Along with people all over the world, I was watching live as the Free Tibet protestor ran behind the spokesman of the repressive Chinese regime who have in recent days slaughtered 130 Tibetans and imprisoned many more. No-one got harmed in the peaceful demonstration, but I think it was a fantastic protest, and I was delighted for the point to be made, because to be honest bullies have to be stood up against.

This makes me wonder about the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, which was also disgraceful and the action of bullying nations, ignoring the wishes of the international community.

Are the churches too conservative on issues like these? Too quiet and respectable and by implication acquiescing in the status quo? I remember when Tony Blair was preparing to attack Iraq. We mobilised anti-war demonstrations in our town and lined the main street. Two million of us marched in London.

But at my evangelical church, not a single word was spoken out against the impending invasion. Not a single member of my church took part in the demonstrations. It was left to largely non-christian groups to speak out for decency.

There are indeed christian groups involved in human rights issues. But I feel that all too often the church is pre-occupied with a religious agenda and a religious lifestyle, and a somewhat insular and middle-class respectability, that tends to remain too silent on human rights.

Many christians *now* say they think the Iraq invasion was a mistake, but how many actually demonstrated and protested at the time? Or did they adopt that viewpoint when it started to become "respectable"? Should christians be more militant against repressive regimes? Should christians be at the forefront of demonstrations and the struggle for human rights?

Today's readings for Monday in the Octave of Easter are from Acts 2:14,22-33, Ps 16:1-2a,5,7-11, Matt 28:28:8-15.

During this week after Easter the Church will continue to recount the Resurrection narratives from the Gospels, while also allowing us to reflect on the disciples of Christ after His Resurrection. These are important reflections from Acts of the Apostles because Christ rose for us as much as for them, and He sent the Spirit for us as much as for them, and so as much as they were transformed by the Holy Spirit after encountering the risen Christ, so too should we be transformed.

During the Passion narratives, and really throughout the Gospels, we see Peter as someone who struggled to understand, and who ultimately became afraid, a fear which led him to abandon the One Who would change his life. Yet now, having seen Jesus not only raised from the dead but also ascended into heaven, and having also received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, we see a new Peter, a bold Peter, a Peter filled with wisdom and understanding. He stands up in the midst of those very men who crucified Jesus and preaches to them the Gospel of Christ. He proclaims, "Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know." The same Peter who thrice denied knowing Jesus now boldly proclaims that Jesus was indeed commended by God, and worked the very signs of God in their midst. He continues, "This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it." Since this Jesus was God, and came to conquer death for our sake, it was impossible for death to hold Him.

The last time Peter had seen Jesus before He died He was being beaten and tortured and mangled, and ultimately crucified. Besides the immense sadness and confusion this would have caused Peter, imagine the fear. How could he go on talking about Jesus and trying to teach others as Jesus had taught him when Jesus was subjected to such intense torture. Yes, Peter was there when Christ said, "Do not fear those who can kill the body but not the soul" (Matt 10:28), but that was going to be a lot harder for Peter to swallow when he witnessed exactly how the body was killed. But then Peter saw the resurrected Christ, whose body was now glorified, and he could truly in his heart believe those words from Christ. Now he knew that there was nothing to fear from the men of the earth for one who is faithful to God. This is why, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter was able to understand the words of David as pointing to his own hope and his own resurrection: "My flesh, too, will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption."

The Cross is indeed folly to those who do not believe. But to those who have faith in God through His Son, to us we are given the Holy Spirit, which allows us to understand the wisdom of the Cross and embrace it ourselves. Through the Spirit we have hope in the future resurrection which awaits us, knowing that our bodies too will be glorified as was Christ's. Through the Spirit we are able to boldly proclaim the truth about God and the resurrection of the body without fear of the derision and persecution we will face as a result.

The words spoken to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in today's Gospel are being spoken to us today, as well: "Do not be afraid." We have a God Who loves us to the point of death, and descended to the depths of Sheol so that He might break through it for us, and was Himself raised so that we too might be raised. We have a God who is with us always in His Spirit, so that the Spirit of God dwelling within us will transform us from the cowards who deny Christ and His revelation of God into the bold disciples who will proclaim the truth of our faith without fear from any man. We are not like the chief priests and the soldiers who know the truth but out of fear of men hide that truth so as to avoid persecution. We are not like these men. No, we are built on the rock of Peter, and like him we receive the Holy Spirit and continue to walk without fear in the presence of God, proclaiming His majesty and sovereignty over our lives. Like Peter, we are transformed in the Holy Spirit of God.

Peace in Christ,
Michael

If you could send up some prayers for me, I'd really appreciate it. I've been doubting my abilities both as a grad student and as a girlfriend. I know these doubts are a spiritual attack, because God has brought me both to grad school and into this relationship, both of which I am grateful for (more so my relationship than grad school, I have to admit). Thanks!

I want to find some devotional to use for a Men's group, either something that speaks to being a man or something directed towards black men ( my group of men is entirely African American).

Any suggestions?

Ok, I have a problem that is pretty old right now, but it still continues to affect me.

In 2006 I read in the bible about Jesus declaring that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin. When it's unforgivable this means that I would be condemned to hell for it. For a time, because of that I was fearing the Holy Spirit a lot. This fear has gone away now, but I still fear that I could somehow blaspheme the spirit because of being unable to control my thinking and speaking. Speaking is no problem anymore, I keep my words clean and I love the result this has brought me. I actually rejoice in the cleanliness of most of what I write and say. I only say good things about God and never a lie or a bad thing, really for the very most of the time, except when I am erring in something (which I usually remedy by admitting the mistake honestly).

My problem though is that sometimes I don't have good thoughts about God. I know I think way too much in general, but still. I want to love God with all my thoughts.

What I ask for is prayer, if you want, and perhaps a soothing advice or word. I know I simply have to accept what Jesus said, and in general this is working ok now. And since I don't fear the Holy Spirit anymore He seems much more able to help me, because I cooperate with His grace. And I do look forward to becoming completely in line with God's will and growing Him a rich harvest in my being. But some prayer would be really nice now to make the transition more smoothly.

Hi everyone! I'm new and I have a question for some of you who may be well traveled or awesome with languages...

Do you know verses of "Down in my heart", the popular children's song, in other languages? We learned Spanish on a mission trip we just took, and I'd like to find some in other languages to use as a theme for Vacation Bible School. If you don't know this song, do you know others? Or is this a wild goose chase? I think it would be so much fun to give the kids a "global" experience, but I pretty much have failed every language I've tried to learn!

Thanks in advance!

Red Bank Community Church will be holding its semi-annual art show on April 26.  The theme for the upcoming show is "New Life," and the deadline for submissions is April 23.

If you are an artist working in any medium -- painting, photography, sculpture, calligraphy, collage, etc. -- or if you know any artists who might like to participate, please get on board.  The work does not have to be explicitly "Christian" or Biblical.  It just has to somehow connect with the theme.  We even have one woman who is submitting the sonogram of her second-trimester baby!

More details are available here: http://www.redbankchurch.com/rules.pdf.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Since for some weeks, I have accepted the reality of hell. In a sense I always knew the bible was true about this, but I looked away from it fearing that I could not face this reality. It never bothered me too much that the threat of hell also counts, or better, countED for me. I knew I am responsible for my mistakes, and I did choose Jesus and with that hell ceased to be a problem.

But now I have trouble. In my own family, only my mother really seems to believe. One of my sisters believes too, but I am not sure if she's born-again. But I don't think a christian must be born again to be saved from hell. That's more something about life on Earth, I think.

Anyway, my problem is that I love people which, if they died now, could happen to end in hell. This makes loving them VERY painful. They don't listen to me, they don't do what is necessary to receive salvation. I keep the hope that they too may get saved later, but I have worries, justified ones anyway. Always having to live with the grief about people who likely went to hell is so difficult. On top of that, I don't want to judge like Jesus tells us. It's terrible to have what we call in german a "Richtgeist", a spirit of judgment. But what can I do with this fright that some that I love may go to hell?

As it looks like, the only thing I can do is to withdraw some of my love, so that it is not so intense anymore. I fear that if I don't do that, the whole thing will break me. I also hate to get in conflict with my God. I don't want to question His sovereignity. I love God dearly.

My solace is Jesus. I know He labored with this too. He cried about Jerusalem. But, eventually, He decided for us believers. Jesus will create a wonderful eternity for us. God will wipe every tear from our faces.

In the end, we're not responsible for what others do with Jesus. A little bit of suffering because of the fate of others is very human, heartful and honest. But too much of it seems clearly bad for me.

What would you do?

Greetings, all in the community. Life has been busy, little time to write in my OWN journal, let alone here. But here are some snippets from my life I thought would add to discussion:

( Direct lessons from Jesus )