It was a day of rejoicing.  A day of proclaiming Jesus’ victory over Satan, sin, and death.  A day of innumerable “He is risen / He is risen indeed!” exchanges with “Marco?  Polo!” precision.

You know, all the things that we appropriately do on Easter to give praise, honor, and glory to our amazing God and risen Savior.

It’s Tuesday.  Now what?

We read that after Jesus’ death, the disciples hid at first, then waited for the Holy Spirit to come as Jesus told them to.  Hopefully you are not in hiding today and we receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Christ as Savior…no waiting.

So, now what?

Well, similar to the catch phrase of a certain fruit-named company:

“There’s a verse for that!”

Actually there are many verses…but here are few that come to mind:

“…God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.” Romans 12:1 [MSG]

“Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.” Colossians 3:17 [The Message]

“Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.” 2 Timothy 2:15 [MSG]

“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Hebrews 13:15 [ESV]

Just to clear up any confusion we might have:

[Jesus] gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. Titus 2:14 (NLT)

Ummm, and just to bring this home for you and me:

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:17 (NLT)

So, CHRIST IS RISEN!  Now what?

LET’S WORSHIP!

READY.  SET.  GO!

Sure, as Christ Followers we’d never say that out loud; but we think it and often act and even live like it.  We know the passages in the Bible that talk about every part [or person] of the “body” [or church] being important; but we often equate ourselves as the “pinky toe” – you know…necessary, but usually not seen (except in season).

I read a verse today that reminded me that, in addition to the “professionals”, it’s regular folk that make a difference or have “impact” for God – in some cases even greater than the pros.

Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

Romans 16:23

Here, at the end of his letter to the churches in Rome, Paul mentions a bunch of specific people to greet and also lists people who send their greetings.  For whatever reason, Erastus’ job is listed instead of simply calling him a fellow worker, friend, or brother.

Honestly, when I first read this, I thought Eratsus was the sewer coordinator for Corinth; but a check of the Greek shows that he was the city treasurer.  At any rate, dude was not a church “professional” as we usually categorize people.

Anyway, Erastus’ job title just struck me and reminded me that we all are important and contributing parts of the body of Christ.

REMEMBER: It’s not just for the “Professionals”

- Dennis…just a regular, old, security [φύλακα] dude.

Right now, right where you are…

Sitting under a plastic tarp…

A terrible downpour…

You’re wet.  Your family is wet…

The little that you have is wet…

…and that tarp is your shelter for the next few months.

That is the shelter that is proposed until May 1st for about 250,000 Haitians.  I don’t know about you, but that just seems wrong.

From an MSNBC article:

Haiti’s homeless get tarps, want tents
Aid agencies tell quake refugees they’ll need to get by with plastic sheets

…

Instead the officials are mobilizing a plan they call the “shelter surge:”

- By May 1, one plastic tarp will be given to each of about 250,000 displaced families.
- Transitional shelters of 194 square feet, with corrugated iron roofs, will then be built.
- Shelters will have earthquake- and storm-resistant frames of timber or steel and are supposed to last for three years.

…

[Further details on this YouTube video.]

I’m sure there may be a logistic rationale for this, in reading several other articles, the general consensus of relief organizations is that tents take up too much room, but still – a tarp for someone who lost everything they owned?  And for upwards of three to four months?

It blows my mind…I’m sure it does yours as well.

Tents are needed – good quality, waterproof tents.

There are many non-governmental organizations working to address this need, but one that I’d encourage you to support is aHomeInHaiti.org, organized by Atlanta pastor Shaun King [featured in a Huffington Post article Tuesday].

From the aHomeInHaiti.org site, you can purchase approved, waterproof tents ranging from $55 to $800 directly from Amazon.com, have them shipped to Pastor King’s church in Atlanta, and ultimately shipped to teams he is working with in Haiti.  You can also donate cash via  the site/PayPal.

A tarp for shelter for the next few months?  It’s just wrong!

DO IT!

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly;  defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Proverbs 31:8-9

“… Christ [sent me] to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

1 Corinthians1:17 (NIV)

[Holy Spirit, to Dennis]

Whatever you do or say in the name of Jesus, make sure it’s not based on YOUR words or experiences alone.  They are powerless without pointing to the sacrifice and grace of Jesus.  That’s where life-changing power lies.

x

…Am I the only one challenged or convicted by this?  How about you?

The event started with a mini-concert and introduction by United – broadcast from Australia. It set the stage for and explained the documentary, which tells stories of justice, compassion, and mercy around the globe – all filmed over the past three years during their concert tour.

Apart from the 30-minute intro, the movie ran about two hours (a little long and sometimes bumpy in the message, but it needed to be). The film was divided into three distinct parts:

1. Stories of injustice, loss, neglect, poverty, – the harsh and terrible realities of life across the globe…the realities that we don’t know about or often choose to ignore.
2. The Hope amidst those realities found solely in Jesus.
3. A call to those who follow Jesus to have a heart like Him, consider #2, and (because of it) take action on #1.

It was a profound film. So much hurt and hopelessness in the world…and we too often turn a blind eye to it.  I (and many around me) couldn’t help shedding tears at given moments during the film.  It is a profound message.

There were so many “amen” moments and phrases.  I found a few of them on Twitter to share:

• Loneliness is the worst form of poverty.
• If what happens inside the four walls of the church doesn’t make a difference in the streets that people travel to get there, then maybe we are missing the point.
• We’ve trained ourselves to look past need.  Injustice and indifference go hand in hand.
• Jesus didn’t die to give us religion, He died to give us love.
• Preaching does not come from the pulpit, it comes from the people of God living their lives out for Him -Brother Andrew
• There’s a dangerous division between sacred and secular… There’s nothing secular, everything belongs to God.
• The church exists for those outside of it. -William Tyndale
• Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, ‘I did not know.’ -William Wilberforce (regarding the English slave trade in the 1800s)
• “Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something”
• You think that all the preaching must come from the pulpit. It’s not true. It comes from the life of those who follow Jesus.
• For too long the church has made a big deal out of small things and a small deal about big things!
• Talk is cheap, put feet to your vision.
• The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
• The future will be written by the way we respond to moment that’s in front of us.

Driving back to my hotel, my mind was reeling – information overload, conviction of my own apathy, and thoughts of how I can make changes in my own life to “do something.”  (OK – my mind is still reeling)

God has really been working on my heart in this area lately and I needed to see this movie.  I pray that my heart is changed, last night wasn’t a wasted moment, that I would be part of the solution.

Will you be part too?

(If you didn’t get to see the film, I’m sure it will be out on DVD at some point.  I HIGHLY recommend it.)