JESUS NEVER LETS GO

        One of the great things about being a Christian is that no matter what problems today may bring, there is a better future for us tomorrow. No matter what evil may happen today, there is something better to look forward to. The present is not all there is to life. We see the troubles of life, but we know God is with us every step of the way. As God bids us to do Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you will glorify me.”

        We acknowledge sin in the world and in our personal lives, but we know Christ has overcome it. We look backward with gratitude but look forward with joy. As Mrs. Ruth Graham said from her wheelchair before she died, “So many wonderful memories, and so much to look forward to!” Believers in Christ are able to see past the tragedies of today, and look forward to the wonder and joy of what God has in store for us in our tomorrows.

        Corrie Ten Boom, survivor of a WWII death camp, often said, “When the Lord takes your hand, He holds you tight. When He holds you tight, He leads you through life, and when He leads you through life, He brings you safely home.”

        1 Peter 3:15 says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." Earlier in life Peter had almost lost all hope because he’d let go of His Savior’s hand. But Jesus had not let go of his hand. In the middle of all Peter’s troubles, Jesus held his hand and brought him safely through the most critical time in his life. That’s what Jesus does for His people, even when we may feel we have lost hope. Jesus holds our hand and doesn’t let go. Praise Him that He doesn’t.

        

May you hold the Lord’s hand tightly every day of your life.

Rev. Bob Tasler

www.bobtasler.com

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RIDING THE RAILS FOR JESUS

      Yesterday son Brian and I attended our annual Father-Son Birthday Baseball Game and saw the Rockies rock the AZ D-Backs handily. Despite the rock-n-roll weather (game ended with a storm and a big scramble for cover) we enjoyed the afternoon. 

      A special event for me came as Brian dropped me off at Union Station to board the Denver Light Rail and ride it twenty miles south to where I’d earlier parked my car. It was an adventure! Union Station was a beehive of a thousand people in the Depot and in the dozens of shops and restaurants. I found it a comfortable and safe experience, although it might have been different had it been late that night.

      After securing my ticket, I hunted down the boarding intersection to the north, hidden among a half dozen construction sites. For this I was aided by a kindly older lady with a huge umbrella who walked me a block and a half north to make sure this confused old traveler got to the right street. 

      The train ride was noisy with laughter from young adults who’d also attended the game. The car was muggy and bouncy, interesting and enjoyable. A courteous young man I asked made sure I got off at the right station where I found my car and drove home. Back on the freeway, I gave thanks for the peace and quiet of a smooth ride those last ten miles. We may use Light Rail in the future, so this ride was part adventure and part investigation.

      The Apostles had no trains or cars as they took the message of Jesus out into the world. Just their feet and occasionally a boat got them there. What amazes me is how hugely successful they were. Biblical history tells us that within a mere two to three months of His resurrection, perhaps ten thousand people became followers of Jesus. The Holy Spirit inspired the early witnesses who saw Jesus alive again, and their words spread like wildfire, moving masses of Jews and Gentiles to leave their old religious ways and follow Jesus.

      All those early believers did so at great risk to their lives. In the coming decades, they were arrested, tortured, fed to the lions and burned in the arena. A person isn’t willing to die for a passing fancy. Something about Jesus changed them and also the history of the world forever. That’s why Christians still gather to worship God, wherever believers hear and rejoice in the Gospel of the resurrected Jesus Christ. 

”For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com

HAPPY MAY DAY!

      Today, May 1, is May Day. In simpler days, May 1 held a charming tradition. People wrapped flowers in pretty paper, along with a small gift or piece of candy, and hung it on the door of friends and neighbors. While attending Country School in the 1950s, my classmates and I always brought May Baskets to school on this day.

      It was also a way for a romantic young fellow to let a girl know he cared. He would hang his May Basket on her doorknob, knock on the door and then run away. If the girl liked him, she would try to chase him down and give him a kiss. If he saw her coming, he would not run very fast.

      Some awkward scenarios happened among the young. A 1889 Boston newspaper reported that one unfortunate fellow walked a mile and a half to present his May Basket to his sweetheart, only to find someone else’s basket already hanging on her door. Louisa May Alcott described May Day in her children's book, Jack and Jill: 

      "Such a twanging of bells and rapping of knockers; such a scampering of feet in the dark; such droll collisions as boys came racing round corners, or girls ran into one another's arms as they crept up and down steps on the sly; such laughing, whistling, flying about of flowers and friendly feelings—it was almost a pity that May Day did not come oftener."

      This custom is unfamiliar to youth and most adults today. But just being old-fashioned shouldn’t keep us from making an effort to show people we care for them.

      God showed His love for us by the gift of His Son Jesus, and the Son showed us His love for us by giving His life on the cross to earn our forgiveness. Yesterday I ended my service to the people of Christ Lutheran, Coolidge, AZ, and we all partook of the gift of His Body and Blood under bread and wine. This is a blessed custom I hope and pray will never be lost in the hustle and bustle of our modern age.

“Do this is remembrance of Me.”

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com

WHAT WILL THE RESURRECTION BE LIKE?

      "She was standing not five feet from me, smiling, and then she was gone," the old man said through watery eyes. "She collapsed and I don't think she took another breath. Married all those years and now she's not here. It just doesn't seem possible." 

       People often speak glibly of wanting to die quickly, with no suffering or lingering, here one moment and gone the next. That may be what we'd like, but we probably won't have a choice in the matter, at least not a God-pleasing one. Job was willing to take what the Lord gave him. ”The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)

      I sometimes wonder what my death will be like. Will I know I’ve died or will it be like sleep, awake one moment, then suddenly awake in another? Will I be awake after death, or will I experience some kind of "soul sleep"? Will I see things happening or will there be nothing? 

      Some nights I don't sleep well, lying there thinking of what happened that day or what's to come tomorrow. Someone said before sleep we shouldn't think of anything but that's hard to do. An over-the-counter sleep aid may knock us out awhile, but then we wake up again, surprised we've been unconscious. 

      I’m working on a Bible Study of Ecclesiastes and calling it The Skeptical Disciple. Chapter 7:1 says, “A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death better than the day of birth.” The Preacher has had it all in life and looking back has decided it’s better to die to be with the Lord than to struggle getting and spending and never answering all his questions. 

      Death for the Christian, I think, is like being asleep, then being awake again, all in an instant. Waiting for the end can be a struggle, like the weary old fellow who wants to go but knows it's not his time yet. Sleeplessly he prays for it and tries to imagine what his leaving will be like. Then suddenly he's awake in the resurrection with its new heaven and new earth! He's back and didn't even know he’s been gone. 

      And now he has no questions, for He has been with God and that’s all he’s wanted all along. Being with God is good enough - in fact, it’s been the absolute best of all. When my time comes I pray I will be ready with faith in my Lord and Savior. I pray you will be ready, too.

He is risen, and so also are we!

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com

CHRIST IS ALIVE!

        On February 17, 1977, candy heiress Helen Brach stepped off the plane at O’Hare Airport and disappeared into a crowd without a trace. Ever since that day her disappearance has mystified police and investigators alike. In 1984 she was declared dead, and years later when her parents and husband died and were buried at Unionport, Ohio, the family monument included her name. But her grave was empty.

        While convinced she was murdered, investigators haven’t been able to determine how or why she died, because they have never found her body. Police have speculated about what happened and even got a judge to declare someone responsible for her disappearance. But without her corpse, her murder is unsolved. 

        Easter is the story of an empty grave. However, unlike the Helen Brach case, the issue of Jesus isn’t that He disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, He was seen, alive at His trial, then He was seen brutally beaten, murdered and buried in a grave. Most importantly, He was also seen alive again in a healed and whole body, not by only a few people, but by dozens, even hundreds in the weeks following His crucifixion. 

        The Easter story is not about a body missing from a grave. It’s about a dead body coming to life again, walking around, talking, eating, touching people and urging them to trust in Him. The empty grave together with the living, healed body of Jesus are real proofs of the Resurrection. 

        The Resurrection is the center point of the Christian faith. Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without a final chapter, it is no Christianity at all.

        Easter is the miracle of all miracles. Skeptics may say there is not enough evidence to believe He lived again, but Christians believe the case is closed. Jesus came to life again because He is the Promised Savior. Furthermore, He still lives today, and as the Son of God and our Savior, He lives forever. And so shall we!

Happy Easter!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! 

Rev. Bob Tasler

www.bobtasler.com

THE CASE FOR CHRIST

       In yesterday’s Gospel for Palm Sunday, Matthew 21:10-11 tells us, “When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” The Jerusalem church leaders were skeptical about Jesus, and most were certain He was a fraud. Millions of people still think He is, despite the depth of the Biblical witness. But any person who wants to follow the truth will discover Jesus is Who He says He is: “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

      This past weekend Carol and I saw the movie premier of “The Case For Christ,” produced by Lee Strobel, best-selling author and former investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune. This true story chronicles Strobel’s personal journey from atheism to faith, triggered by his wife’s conversion to Christianity after a Christian nurse helps them through a near-tragedy. 

      The movie is well written, realistically acted and moves along at a good pace. Gratefully, it doesn’t have a syrupy ending as do many Christian movies. It just presents Strobel’s personal journey from unbelief to faith in Jesus, and lets the Holy Spirit do His work with the audience.

      For those who have wondered about the basis for the truth of Christianity, Strobel’s books are very helpful. His most popular works, The Case For Christ, The Case For Faith, and The Case For a Creator, are thorough and interesting, based on interviews with experts in their field. 

      Strobel is now an ordained clergyman who knows his stuff and how to explain it. While I don’t mean for this WEEKLY MESSAGE to be a movie review, I do give “The Case For Christ” two thumbs up. Go see it; I think you’ll be glad you did. It’s great to see how a skeptic discovers the truth of Jesus being our Messiah.

May the Holy Spirit move faith in the hearts of all who read his words.

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com

"OCOTILLO JESUS" LIVES

        My Arizona cactus garden contains two dozen or more odd plants, and none is odder than the ocotillo (oh-koh-TEE-yoh). Where most varieties have verdant green pads or barrel heads or arms growing skyward, the ocotillo is an ugly bunch of sticks mostly barren of foliage and vicious to touch. 

        Like most cacti, ocotillo can be started by planting a piece in the ground. Soon it makes its own roots and grows a few inches each season. A year ago I planted a two foot ocotillo stick on the edge of my garden and when I returned in six months it had grown an inch and had small green round leaves. 

        But soon those leaves dried up, fell off and it looked dead all winter. Then a slow all-night rain brought it back to life. Within days new tiny green round leaves began to adorn its thorny branch again. Soon it’ll have a glob of red-orange flowers on the tip which will add another inch or two to its length. Maybe in a year another ugly branch will be added and all will lose their leaves as the plant “dies” again until the next rain.

        Only rain water can make it come back to life. The lowly ocotillo needs nutrients from the air in the heavens to make it leaf and blossom. It will never look fresh like the prickly pear or stately like the organ pipe, but its flowers are as lovely as the fuscia, yellow and gold of ground cacti or the deep red and pure white of the night bloomers. Its spiny crooked sticks are among the ugliest in nature, but it lives and blooms by the grace of God.

        It’s somewhat like our Lord Jesus. He was an oddity, living a short life, confounding those who heard Him. His spiny comments aggravated the authorities, and His miracles dazzled the meek and poor as He told them He was the Living Water of God on earth. 

        Isaiah 53:2 tells us, “He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” 

        Like a stick planted into the earth, Jesus bloomed awhile, dried up and died, then came back to life in glory everlasting. Because Jesus is Lord over all creation, all who trust in Him also shall rise, forever to be with Him in glory indescribable and words inexpressible. 

“Ocotillo Jesus” lives forever.

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com