Maybe it’s because you aren’t realizing how you are opening yourself up, you’re only thinking about how awesome it’s going to be. All the great things that will happen. How everyone you invite will totally come.

Then you make an announcement… maybe it’s “we’re planting a church!” or “we’re starting a ministry for the homeless!” For me right now it’s “I”m having an easter service!”

And then it hits you… “what did I just set myself up for?” No one’s gonna come. No one’s gonna help. It’s gonna be stupid it’s gonna suck. If anyone comes they’re going to hate it. I’m going to hate it. I’m an idiot.

I’m not saying it’s rational, it’s just how it goes. Weird, right? What the heck?

It’s in this season that the LORD spoke to me yesterday out of Acts 5.

In verse 17 Peter and the apostles were arrested because of the Name in which they preached and did miracles. While they were in prison (which, I suppose, is probably more discouraging than inviting people to an easter service) the LORD sends an angel to rescue them and they escape. This angel then commands them in verse 20, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

They obeyed. Next, the officers come to bring the apostles out of the prison. They find all the doors locked but no one is inside. They receive word that the men are, indeed, not in prison where they were left but rather preaching in the temple about Jesus.

They were brought once again to the high priest who told them not to teach in the Name of Jesus for the second time. The verse that God used to speak to me was verse 29:

“But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.”

That is why I’m doing this. I am obeying God. And while I’m not being pressured by authorities NOT to obey God, I am being pressured by people’s perceptions and people’s responses. But that is not who I am supposed to obey. Let’s look a little further in the chapter…

In verse 40 the council decides what to do with the apostles. They bring them back in, beat the CRAP out of them, tell them not to talk about Jesus anymore, and then let them go… for now. Not the most encouraging ending, for the apostles or for me! Yet look at their response in verse 41-42:

“Then they left the presence of the council, REJOICING that they were COUNTED WORTHY to SUFFER DISHONOR for the name. And EVERY DAY, in the temple and from house to house, they DID NOT CEASE teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

I added the emphases. What a perspective… I cannot be afraid of people. Maybe no one will show up to your church plant’s launch service. Maybe everyone will hate my easter service. In that case, I hope I can follow the example of the apostles and rejoice. I hope I can continue to obey God rather than men.

I hope that every day I can put my honor on the line for His honor.

Thanks.

Mark

I want to briefly talk about why we are bringing it back and what purpose we want it to serve.

First, we are NOT bringing it back to the same thing it used to be. All that we want to do is have one more service, and keep this blog rolling. Through interactions with friends new and old we couldn’t shake the urge to do one more service.

People are going through real crap. I want nothing more than to be able to give each person my full attention, to help them to pray with them to be there for them but it just isn’t possible anymore. Life changes. But if I can bring my friends from school over before they graduate and move on to worship with them and pray for them, that would be AWESOME. If I bring my friends from work over and talk to them about what I am most passionate about, that would be AWESOME. If I can gather my Philadelphia “family” who is giving their lives to plant a church in the city and celebrate Jesus with them that would be AWESOME.

And if Dan and I can keep up with this blog we can still pursue real Spiritual growth and development together, wherever we are.

So. Service. Palm Sunday (a week from today). 8:00 PM. It’s gonna be awesome. It’s the start of Passion Week. We are going to talk about THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY IN HISTORY. We’re going to do some songs and try to bring people from wherever to come. Anyone is invited to bring anyone with them.

National Christian Conference Center

1485 Valley Forge Rd

Phoenixville, PA 19460

Final thought on this blog. I do not want it to be something so silly as the “musings” or “thoughts” or “revelations” or “ideas” of Mark Santistevan. I can’t imagine anything that would be more useless to any human being in this world.

Rather I hope that I can share with you the things that God is teaching me and doing in my life. To say that God can’t use me is devaluing Him. I believe that He is putting things in my heart to say, and I believe He has something He wants you to hear on Palm Sunday.

Thank you for your time. I love you.

Mark

let us know.

mark

(John 1:1-3)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made… 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us 

(John 1:14).

Think about it.

Dan Kline

The other day I read the crucifixion account as told by Luke and I noticed something I never noticed before. In all of the Gospel accounts (except John), at the end of the story, one of the centurions who crucified Jesus acknowledges Jesus’ divinity. Within these three Synoptic Gospel accounts, however, there is one glaring difference. In Matthew, the centurion (and those with him who crucified Jesus) says: “Truly this was the Son of God” (27:54). In Mark, the centurion says the same thing (15:39). In Luke, however, the centurion says something different: “Certainly this man was innocent” (23:47)! Innocent.

There are four people in Luke’s crucifixion story who agree. Pilate, governor of Judea, says, “I find no guilt in this man” (23:4). Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, did not found Jesus guilty of any of the charges laid against him (23:15). One of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus also agrees: “…this man has done nothing wrong” (23:41). And then we have the statement of the centurion: “Certainly this man was innocent.”

Innocent. The crazy thing about this is that these are the last people you would expect to make this statement. Pilate was a cruel and merciless governor. He had slaughtered some Galileans while they were offering sacrifices at the temple (Luke 13:1) and was known for his ruthlessness and greed. Herod was not a good guy either. He had John the Baptizer beheaded and had stolen his brother Philip’s wife who was also his niece. The criminal was exactly that and had apparently committed a crime worthy of death, as he himself admits (Luke 23:41). The centurion killed people for a living and carried out the murder of the Innocent One Himself, Jesus the Son of God. Again, not a good guy. Yet all these people declared Jesus innocent.

What does this tell me? Jesus was so innocent that even the biggest scumbags in the world could see that he was innocent. Jesus was so innocent that even the liars, the murderers, and the thieves could not deny it. You had to be blind to not see Jesus’ innocence. And that’s the irony of the whole story. The religious leaders, the “good guys” who were supposed to be honest and upright and true were so blinded by their hatred of Jesus that they sentenced him to death and gave him into the hands of the only people whose consciences were so seared that they could believe that a man was innocent and crucify him anyway. Jesus was so innocent that the hypocrites could only hate him. Their true colors were exposed when they were placed next to the light of the Innocent One and they hated him for it.

That’s why Luke records the centurion’s words the way he does. He wants to show the twisted irony of the whole situation. The perfect Son of God, the Innocent One, was so pure and innocent that the worst people in society were forced to admit it and this perfect Son of God, the Innocent One, was sentenced to death by the people who were supposed to be the best people in society and killed by the worst people anyway. Only the Son of God could be so innocent. Only the Son of God could be so hated. And only the Son of God could die for people like that, for the ones who unashamedly love the dark and those who hide that they do.

Dan Kline

     So I’ve been reading through the Gospel of Luke and today I read the crucifixion account of Jesus of Nazareth. During this event, two criminals are crucified with Jesus and Luke records a fascinating dialogue between the two criminals and their reaction to Jesus. Luke writes: One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise (emphasis added).”

     I’ve always been kind of intrigued by this passage and one of the reasons has to do with its relationship to Romans 10:9-10: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Before I move on, I would like to make clear that a biblical view of salvation has two parts: 1) right knowledge and 2) right response. It is not just enough to believe that Jesus rose again and is Lord (for demons do and they are not saved). Rather, the Holy Spirit must reveal to the person that this event and this Lordship bring salvation to his or her self. While Paul explicitly makes mention of right knowledge, he chooses to implicitly imply right response in this passage. Now back to the relationship with the criminal on the cross. Notice the past tense here (God raised him from the dead). Yet when the criminal is crucified, the resurrection is not in the past, but lies ahead in the future. Does this event contradict what Paul is saying?

     I would say no. Here’s why. When I look at what the second criminal says to Jesus, I see several things. First, I see that the criminal believes that Jesus is a king with a kingdom (remember me when you come into your kingdom). This matches with confessing Jesus as Lord. Second, I see that the criminal believes that Jesus will come back after death. There are two options here. Either the criminal believes Jesus will be a ghost king or, more likely, he believes he will rise again from the dead. While this resurrection is probably in line with the common Jewish thought of the day that there would be a general resurrection of the righteous and wicked at the end of the age and not in line with the individual resurrection of Jesus first, it is still, nonetheless a resurrection. This fits with the second part of Paul’s statement (believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead). Thus, it seems as though the criminal’s knowledge, although limited, does contradict Paul’s description of the knowledge part of salvation.

Dan Kline

mark.

sunday.

seven pm.

see you there.

marksantistevan

if you were there let us know what you thought.

someday someone is going to respond to one of these posts. i just know it.

marksantistevan