Ministry in Motion

Holy Saturday is the day after Good Friday and the day before Easter, the end of Lent, the conclusion of Holy Week; The final day to enter into the story of Christ’s passion. Historically this Saturday commemorates the day that Jesus' body lay in the borrowed tomb and the Harrowing of Hell. What?   This Harrowing of Hell is referred to in the Apostles' Creed and it re-tells that Jesus "descended into hell” This journey is alluded to in the New Testament and in 1 Peter which speaks of Jesus preaching to "the imprisoned spirits" So on this Saturday I reflect on the mystery that as the mortal body of Jesus lay in the tomb, His spirit/soul was not. The Christ was on a prescribed mission, He was about His Father’s business… Between death and the resurrection,  we wait..  the coming of the third day,  to rise and walk in the newness of life.  #MinMChurch  #MetroLifeChurch  #Pkes

“..Like a sheep to a shearing, like a lamb to be slaughtered ,  he went—oh so quietly, oh so willingly..”   The crucifixion of Christ, the awful marriage of human sinfulness and the pinnacle of divine grace, must remain an enduring mystery, a mystery of my faith — Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. Good Friday calls on me to take another look, to remember, His death.   ~Selah~   So in my exuberance to treasure all the beauty that is Easter, I must be careful not to scurry past Good Friday. Easter alone does not make Christianity unique. It’s Good Friday, coupled with Easter, where we find the uniqueness of Christianity.   As you contemplate the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, I pray that God will reveal his unfathomable love for you in new ways. May you know the love of the one who gave his life for you… #Pkes #MinMChurch #MetroLifeChurch

Holy Week   in Christianity is the week just before  Easter . In the West, it is also the last week of  Lent , and includes  Palm Sunday , Holy Wednesday,  Maundy Thursday,  Good Friday , and   Holy Saturday (this day is more important than you may think). Holy Week doesn’t include Easter Sunday. I’m not sure if the week is holy, but it’s certainly rich in Christian history, which is why I bother to write about it. Of the particular days of this historical week, the easiest to recognize, the prominent day, is naturally Good Friday.   But I think   Maundy Thursday is worth exploring and recalling. Jesus is only a few hours away from His passion and it’s His desires to share a meal with His disciples. And it’s on this day, during this Passover meal, the  Last Supper , (the model for the  Eucharist  or  Holy Communion ) where Jesus lays out and predicts, prophetically, the events that would immediately follow — including his betrayal, TY Judas, the  Denial of Peter , non

Zephaniah - Finding Jesus in the Minor Prophet Join us Wednesday March 28th @ 7pm The final blessings on Zion are pronounced in Zephaniah 3:14-20 and are largely unfulfilled, leading us to conclude that these are messianic prophecies that await the Second Coming of Christ to be completed. The Lord has taken away our punishment only through Christ who came to die for the sins of His people (Zephaniah 3:15; John 3:16).   # pkes # MetroLifeChurch    # MinMChurch

There’s no way we can really wrap our minds around this scene. But follow along with me - see Jesus, the prince of peace, as he rides lowly borrowed donkey in a prophetic procession towards Jerusalem.   Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout jubilantly, O daughter of Jerusalem! Look—your King is coming; He is righteous and able to save. He comes seated humbly on a donkey, on a colt, a foal of a donkey.. Notice the crowds of Hebrews, hungry for a leader.   Look closely at the Christ, on his less than mighty steed.   A teacher unlike any other before him in Israel’s history. A man who spoke with great authority. He mesmerized the teachers and scribes of his day…this rabbi seems to be so closely connected to God.   Watch, as throngs of people tossed their coats in the donkey’s path; See as the Jews gathered branches of palm trees to wave as they celebrated His arrival. Listen to the people greet him with loud shouts of “Hosanna!” He who come

The Fifth Sunday in Lent - What is it that God Desires of Us? We are just seven days away from Holy Week, the beginning of a time that reflects on God’s love for us through his Son’s passion, death and resurrection. So we enter the final days of Lent, a season where we choose to orient our hearts towards God versus self saying: “Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire…” *  What is it that God desires of us?   It’s not unusual to wonder what God wants from faithful followers: Does He want sacrifice? Maybe He wants us to follow & keep strict codes of behavior? Possibly He wants blind obedience? People in the past and people today have all sorts of opinions about how the faithful should act. In the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Pentateuch , we read:   “ And now, Israel, what is the Eternal your God asking of you? Only that you fear Him, live as He wants you

Ministry in Motion Being the Church Outside the Church Wednesday March 14th, 7pm Join us as we discuss the Book of Nahum or sinners in the hands of an angry God;  We'll look for Jesus in the Minor Prophet, Nahum: Seeing Christ in Nahum's prophecy; Seeing the Father's love, on perfect display in the person of the Christ; Discovering that the message of  Nahum is just as relevant today as it was in the 7th century,  because it reminds us that God's grace is for all. And in the  case of Jesus' coming - we'll see sinners in the hands of a loving God... #pkes #MetroLifeChurch #MinMChurch ( Directions to Ministry in Motion )

Ministry in Motion is a Texas Nonprofit Tax Exempt 501(c)(3) corporation under the  US Internal Revenue Service Code. #MetroLifeChurch #MinMChurch

If you want to know Jesus, the Bread of Life, the invitation is not to raising a hand or kneeling at an alter or praying a special prayer,   but it’s to “ taste and see * , that the Lord is good!"   Lenten Prayer Week 4: Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Book of Common Prayer, Lent Wk4 Joining with one another at the Eucharistic, the communion, table is a beautiful experience bringing us closer to God, and orienting us towards Him. The Psalmist wrote: “…Taste of His goodness; see how wonderful the Eternal truly is. Anyone who puts trust in Him will be blessed and comforted…” Conventional church practices usually say: become a believer or a church member and then you can take of the Eucharist. But the Christian way to the cross ought

Being the Church Outside the Church Wednesday March 7th, 7:30pm Star of Hope Men's Developmental Center 1811 Ruiz, Houston, Tx 77002 Directions

The Lenten Season   is where we choose to orient our hearts towards God. It’s that time spent in preparation for Easter, which then flows into Pentecost. Sadly, many churches have dropped off their Lenten preparation completely. Instead, Christmas is celebrated  before  it starts; Advent is skipped and Easter, well it just …arrives.   So I’m continuing to advocate for the restoration and the practice of Lent - letting the weeks leading up to Easter better prepare us for the majesty that is Resurrection Sunday. This year I want Lent to reminds us to reflect, to meditate, to fast and to be silent orienting our heart towards God while reconnecting us with the experiences of fellow Christians around the world now and in our past.   Pray: Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves  to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and  inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all  adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil  thoug