After

Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” Thomas said, “My Master! My God!” Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”—John 20:27-29

Several times after the resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples. Each encounter brought them a deeper love for Him. We are told not all the disciples were present the first time Jesus appeared to them. Thomas was absent. When he rejoined the group, he could see and hear the joy and hope, but he had doubts. 

When your heart has been shattered, it is hard to have hope even when others around you say “It will be alright.” Even when you want to walk in faith, it is hard.

Thomas's response to his friends is simple; “I need to see it for myself.” Eight days later, Jesus appears to them again, and this time He looks right at Thomas and invites him to come close and touch his wounds. 

Last week I asked the question, “What does the resurrection mean to you?" Until Thomas saw, and was invited to touch, Jesus’ wounds for himself, the resurrection meant nothing.

I don’t blame Thomas for his response. In fact, I think we should all be with him. Our faith must be rooted in a personal, unshakable experience with the risen Savior for ourselves. Not merely an emotional waterfall or theological path but a moment where we are engulfed with spirit and truth, which is only God given. 

This week my prayer for each of us is that we have an encounter with the risen savior. An encounter that redefines us as sons, daughters, husbands, wives ... Christians. 

–Pastor Jackie James

Have The Mind of Christ

Even as a child, talking to people was easy for me. I would talk to random people in the grocery store or at the park, even after being warned against it. My grandmother would often say, "you could make a friend on a deserted island".

What was hard for me was forming long-lasting friendships. As easy as it was to talk to people, it was actually just that much harder for me to trust others. When I was in high school a mentor observed, "how can you really be trusted if you don't, can't, or won't trust others".

In other words, nothing was going to change until I was willing to be vulnerable - willing to allow myself to truly be known, warts and all. Within that bigger picture, then and only then, could I understand and accept God’s love for me.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus builds community with vulnerability. In Him people saw the depth of the Father's love. When He taught it was for people to know His Father’s love. When He healed it was for people to know His Father’s love. He invites people to know His heart, and in return He gives them permission to reveal their hearts.

The Christian community is built on this unified vulnerability under Christ.

In Philippians Chapter 2 Paul says: 2:3-5 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus,

Paul reminds the Philippians that humility is a community defining attribute, because it is an attribute that defines Jesus. The vulnerability and humility they find in Jesus will be the glue which holds them together.

As I reflect on this part of the chapter, I am reminded that the world is not transformed with the sword but with the humility, vulnerability, and love of Jesus.

–Pastor Jackie James

New Year

Philippians 2:1
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

I have to just say, as we are on the doorstep of 2021, that 2020 has left so many of us angry, questioning, uneasy, on-edge, and even shellshocked. As we talk about the hope of 2021, I fear we will unwittingly drag 2020's baggage with us.

We are often so concerned with what is happening to us we are unaware of what is happening inside of us. I have said these words to you before and today I say them to you again - 2020 could be the year that while we were focused on what was happening to us, God was trying to deal with what was going on inside of us.

The Bible offers insights we need to lean into about how to move through hard times. 2020 has taken its toll on us here at Meadow Glade - we are a hurting community, but God has more for us. On January 2, we, your pastors, will begin teaching through Paul's letter to the Philippians.

From his prison cell, Paul heard of the struggles happening in the young church, and his heart was moved to help them.

The Philippian community was near-and-dear to Paul's heart. They had been active supporters of Paul's ministry when no on else was. Paul not only wrote a letter of encouragement and hope to them, he also sent Timothy and Epaphroditus. Each would encourage the church by sharing the Good News of the Gospel and Paul's love for them.

I am convinced, in 2021, we have been called to be like Timothy and Epaphroditus. In this time, when so many have lost hope, we are called to be an uplifting voice pointing to Jesus.

It is not always clear why God compels us to reach out to someone. Maybe you do not think you have anything to offer right now, but in faithfulness, since God has moved you, you do just that - you reach out. And maybe what you have to offer is a kindred broken spirit who has found hope in Jesus. Sometimes all someone needs to keep them going is knowing that someone else made it through.

Happy New Year, Meadow Glade Family

—Pastor Jackie

Remember Those Moments

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ' 'and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Acts 9:1-4

Do you have a favorite drive? Or maybe a favorite place to go? Since 1991 my favorite drive would take me to my favorite place, NOSOCA Pines Ranch.

NOSOCA is our church camp for the Carolina Conference. It is strategically located between Columbia SC and Charlotte NC. I worked there four summers as a Camp Counselor and eight months as a Task Force Camp Ranger.

I have done the drive so often, even now in my mind, I see those familiar landmarks which dictated my route. Miles of red dirt, twists, and turns, the landscape dotted with houses and farms until you finally make a right turn at the little Liberty Hill Post Office onto Singleton Creek Road. This turn marks the last five miles. Just thinking about the drive makes me smile even now.

Acts Chapter 9 unfolds for us the experience Saul has with Christ on the road to
Damascus. Hit with a blinding light knocked to the ground, Saul hears the voice of Jesus and he knows this is for real. Saul will never be the same.

Like my drive to camp, I believe Saul and those with him that day could never again walk the road to Damascus and not feel something special. God gives us these moments and places as anchors to our relationship with Him. We may not be knocked to the ground but encountering Jesus is always life changing.

Remember those moments and those places which anchor you to Jesus.

—Pastor Jackie

More Like Jonah than Jesus

Last week, as Lauryl and I drove along a Georgia highway, we were able to listen to our Meadow Glade Sabbath School discussion lead by Shelly Opdycke, Shelly Williams, and Alex Browning. It was such a blessing to hear these ladies break down the book of Jonah in ways I had never thought of before.

As Alex read the last chapter of Jonah, these words really hit me as never before.

Jonah 4:1-2

'Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it — when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready, at the drop of a hat, to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!"'

Jonah had a unique view of God’s character (being in the belly of a whale will do that), but somehow he was unable or unwilling for that God to show up in Nineveh. We can speculate about his motivates for not wanting to go, but at the end of the day he didn’t want the God of mercy, he wanted the God of wrath and judgment.

Jonah may have been spat out of the great fish, but he really never left there. Even while he walked around the city of Nineveh, speaking God’s message, he was still running from God.

So he sat outside the city waiting, wanting destruction and chaos. His heart was set in one direction. What scares me is that after all Jonah had been through and after all that he had seen, he was still unable to allow God to be God.

When we look at the ministry of Jesus and His interactions with the religious leaders, I see shades of the spirit that was in Jonah. Many could not accept Jesus because He extended grace and mercy to those whom religion found unacceptable. The words leveled against Jesus should give us all pause - “He eats with sinners". Let that sink deep into our hearts today.

As Seventh-day Adventist Christ-followers where do we find ourselves? Are we more like Jonah than like Jesus? The question is simple and I hope it leads us to take an honest look at our calling to live-out and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

—Pastor Jackie

Change

Acts 3: 12 And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

This past week, in my sermon "A Voice In the Wilderness", I mentioned this text. It stood out to me as a significant view into the mission and ministry of John the Baptist. As you read it, think about the implications of this text in your own life.

Tax collectors and soldiers were both the highest of traitors. Considered outcasts and sinners they were shunned from temple life.

Rome had wars to finance, as well as all their governing agencies around the world, and they financed it all through tax monies. Local, indigenous people were often given the task of collecting Roman tax. Each of these tax collectors had a specified amount that their territory was required to contribute to the tax coffers. Once that tax quota was reached however, it was all too common to abuse the system, overtax the residents in their territory, and gain significant personal wealth. If we look at the story of Zaccheus it shows us some of the social and cultural costs of being a tax collector.

The Roman army was not made up of just Roman citizens, they also conscripted military "volunteers" from regions that they conquered. This, just like collecting taxes, placed the burden of keeping order and following Roman law, in the hands of your friends and family members. Fear, intimidation, and brute force were how soldiers maintained order.

So, what drew them to John? Were the tax collectors hanging around to see if this was a good place to set up for business? Were the soldiers there because they were assigned to find out what was going on by the Jordan? Regardless of the why, something happened when John spoke and invited people to look deeper at what God wanted for them.

The Holy Spirit spoke to their hearts and change happened. In front of their friends, family, and maybe even the victims of their greed or brutality, they declared that God came first.

Let's not pass over this moment as just ordinary. Here we see how John set the stage for what the ministry of Jesus was going to look like to: the centurion, the woman at the well, Nicodemus, Matthew, Simon the Zealot . . . the list goes on.

While encountering John, both the tax collectors and soldiers knew they had to live differently. They would still work for Rome, but they would now live to represent God. This is the power of the Gospel to change and redefine us.

Is our understanding of the Gospel this big? Allow God to move you into a deeper understanding of His grace and His power to change us. Wrestle with this question "Teacher (Father), what shall we do now?"

—Jackie James

II Chronicles 24:4-7

This week, I have been studying the above passage in Scripture on King Joash. The story is only one chapter, but it has really hit me with some tough lessons.

Joash was only seven-years-old when he became king, following the reign of a brutal and pagan ruler. At some point, Joash saw the dilapidated conditions of the Temple and the missing sacred vessels. He knew Moses had laid out a plan for upkeep of the Temple, so he reminded the Priest and Levites of this part of their job.

The Temple’s beauty was not only in the building itself, but also in the ornate gold, silver, and jeweled vessels used during worship services. Did the Priest and Levites need to be reminded to their duty? Did they see the deteriorating Temple or had they gotten so accustomed to it, that it all seemed normal?

Joash saw it and knew something wasn’t right, and that something had to be done. When his direction was not followed, he didn’t back down. He called the Chief Priest and demanded action.

We can get so accustomed to living with dysfunction, it can seem normal - even acceptable. God is always calling us to live richer and fuller lives. This means God has to confront the dysfunction within us. In my own life, God has used His Word, the wisdom of friends, and even difficult life lessons to deal with the dysfunction within me.

What about you? Is there something in your life that has seemed normal, maybe even acceptable, that God is revealing to you as dysfunction? Maybe it’s too embarrassing to admit, or maybe you just don’t know what to do. You are not alone. There is power in the gift of community.

Joash saw the Temple regain its rightful glory because he called upon the community to help.

—Pastor Jackie