear whispered confidences, little secrets, repentant confessions or weak pleadings when I was ill, God inclines His ear to us to catch every prayer, every hope, every sorrow. No matter how soft or feeble our prayers and cries might be, they are heard.  And the moment we cry out to God we are answered.  No heart felt grasping towards God is ignored, no repentant plea for forgiveness turned away... He loves us so dearly.

And as Christ, who walked those long weary steps towards Jerusalem, to the Cross that awaited, did so out of love for us, so surely will He hearken towards our prayers and supplications.  He who loves us enough to have borne the lashes, the thorns and the nails for us, loves us enough to rescue and save us, if only we call out to Him in faith.

"Yet here is hope for everyone: Christ the Good Shepherd is standing by. If you will cry out to Him, though it be no louder than the pitiful bleating of the weakest lamb, He will hear and will come to your rescue at once."
~ William Gurnall

He inclines His ear to us, won't you call out to Him?

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection Our broken stories for His glory

A Lenten Reflection

Our broken stories for His glory


One of the aspects of the Bible that has had the most impact, to me, is the reality of the faults and jagged edges of the people written about within.  David is a hero, a poet, a wise king...and an adulterer who had a man killed over a woman.  Jacob, the man God would rename Israel, stole his brother's birthright using trickery. Rehab saved the Israeli spies...and was a prostitute. Peter, the leader of the Apostles, denied Jesus in cowardice.  You get the idea....these people weren't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination.

They were flawed, often deeply, yet God used them for His glory and His purposes and they did remarkable things.  The Bible is full of such men and women.  People who stumbled, sinned (often majorly) and yet got up again to do God's will.

This comforts me.  A lot.  Because I know I'm far from perfect, I stumble, I sin, I err, I goof up, I say the wrong things to the wrong people at times...and God still loves me.  He still uses me to reach out to other people. He is ever willing to forgive me when I come to Him in repentance. And always willing to help set me on my feet again, dust me off and help me get back to work.

You may feel that you have some rough edges. Maybe some stories in your past you're not too proud of. Perhaps you feel you have that dark side that no one could love or understand if they knew about it.  But God does know, and He loves you anyway.  God knows your mistakes, and has an endless well of forgiveness to offer you.  God knows you've felt unlovable at times, but wants to show you His love, His rich, unfathomable love.  He knows you've felt ashamed (we all have)....but He offers you something more.

He offers you a chance to use your brokenness, your story, your wounds and mistakes to help other people.  He offers you a chance to show that even though you've messed up (just as I have, just as all of us have), you can still be a shining vessel of His glory, telling His love and mercy to the world. When we hide our weaknesses, our faults, our jagged edges....when we present a "perfect image" to the world, we're not being authentic.  We're being plastic, and plastic can't hold up to the fires and storms of this life.

But when we're real, when we're honest, and when we are centered in God, our testimony can touch other wounded souls, help other broken people.  They can know they're not alone in how they feel or what they've gone through.  And they can know that God loves them, because He's already demonstrated His great love to you, and to I, and to David, Peter, Rehab, Jacob and the myriad of other men and women who have held onto Him in faith.

God's not afraid of our brokenness, and when we bring it to Him, He can make us whole.  He's not afraid of our messed up stories, He can use those very examples to show how He transformed us and made us into new creations.  And when we bring our dark sides to Him, He can fill us with His light.

How can you use your story to help others? Will you?

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

Sigh......part of the problem with the lack of religious history education (not to mention theological education) with American Christians can be summed up in this exchange:

(Referring to a quote originally said by Martin Luther, but attributed incorrectly to Martin Luther King Jr.) "Just so you know, Martin Luther said that quote, not Martin Luther King Jr."

"Shows what you know! Martin Luther was NAMED for Martin Luther King Jr! You need to get things right!"

"Ummmm. No. Martin Luther was a German Theologian from the 1500's...wrote the 95 thesis, caused a major Protestant breakaway from the Roman Catholic Church."

"I don't think so! You just don't like MLK!"

**********************************************************

Sigh. Painful Sigh. Painful Sigh again.

We often only see the light of Christ because it is contrasted against the shadows in our lives.

A Lenten Reflection Look to the Cross

A Lenten Reflection

Look to the Cross


If you think you are a good person. righteous and moral...look to the Cross. Your sins as surely as nails hung Him there.

If you think that what you have, what rules you follow, and who you associate with are important....look to the Cross, they mean nothing there.

If you think you're above all others...look to the Cross. He had to be lifted up so you would not be cast down.

If you think you are lowly, unloved and worthless...look to the Cross. For love of YOU He died, so that He could be with you for all time. No one who has a God who went to such lengths to secure their salvation is anything less than utterly loved and adored.

Oh friend, in all things look to the Cross. If you should think too highly of yourself, the Cross will remind you of the sins you had to be saved from. If you ever doubt your worth, the Cross will remind you at what cost you were purchased.

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection Limitless

A Lenten Reflection

Limitless



"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all" (Romans 8:32)

We like limits.

Oh, we say we don't, especially in America (Don't tell me what to say or do, I'll do things MY way, thank you very much)....but we do.

We cling to limits.  Some for safety (that's why we're generally okay, as a society, with the government putting in more and more laws...to keep us safe, right?).  Some for what we think is right and proper.

Mostly, we use limits so that we're comfortable.  Limits frame our world and our understanding...they show us where the lines in the sand are, so to speak.

We especially like limits, as a culture, in faith.  Boundaries are good, we think....they should us what to believe, how far to take that belief, what to expect from others and what our consequences and rewards are for behavior.  We want our faith life to "make sense"....and we want it to be comfortable.

We don't want to change, we want our faith to adapt to us.  (Heaven forbid we have to become uncomfortable!)

Too bad Christianity doesn't work that way.

Because the faith and tenets that Jesus Christ, very God of very God, only (and very beloved) begotten Son of the Father, gave to the Disciples, that has been passed down unto us, throws our concepts of reasonable faith and limits out the window.

We're supposed to do what?  Love our enemies? That's crazy, Jesus!

Forgive others or our Father in heaven won't forgive us?  What kind of thinking is that?  Did you see what that person did to me?  How am I supposed to forgive them?!

Be merciful if we want mercy?  Come on....that'll make us suckers and saps!  We're Americans, we're tough and that's not what we do. (But you feel free, God, to give that mercy to us, okay?)

Condemn not?  But we LOVE condemning....it's so fun to feel self righteous.

Blessed are the gentle and meek?  Blessed are the peacemakers?  Have you seen, God, the kind of shows we watch, and our foreign policy as a country?  We don't do gentle...we certainly don't do peace.

Feed the hungry, look out for the elderly? No...they have no power, why should we, as a culture, care about them?

Those outrageous commands, that so go against our culture and the nature of so many of us, scare us.  They're really outside of our comfort zone.  They mean that if we want to follow Jesus we have to be different than our neighbors, different than the world...and we're not sure we're ready for that.

We're not sure we're ready to put in that much work and effort either....it's easier to conform our faith to how we want to live, rather than how Jesus tells us to live.

And it makes us face the question...who is Lord of our lives....Jesus, or us?

Because it's not a co-rule......there is room for but one Lord.

If we accept Jesus as Lord, that means letting go of our limits, of surrendering, and letting Him make us into someone new.  Change is hard.

But when I think of limits, I think of how grateful I am that Jesus didn't limit His mercy, His compassion and His love.  He could have said, "My mercy is only for this group of people."  Or maybe, "My grace belongs to this caste of the religious."  Perhaps, "Only people that look like this, or live in this region, will enter my Kingdom."

Yet God spared not His only begotten Son, but "gave Him up for *all*...."  All who would come to Jesus, in faith and in repentance, calling and confessing Him as Lord, are welcome into the Kingdom.  All who believe, no matter from where, or what social class, or what ethnicity, or from what background...all may come to Jesus.  The door is not barred, the way is not blocked.  Jesus calls to all who will listen, "Come, the feast awaits."  He whispers to all who are heavy laden, "Come and rest, my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

His arms stretched out upon the cross, with nails driven into wood and blood dripping down, are wide enough to claim all who love Him, and all who cling to Him.

His empty tomb tells us that there is life everlasting for all who put their faith in Him.

God had One son.  One beloved begotten Son is all the Father had. And He sent him.  For us.  For we who are wretched and sinful, mired in our own fallen natures and unable to save ourselves.

And out of love for us, the Father sent His precious Son, and out of love for us, the Son came.....and died.

In limitless, unfathomable love the Son has secured our redemption, so that nothing shall come between us and the love of God; from now through eternity.  That God is with us in ease...and in suffering.  In joy...and in pain.  He walks with us through life, and He has defeated death on our behalf, so that we might be with Him forever.

God spared nothing to redeem us.  He gave everything, all that is most precious, even to the giving of His Son.  He withheld...nothing.  He did not put a limit on how far He would go for the likes of you and I.  He loves us so dearly that all boundaries were broken, the Lord of Life Himself died upon a Cross so that we need never be held under the sway and power of death.

That limitless love is radical.  History shaping, soul changing.  And Christ Jesus, Lord of Lords, calls us to have that love for others.  To go against our natures and love our enemies, and show kindness to the outcast. To be merciful and gentle, to forgive and to seek peace.  To be unworldly and instead seek to be godly.  To be His, to call Him Lord and to step outside of the limits we are so comfortable with.

Who shall we say is the Lord of our lives, Jesus....or ourselves?  Whose bidding shall we do?

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection How shall we be known?

A Lenten Reflection

How shall we be known?


"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

I wish I could say that in our modern American society it was easy to spot a Christian by their love. That you could watch someone, point a finger at them and say "See how they are behaving, see how they are helping that person, see how they donate their time, see how they *love*, they must be a Christian!"

In our culture, it's just not always so. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are wonderful Christians out there who are helping the homeless, the battered, the needy, who visit prisons and staff food banks. But there are many more who call themselves Christians who aren't interested in showing the world love and mercy, they'd far rather be on the Judgement seat. Even though they can't see into another's soul, even though they don't know the depths of another's heart. They seem to forget that judgement, in the sense of condemning another person's soul, belongs to God alone, it is He who will decide who is saved, and who is not. They seem to forget our "job" as Christians is not to condemn, but to love.  We are to warn, but out of love.  We are to witness, but out of love.  Everything we do must come from that place of love, for without it, we are nothing and we have nothing.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3

You see, when we loudly and proudly tell the world they are sinners and that they're going to Hell...it's evident to the world we are not doing this out of love. Some modern day Americans who say they are Christians are almost delighted to tell someone what their shortcomings are, how damned they are...it's told with an almost gleeful zest. There are many who act as if they want to light the bonfires themselves...instead of weeping and praying over those who might suffer from said fires.

When we see our friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances who don't know Jesus as the only way to God, we should not rush to pass condemnation (for that belongs to God alone) but rather we should be heartsick at knowing what they are missing. We should deeply long for them to have the same saving relationship with Christ as we do, and our love and concern for that person's eternal salvation should be where all our interactions with that person start. We should share our faith in gentleness and love. For they too, are made in the image of God.

The epistle of 1 Peter addresses this very subject:

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect". (1 Peter, 3:15)

Paul addresses it in 2 Timothy:

"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be GENTLE unto all men, apt to teach, patient." 2 Timothy 2:24

If we don't approach others from an aspect of love, of gentleness, but instead as a battering ram of judgment, we are not helping to bring people to Christ, but rather to push them away from Him. How many of us ever wanted to do what school yard bully told us to do, how many of us respect the stance of someone who is always telling us all that is wrong with us?

How much more apt are we to listen to someone who knows we care about them, that we love them?

How much more will they want to listen to us if they see us walking in the way of Christ, and attempting to live in holiness ourselves?

Now, I don't know about you, maybe you live a far better life than I do, but I know I am a sinner, and that I need God's grace and mercy. There is no way I am anywhere near good enough to even approach the gates of Heaven, I need the shed blood of Christ to cover me. So if I want God's grace and mercy, I better be willing to give that to others as best I can. I don't want to be harshly judged by God, so I better not harshly judge anyone else. Further verses also instruct that if I want forgiveness, I must forgive, and that the merciful shall receive mercy.

I'm in trouble without mercy, grace and forgiveness. I am lost without any hope if Christ does not extend those to me. And because He does, and because He has given me grace to live daily, mercy and forgiveness for my sins, I want to show others that same latitude.

And if Christ tells us that it is by our love we shall be known, then let me ever endeavor that love will be my trademark. I want to be so branded with the Savior's mark, His love, that it is undeniable whom I serve and belong to.

I may stumble....I may fall, but my Shepherd picks me up. And though I am a wayward little sheep, He dusts me off, puts me in His flock, and says, "This one is mine. I know her and claim her, she is marked with my love."

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

True love never divides the heart, it only multiplies within.

Real love does not diminish us, it only allows us to be what God meant us to be. For if God is love, then as we love we are in Him

A Lenten Reflection The power of what we remember

A Lenten Reflection

The power of what we remember


On this sunny late afternoon I'm listening to a music list from my high school days (we all have moments of nostalgia, don't we?) and I just finished a call with my Dad.  Parents are precious, and I hadn't had the chance for a bit to have a good long talk with my Dad; we've always been close and able to talk, so it was really good to catch up.  As we were wrapping up the call, I thought about putting dinner on, I have some chicken drumsticks set out.  All of a sudden, I could almost taste the way my Dad often baked his seasoned chicken, and I wanted very much to be sitting at my parent's table again, enjoying that meal.

So I'm baking chicken tonight in the way he taught me, and maybe I'll even make some new potatoes and green beans, another of his specialties. (Though I'll have to cheat and use frozen green beans, as I have no fresh on hand.)  Perhaps some honey corn bread too, that's the way my Mom always makes it.  Dinner is sounding pretty good to me already, and a way to hold and taste memories.

Memory is powerful, isn't it?  Certain foods, scents, sounds, phrases transport us to a place tucked in the corner of our minds, and secured in our hearts.  Whether good, or bad, memory lingers.

I wonder, as Jesus was waking towards Jerusalem for that last Passover with His Disciples, where His mind and heart went to in the quiet moments.  When He wasn't teaching valuable, last lessons.  When He wasn't ministering.  As they ate, did He allow Himself to recall foods His mother had made when He was young?  Did He remember festivals and feasts from years back, did those memories bring a soft smile?  Did He, as He walked the long road ahead, think of working in His adopted father Joseph's carpenter shop?  Did the scent of shaved wood and the warmth of summer afternoons come into His heart?  Did He recall the love and warmth of the home He grew up in, as He journeyed to the Cross where death awaited?

It would not be long before He gave the Disciples, and all of us who would follow later, a command about memory.  At that last supper, He gave us the bread and the wine, with the charge, "Do this in remembrance of Me."  Each time we are blessed enough to partake in the Eucharist, we are to pause and recall what He gave for us, and what He gives to us now, and we honor Him by the remembering.  By keeping it close to our hearts and carrying it with us.

How we keep the Lord's word shows our love; as we remember what He has taught, what He has commanded, not only in the Eucharist but in all things, Jesus becomes all the more precious unto us.  As the memory and love I bear for my parents will be with me tonight as I make a meal they taught me, so the memory and love I bear for my Lord is with me, clearly and distinctly, as I live my life for Him.  As I remember His great love for me, my own love grows in response.

Remember the Lord, your God, and delight in His love and mercies.  Remember the Lord, your God, and all the things which He has done.  Remember the Lord, your God, and keep His word in your heart.

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection So that we might emulate Him

A Lenten Reflection

So that we might emulate Him



The soul touched by the redemptive and transformative love of Christ Jesus is marked forever; it is altered greatly from its original state.  For with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the soul grows ever more in those virtues which God prizes and esteems.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

The person who has truly surrendered to Christ, calling Him Lord and Savior, will not be as the world's men and women; for what the reborn seeks will be a far cry from what the world rejoices in.  The manner in which Christ's own carry themselves will be marked with the love and compassion of their Master, they will seek to emulate Him in all they can, even if they stumble at times.

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism,"  (Ephesians 4:1-32)

Is it your desire, friends, to be as much like Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for you, as you possibly can?  Do you seek to walk as He did? Do you strive to live by His commands?  Or do you cleave closer to the world than to He who can save you from the fate of the sinful soul?  The world will only draw you down to mired filth; flee from that!  The wages of sin are death, but those who are in Christ Jesus have eternal life.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."  (Romans 8:1-5)

And as we abide ever deeper in the love and presence of Jesus, as our natures become more like His, we will find ourselves immersed in His peace; His love will pour from us in an increasingly natural way.

"Beloved, since we, then, are the people who say that we abide in him, it is upon us that the obligation of the text falls: we ought ourselves also so to walk even as he walked. A Bible ought has great weight with a conscientious man. Ought it to be so? Then it shall be so, God helping me. If we say we must do. If we talk, we must walk, or it will, be mere talk. If we make the profession of abiding in Christ, we must prove it by our practice of walking with Christ. If we say that we are in Christ and abide in him, we must take care that our life and character are conformed to Christ, or else we shall be making an empty boast. This is true of every man who says he is in Christ, for the text is put in the most general and absolute manner: be the man old or young, rich or poor, learned or simple, pastor or hearer, it is incumbent upon him to live like Christ if he professes to live in Christ." Charles Spurgeon "In Him: Like Him"

In our lives, friends, we come across choices by the hour, sometimes by the minute; in each choice then, let us resolve ourselves to try and choose to do whatever it may be in the spirit of Christ, so that we may honor Him with our lives.  If we see someone in need, let us reach out and help. If we see a brother struggling, let us encourage and lift him up. If we see a woman who is hurting, let us be compassionate. If we see unjust or unnecessary anger, let us be peacemakers.

 In all things, let us emulate Christ as far as we are able...and should we fall short, let us repent and try again. Jesus is ever willing to forgive us, to hear our prayers and to aid us in our walk; let us go to Him as our example and our helper! He will not fail us, nor forsake us.  And as we go through each day, each hour, let us strive that His love, so richly poured upon us, is given to others by our actions and words.  Let us love as He loves.

"A self indwelt by Jesus becomes like Him. “Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you.” Jesus has loved me to the end of all my meanness and selfishness and sin; now, He says, show that same love to others."  Oswald Chambers, "Run Today's Race"

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection But for what purpose was the cross?

A Lenten Reflection

But for what purpose was the cross?


"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Christ Jesus, only begotten Son of God, very God of very God, part of the Triune Godhead, did not die to make us better people.

He didn't journey the long road to Jerusalem, to betrayal, torture and death to make us nice.

He didn't die so that people could tie His name to political parties and platforms.

He didn't die so His followers could form comfortable social clubs and meet weekly to feel good about themselves.

He died, a horrible, painful excruciating death because we were doomed to wrath without Him.  He died, a willing sacrifice, because we were drowning in our sins and could not save ourselves.  He died because our selfish, fallen natures had separated us from the radiant holiness of God, and He was the only bridge across the chasm.

Jesus, who loves misfits and outcasts, the vulnerable and broken, loves us too much to have left us where we deserve to be left.

For if God is absolute goodness, absolute holiness and absolute power, as we believe, then we who have willingly sinned (and that is all of us) have by our own actions and nature made Him our enemy.

"God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible-ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion. " C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity"

Only through the atoning gift of Christ, can we be restored unto God.

"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ..." 2 Corinthians 5:18

Jesus Christ, born of Mary, raised by a carpenter, lived His life and died His death to bring us back to God, so that we might be lavished with the forgiveness, mercy, compassion and love that God longs to give to us.

But we must come to Him, to answer His call, to repent of our sins and live a life of faith; made new creations through Christ, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. When we submit to Christ's Lordship in our lives, when we surrender to Him, everything changes.  He begins a new work in us that He promises will see completion...and our lives will bear fruit, will show a living testimony, of what has transpired in our hearts.  (If our lives do not show such fruit, then how alive is the faith we claim?)

We must not tarry and put off coming to Jesus; for no day in this life is promised and someday we shall all stand before Christ as Lord. For some that shall be a day of supreme joy, for others, a day of terror.  What shall it be for you, friend?  Is your nature made new in the Lord, or does the fallen nature of man rule you?  If the trumpets of the Lord were to sound would your soul leap in rejoicing?  Or would you weep in fear?

We will all declare Him Lord.  There is no mistaking that.

But whether you greet Him with gladness or horror will depend upon if you heeded His call and did His bidding while there was still time.

“The hour is coming when the sheep will be divided from the goats and the tares separated from the wheat. God will again divide the light from the darkness and all things will run to their kind. Tares will go into the fire with tares and wheat into the garner with wheat. The dimness will lift like a fog and all outlines will appear. Hell will be seen to be hell all the way through, and heaven revealed as the one home of all who bear the nature of the one God.” A. W. Tozer, "God Tells The Man Who Cares"

The death upon the Cross had a purpose; to save us from ourselves and reconcile us unto God, to defeat death and bring glory unto the Father.  The Son, who submitted to the Cross, has been uplifted and raised, and will come again to judge the living and the dead, all power and glory are His.

Will you greet Him, when that time comes, with love or fear?

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection Seeing God in others

A Lenten Reflection

Seeing God in others


"Thank heavens I'm *not* like *that* person!"  "They're so wrong!"  "Sinners....just wait until God gets a hold of them!"

When we see ourselves as righteous, elevated, of better moral standing than others......then it is very difficult to see the value and worth in other people.  This is a problem plaguing the Church in the Western world.  Turn on a religious tv channel and listen for a while; the pastors decry this group, that group, this denomination or another, this political party...it goes on and on and on.  All to the effect of saying, "We are better than they. They are sinners and deserve the wrath of God, while we are good and holy."

Who else did that?  Who was it that thanked God for being better than the sinners around them?

"He (Jesus) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

It is too easy to fall into that trap of being the Pharisee, my friends.  It is too easy to gleefully point out the sins of others in order to make our own self esteem feel elevated. (And we do love feeling good about ourselves, don't we?)

"Sin" we cry, pointing it out in someone's life, "sin, sin, sin!"

Yet sin grows in our own hearts, and creeps out in our own lives.

For we sin as well, dear ones.  But it isn't very comfortable to admit that, is it?  We don't really like examining our own hearts and minds and seeing the corruption that sneaks in and roots so easily.

That is exactly why it is so imperative to keep a guard on our hearts and a watchful stance upon our souls...because sin does come in with such readiness.

The Psalmist prayed to God for aid in this matter:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting" Psalm 139:23-24

The Apostle Paul urged the Church at Corinth to "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves...." (2 Corinthians 13:5)

When we do the uncomfortable, when we ask God to reveal our sin to us, when we remember all of our sins that Christ bore for us upon that Cross....we don't feel very righteous anymore.  We don't feel so high and mighty.

At least...I don't.

When I think of MY sins that Jesus bore for ME upon that Cross....the lashing He took, for ME, the nails driven in...for ME, I feel very humbled.  I'm not worthy of such love and grace.  I don't know why He loves me as He does, I don't know why He took such torture for me, I don't know why He gave His blood and His life for a wretch like me.

But I am so grateful He did.

And in that proper perspective....that I am a sinner only saved by His grace, I see other people differently.  There are those I disagree with.  There are those who commit sins I find objectionable....but God finds my sins objectionable too, and still loves me enough to have died for me.  God disagrees with some of my opinions as well (the ones not yet in alignment with His)...yet He made me in His image and died to redeem me.

So that person who I disagree with; that person who commits a sin that is different than the sin I commit, I need to remember that they too are made in God's image.  They too are loved.  They too, if they will but answer Christ's call (and maybe they have and I just don't know it), will be saved by His mercy if they repent and cling to Jesus.

When I choose not to see them as having value, as being loved, of needing grace and mercy, compassion and kindness from not only God but from me, then I am lacking in the love of Christ in my life.  That is a sin, and one too many Christians in the Western Church fail to acknowledge.  We're great at pointing out other sins, but the sin of being hard hearted, of having too little, or no, love, is one we overlook.

But one of the true "tests" of faith is of having love for others. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:7–8)

We should be seeking to grow our love for others, to ask God to give us a greater love for our neighbors, so that we may be more like Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. If we find ourselves lacking love for others, let us repent and ask God to renew our hearts!

Let us not be the Pharisee that delights in being more righteous than others, but let us be humble, repentant, bearing true love for God and neighbor...so that we may walk the narrow road that God has set before us.

""If I cannot see God in others, it is because He is not in me. If I get on my moral high horse and say it is they who are wrong, I become that last of all spiritual iniquities, a suspicious person, a spiritual devil dressed up as a Christian. Beware of mistaking suspicion for discernment; it is the biggest misunderstanding that ever twisted Christian humility into Pharisaism." --Oswald Chambers, in Not Knowing Whither from the Quotable Oswald Chambers."

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

"If I cannot see God in others, it is because He is not in me. If I get on my moral high horse and say it is they who are wrong, I become that last of all spiritual iniquities, a suspicious person, a spiritual devil dressed up as a Christian. Beware of mistaking suspicion for discernment; it is the biggest misunderstanding that ever twisted Christian humility into Pharisaism." --Oswald Chambers, in Not Knowing Whither from the Quotable Oswald Chambers.

A Lenten Reflection Being not heartless

A Lenten Reflection

Being not heartless

"A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to God."
-  Oswald Chambers​

How easy it is to love ourselves enough to be soft upon our own faults and sins, and even easier is it to see the faults and sins of others.  With great zeal so many who profess the name of Christ as their Lord go searching for where others have stumbled, so that it might be pointed out with great glee and judgement.  No hand of help is offered, no kind and encouraging word, but scathing verbal blows and mockery instead.

But have we no sin?  Have we no faults?  Did not Christ Jesus die to redeem us because we are wretched fallen beings?  Were we not drowning in our own sins and unable to save ourselves?  Have we not often been proud and haughty when instead we should be humble and grateful?

Then why should such as we feel we have the right to cast stones at any other?  We see the secret truths of no one's heart, we know the hidden sorrows in no one's soul.  God is just, and God is holy, and it is He alone who is fit to condemn.

Let us, knowing full the depths of our own sin, of how deep we were in the mire before Christ lifted us out, show mercy and love to our brethren who struggle with sin just as we do.  Let us encourage them, help them, pray for them and love them.  Let us not be stumbling blocks, impeding their way towards Christ, but rather that we should lend them our hands and aid them on their journey to the Lord.

As we have received mercy upon mercy, grace upon grace, let us give mercy and grace. As we have been given a deep well of forgiveness from the Lord's own hand, let us forgive.  As we were shown compassion from Christ's heart, let our hearts be filled with love and compassion. For should we not attempt to imitate our Lord?

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

Here's to the Irish on their favorite Saint's Day....

Here's to the poets whose words make us weep,
and to the warriors who deeds inspired great tales and songs of long ago.
Here's to the land of High Kings, where freedom is so dearly loved.

Here's to the saints and monks and scribes,
who kept so much of civilization alight during dark times
and preserved for us a glimpse into the misty past.

Here's to farmers and miners and stone workers,
who built not only their country but in part ours,
unafraid of hard work and wretched conditions.

Here's to the men and women and children,
sold off by the British to colonists as slaves,
who were beaten and killed, yet somehow thrived.

Here's to the Irish who came seeking life,
while starvation claimed their beloved Isle,
who faced "No Irish" signs and cold shoulders in their new land.

Here's to the Irish, whose spirit never gave up,
as they built communities and homes in cities and rural mountains,
who never took a no but that they turned it to a yes.

Here's to the Irish, who have lived and died for our country,
who love their faith, their families and their land deeply,
who grace us with smiles and gift us with their determination.

Here's to the Irish on their patron saint's day,
may they be blessed for they have been a blessing unto us,
and may God ever smile upon them.

Here's to the Irish and those blest enough to love them,
for to have an Irishman's heart and to know their love,
is to have a bit of heaven in your life everyday.

Here's to my Irishman,
with his smile that warms me, his love that surrounds me,
his touch that comforts me, his laugh that is infectious
and his faith that never dims.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, to my Charles​, and to all our Irish friends and family.

Bealtaine an aoibh gháire Dé solais leat chun ghlóir.

May the smile of God light you to glory.


A blessed Irishman's wife,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection Loving that which is worthwhile

A Lenten Reflection

Loving that which is worthwhile


It is so easy to get wrapped up in the world's concerns, in the world's habits, in the world's delights and outrages.  Our culture is geared towards keeping us buying the newest neat gadget, going to the latest hot spot, getting outraged over the latest political scandal, and afraid of the next menace.

We're fed so many messages over what we should value, what we should mock, what is cool and what is trash.  Advertisers tell us, through commercials, billboards, they even attempt to tell us what to make for dinner in the grocery stores these days.  Media is a constant spin, trading one story for a fad for an outrage for an impending doom and then back to a new story. The cycle never stops.

And unless we say, "No," and make the decision to stop giving those messages any weight or importance, they'll just keep sinking in. Changing how we think, how we feel, how we believe.

That is why the Apostle John warned us not to love the world.  "Do not love the world or the things in the world." (1 John 2:15)  He wasn't warning us not to love the natural world God created, or to enjoy the good things in life that God gives us, but rather, to beware the dangers of a fallen culture and the fallen nature of mankind.  To stay away from that which is sinful or tawdry, meaningless or cruel.  We are to walk as Children of God, not children of this world.

The Apostle Paul tells us what it is better for a Christian to think and ponder upon; " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)

What we think about is what we will come to believe in, and what we believe in is what we worship.  Things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of virtue reflect aspects of the nature of God; they draw us nearer unto Him.

When we think upon the things of this world....the latest scandal, the newest gossip, the nastiest political brawl, the most sex driven show, book or movie....we go further from the nature of God and deeper into our own fallen natures.

And God takes offense.

He wants you and I to be more than that.  He wants us to seek after Him, not after useless and dangerous garbage.

"How long will you love what is worthless?" God asks in Psalm 4:2.

Jesus died to redeem us, to save us from our carnal and worldly natures, because we could not save ourselves. Do not cheapen His gift of mercy and grace by chasing after those things He died to save you from.

Are you loving what is worth loving....or seeking after that which is worthless?

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection Picking up or Letting Go

A Lenten Reflection

Picking up or Letting Go

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus, speaking in Matthew 11:30

We've hit the half way period of Lent, and some are struggling with keeping a grasp on all the things they wanted to give up for Lent.  Are they staying true to the fast (if they chose to fast)...are they praying as they wanted to, are they studying as they wanted to, are they doing the acts of charity...so on and so forth.... it can be exhausting!  We pick up so many things at Lent to add to our daily lives...and juggling it all becomes unmanageable at times.

Lent, which calls us to a closer communion with Jesus as we journey to the Cross through such activities as prayer, reflection and Scripture, can be a spotlight for our habit of trying to "do enough"....and in the midst of a this holy season, we can forget something very important....

We can't "do enough."

Because....it's all already been done.

Jesus did it all.

He completed His work here on earth; He taught, He loved, He walked the road to the Cross and then went upon the Cross for us. He gave His life, He tasted death, and He overcame it.

He did the work.  It is finished.  Complete and perfect.

The point of Lent is not to exhaust ourselves by picking up too many burdens...too many "to-do's"....the message of Lent is to abide.  To rest in Christ and draw near to Him.  Prayer should be a time of communion with Jesus, not a mark off on the checklist.  Scripture reading is to deepen your faith and understanding, not extra credit.  Reflecting upon what Christ did for us helps to keep us humble and grateful; it's not something to carry as a weight.

And fasting, giving to charity, all of the good things that so many strive to do during Lent are fine, in and of themselves...but not when they become burdens, not when they become "points you earn"...not when they become bragging rights.  Just as Jesus taught us that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27)...so it is with these precious days leading up to the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord.  Activities such as fasting and alms giving are good when done in the love of the Lord, out of the joy of being with the Lord...but they are not weights to draw you down.  They are not meant to make you feel like you're drowning in your daily life.

If you're feeling exhausted....put a few things down, just for a bit.  Put down the obligations you laid upon yourself (and while you're at it, try putting down worry, and anger, and whatever else might be impeding your ability to abide, and rest, in Christ Jesus).....put it down.

And in that space where you can breathe again...remember, God has done it all.  It is finished, He has won.

Jesus tells us His yoke is easy, His burden is light....stop laying heavy loads upon yourself, but instead....come rest in Jesus.

Walk with Him as we go towards the Cross, confide to Him in prayer, reach out to Him in love and trust.  The path has already been laid and tread, the battle has already been won...and the Lord who bested death and sin itself is our guide.

We need not worry about "doing enough"....it has all been done.

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection Grief and Sorrow

A Lenten Reflection

Grief and Sorrow

 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

In this life, with its trials and sorrows, on days where we are burdened with the heavy weariness of the soul, let us reflect upon, and be thankful for, the journey to the Cross and grave that Christ took for us.

For as He gave Himself to be crucified, as He redeemed us by His death, He made clear the way of salvation for all who believe and trust in Him.  He defeated death so that death is not our conqueror; tragedy and sorrow are not our final destination.  We can be assured that death is not the final answer, but that Christ is the doorway to eternal life.

While we suffer and cry in this life, while we are broken or hurt now, there will come a day when all will be made right.  When Christ will wipe away our tears; where death and mourning, pain and sorrow will be banished.  Where we will be whole and our hearts will be healed.

What a day that shall be!

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

"The call of God is like the call of the sea, or of the mountains; no one hears these calls but the one who has the nature of the sea or of the mountains; and no one hears the call of God who has not the nature of God in him. It cannot be definitely stated what the call of God is to, because it is a call into comradeship with God Himself for His own purposes, and the test of faith is to believe that God knows what He is after." --Oswald Chambers, in Not Knowing Whither from the Quotable Oswald Chambers.

A Lenten Reflection In Love

A Lenten Reflection

In Love

There is the well known quote of the Apostle John, "God is love." (1 John 4:8)

 If we cannot truly fathom the depths of God's nature, but merely hold onto echoes and whispers of His great truths, then it will take a lifetime to delve into what that verse means. For how can we measure how deep His love is unless we seek to explore it?

 We spend so much time trying to make God small, to make Him like us, when we should be trying to become like Him.  His love, His grace, His mercy, His power....they are all so vast, so un-measurable by our standards.

Yet we can know this:

 He created the world in love.

He came to us as a child, in love.

He taught us, in love.

 And He died for us, in love.

The God of all power could have come in wrath and anger to straighten us out; He could have shocked us all by mighty acts sprung out of vengeance; yet He came in vulnerability, and died as a willing offering to reconcile us to Him.

If God made every effort to come to us in love, cannot we try to respond in kind to Him...and to each other?

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler​

A Lenten Reflection Beloved

A Lenten Reflection

Beloved

" As He says also in Hosea,
“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”
(-Romans 9:25)

For those who feel they have no home, no friend, no strong ally, look to God. For through Christ, He calls to you, "You who were not my people, I will make you mine. You who were not loved, shall be beloved." The God of all, mighty and holy, seeks to comfort you. The God who created the stars listens to hear your prayer. The God who is above all things and from whom all things have their creation is waiting....for you.

He will call you Beloved, and claim you as His. He has already sacrificed everything through the Cross to provide for your salvation and sanctification, so that you might be secure for all eternity. No one else, no good spouse, great friend, loving child will ever love you more. No one will, or can, do more for you than He already has. All because He longs to call you Beloved.

Oh, my friends, go to Him. Tarry not, but instead rest easy in His love. Turn from sin in repentance and know that His forgiveness awaits, and His Love abounds. For in Him you have your home, your friend, your strong defender.

On towards the Cross,

-Beth Haynes Butler

A Lenten Reflection For whom did He die?

A Lenten Reflection

For whom did He die?

"I lay down my life for the sheep." -- Jesus speaking in John 10:15.

Jesus walked the long road to Jerusalem, to the Cross and unto death for all those who would be His sheep; those who would believe, repent of their sins, and trust in Him. Those who would strive to keep His commands, especially perhaps those which Christ called the greatest of commandments: to love God and to love our neighbors.

He didn't die for a specific denomination only, a way of worship, a select clique, but for those who believe, love and trust in Him alone for their salvation. He didn't die for the righteous (which is good, because none of us are!)....He died for sinners who repent and believe.

He died for outcasts and broken souls, for hurting people and misfits. (He certainly collected a good bunch of misfits to be His Disciples, after all.) He died for....us. We who are spiritually wounded, maimed, blind....we who cannot save ourselves.....we who are helpless and will accept a Savior's loving call.

“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled." The Great Banquet Parable, told by Jesus in Luke 14:16-23.

We are the poor, the crippled, the blind and lame. We are who are invited, beyond our wildest dreams, to dine with the Master, to be brought into the house of the King.

"But especially I must speak to you who are poor, spiritually. You have no faith, you have no virtue, you have no good work, you have no grace, and what is poverty worse still, you have no hope. Ah, my Master has sent you a gracious invitation. Come and welcome to the marriage feast of his love. "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the waters of life freely." Come, I must lay hold upon you, though you be defiled with foulest filth, and though you have nought but rags upon your back, though your own righteousness has become as filthy clouts, yet must I lay hold upon you, and invite you first, and even compel you to come in." Charles Spurgeon.

If we are the beggars brought into the banquet....why do we then think we have the right to say who else might be invited? So often, once we are in, we try and shut the doors so that those we disagree with, those we may not like, can't enter into the same graciousness we have been so mercifully invited into.

But friend...I'll tell you a secret....we are not the gate-keepers, and God will bring in whom He calls. He will decide, not we. His love is so lavish, His mercy so deep we cannot comprehend the depth of it....we do not have the words to describe it adequately.

And God has a soft spot for sinning wretches such as we....if He loves us, how can we say He does not love another?

The redemption on the Cross was big enough to buy the salvation of all who would come to Christ, let us not try and make it small.

On towards the Cross,

Beth Haynes Butler