The Deity of Christ

Mark 1:21-28

Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Some say that he is a human being, who came with three offices: prophet, priest, and king. They speak of him as teacher, savior, and ruler of the universe. What do you say of Jesus?

Jesus is the primary figure in Christian evangelism. He is the source of our communicating from one searcher to another where to find the answer. Persons coming to know him as Savior hunger for the manna of his teachings. In this sense, Jesus is the Biblical personality that becomes central to our understanding of God. He is not the current existential experience of God, but the primary source for our understanding the experience of God in our existence, here and now, and in the anticipation of abundant life beyond this space in time.

How can you tell if you know Jesus of Nazareth? Answering the following questions will give you a measure of your understanding of Jesus Christ.

1. Have you studied the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments? If you have not studied the entire Bible, you probably need to learn more before you can really know Jesus of Nazareth.
2. When was the last time you read through the Bible in accordance with suggested Scriptural readings? If more than two years, you may need more structured daily reading of the Bible.
3. Is Jesus Christ at the center of your life or does your life center around other matters? If you are not centered on Christ, get to know our Lord.
4. Have you been baptized into the Christian faith or reaffirmed your baptism within the last two years? Baptism is a means of grace to experience God.
5. What is the most glorious event to happen in your life? Salvation is to be found in the sacrificial life of Jesus.

One means of grace in getting to know Jesus of Nazareth is to confront the understanding of him through the Bible. However, it is not the only means of grace. In the Wesleyan tradition, the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion are means of grace for the encounter of our Lord through the acts consecrated by Jesus. He was baptized in the Jordan River by John. He instituted the Lord's Supper during his last supper with the apostles in the Upper Room.

Mark provides for us a look into the prophetic role of Jesus of Nazareth, who came to teach with the authority beyond the ability of the scribes. We may never be able to recapture the actual meaning of the original message from Mark. It has so many interpretations. There is one truth that can be assured from it, which is found in knowing Jesus by any means - Jesus has life transforming teachings. I have come to appreciate the deity of Christ by way of the teachings of Jesus. Only God can so teach an unlearned like me. He rules!

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, teach and guide me! Amen.

Divine Silence

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

A time of stillness is to be treasured. During such time, we may hear more than we are heard. In Jonah we are given a message indicating that the word of the Lord came to him a second time, which instructed him to stop what he was during and get up to go to Nineveh, a great city, and proclaim the word of the Lord. Jonah walked miles in a day to get to the city, and entered crying out that in 40 days the city would be overthrown. However, the people of the city responded in belief by fasting and wearing sackcloth . . . God heard them in their acts of repentance and changed his mind about the destruction and did not cause harm to them. The people of Nineveh, a great city, were not so busy or so loud as not to hear the word of God from one, who traveled from miles away to bring the message from God.

In 2004, I traveled a days' journey by car from New York City to South Carolina. It was my first return to teach at Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, South Carolina after I had moved on December 1, 2003 from Greenville, SC to Harlem, NY. In the classroom there was no television or radio. We did not have a guest artist or professional entertainer. No one carried on conversation to disrupt the process of teaching. In fact, before any word was given on the subject matter for the theological students, I wanted us to hear a word from God. I had prepared to teach, but I was not prepared to precede God, so I requested silence. I did not ask for silent prayer, but silence. It was to be a time of just listening. We heard the wind outside, cars passing by, students beyond the doors talking, and even the whistling of another professor. Not one person reported hearing God, so we went into silent prayer.

The difference was in a time of silence, I did not ask for a focus on God. Just asked everyone to be in silence, and after a period of time speak to what they heard during the time of silence. However, reflecting on the time of silent prayer, everyone had something to say about speaking to God or what they heard from the Lord during their time of praying in silence. That day "divine silence" was born in my mind and soaked my soul. Divine silence is time spent listening to God, but more than hearing it is a time to be heard. A time of clarity of mind, moments of open heart, and soul searching before coming out with critical reflection - theology.

Let's tell God what we have heard and believe by the way we live. It is through our relationship with the Divine that our actions for the coming days, weeks, and months are to be developed. Having heard the word of God, turn to God in doing, speaking, and living. Someone once said: "Actions speak louder than words." May the acts of our lives speak the power of the divine silence that guides our living. Pray with me in the still of the night.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, be reflected in the living of our being, so the change in our cities reflect the forgiveness of God. Amen.

The Abundant Life

Read John 11: 21-27 and Romans 6: 1-13.



I have come that they may have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)



The abundant life is a spiritual witness to the love of God. It is not determined by human circumstance. It is directed by the Holy Spirit. In order to live the abundant life, one must believe that Jesus is the Christ. While some may argue that there is more than one way to obtain eternal life, I confess that I only know one way...Jesus! According to John 3:15, Jesus states that whosoever believes in Him "shall not perish but have eternal life."



Abundant life is more than victory over physical death. It is living victoriously over human conditions: poverty, illnesses, death, etc. In our current daily deportment, Christians walk by faith, not by sight. Therefore, our situations, though difficult at times, cannot defeat us because we believe God is always bringing us through.



We encouraged our children to live the abundant life. Ciona is the youngest of my biological children. The lady is a theologian, who never attended seminary. Her street life was limited to giving out bread to the homeless with Lanecia, her older sister, and myself on the streets of Greenville, SC. However, I would not label it "street theology." Akin to the radical theology of love highlighted in the living of Martin Luther King, Jr, I call Ciona a theologian of the heart.


At the age of six years, she wanted to have a ministry to persons with HIV/AIDS; she challenged me as to why I was not a pastor in a church with Blacks and Whites (all God's people); and she vowed to give all beyond her needs to the poor. Tears pouring from her face at the age of 29 years, she still calls for her cognitive processing father to remember the emotions of the heart. "People," she says, "should be respected for what they feel. There is no place for discounting and devaluing the emotions felt in children. Parents need to awaken to thinking about what it may feel like to tell a child you do not care about their feelings. God is not telling us to 'just get over it'. God cares too much to say place your mind over your heart and get on with it. God offers us grace to merge the feelings of the heart with the wisdom of the mind, so that we keep the faith while hoping in the future good. It is with this faith that we work on through the tears with our eyes on the prize."

I confess, in my mind, I only know Jesus as the way, the truth, and the light. However, in my heart, I want to be like Jesus. I want to live life in such abundance that I give as the Good Samaritan or the woman at the well or Peter and Paul, or Muhummad Ali or Malcolm X or Alex English, etc. I want to give as Jesus gave, my life for the life of all. My mind says, "hell no", but my heart transforms my mind into a heavenly chorus that sings: "Lord, I want to be like Jesus, in my heart." Medger Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr, James Chaney, and many more gave their lives for us. "Lord, I want to be like Jesus, in my heart." Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Al Sharpton, President Barack H. Obama, and more place their lives on the line for us. Lord, I want to be like Ciona, who is filled with a heart of abundant love, like Jesus. Let me give abundantly.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, help me to live the abundant life through abundant love. Amen.

Where Shall We Begin...

Read: Matthew 2:1-12; and Acts 17:23
"THE UNKNOWN GOD"

We begin 2009 with an understanding of God. God is viewed in the tri-personal nature. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the three distinctive persons of our God. The only God, who is above all and in all, is with us. Emmanuel!

We speak of the invisible Godhead as the Father. God in the real sense has not been seen by human eyes. The only exceptions has been declared in the Son, Jesus, our Lord, who is spoken of in John 1:18 as having been in the bosom of the Father.

Jesus is viewed as the Son of God, and is in all the fullness of the Father manifested in the flesh. Many have come to understand by faith what we have been centuries removed from as human beings. However, the Holy Scriptures give witness through followers of the teachings of Jesus that the Son was the existence of God in humanity. Jesus was human, yet divine.

The Holy Spirit is the realization of God acting upon believers, and convicting us of sin while guiding the believer into all truth. So today, we shall begin with the reception of the Holy Spirit - God.

The doctrine of the Trinity is revealed in the New Testament. The current desire is for the members and friends of Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church in Harlem, New York to engage in the study of the Trinity. Through this study it is hoped that each person will experience God.

What a powerful year this shall be. In the beginning, we experience the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the end, our experience of God sustains us.

Come, experience God with us!

Agape!