140 Years of Jesus in Idaho Falls

  Can we identify God’s acts of judgment today or in recent history? (Part 1 of 3) Scripture reveals many ways in which Jesus is at work in our world, ways that we can identify Him, and through “seeing” Him, praise Him, work with Him, and make Him known to others. Clearest of these ways are things He said He would do, and these have been discussed in my previous blogs.   But are there other whole categories of ways that it is possible to see Jesus at work around us? One of these categories I want to consider in this blog is His acts of judgment. This will not be a review of all of what Scripture says about God’s acts of judgment.   In communion we remember and celebrate the judgment of the cross.   We rejoice that the ruler of this world has been judged (John 16:8) and that when Jesus died and rose “judgment (was) now upon this world and now the ruler of this world (was) cast out.” (John 12:31).   I will not discuss any of the many passages that speak of God...

  Seeing Jesus in circumstances And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.   Romans 8:28 We have an abundance of insight into God’s will as revealed in His word.  We also know that while we can walk in the light in fellowship with Jesus, and have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son, we daily deal with the evil in our culture and our hearts, the forces of the world which seek to turn us away from God and a host of unseen powers that oppose God’s kingdom, making us blind to it, deaf to His voice and confused concerning His will.   While Scripture has clear statements of how Jesus is at work, there are more subtle ways that we can also identify His activity.  One of these ways is seeing circumstances come together in ways which accord with His will, that seem extremely unlikely without His involvement, and that result i...

Jesus Gives A bundant Life Another way that Jesus is at work is giving His followers life. John 10:28 tells us that Jesus gives (present tense) life.   A few versus earlier (10:10) Jesus said that His mission on earth was to provide life to those who follow Him.   He described that life as abundant; the Greek word can also be rendered superabundant, superior, uncommon or excessive.   Combining this with John 14:6 helps us understand that the life that Jesus gives is Himself.   Combining this with Jesus' conversation with Nicodemis recorded in John 3 tells us that this life is a new life. As English speakers, we can easily be confused when we read about life in Scripture.  New Testament Greek has three words that are all translated “life” in English.  The three words are bios , psuche and zoe .  We understand bios because we use words like “biology,” “biochemistry,” “biodiversity” and “biography.”  We have preserved psuche in our English l...

What does Scripture say that Jesus is doing that we can see or discern and praise Him for? [with comments, part 1] 1. Jesus acts in response to prayers of the saints John 14:13-14              Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. I John 5:14-15             This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.   Comments   John 14:13-14 is clear and definitive.   The context is Jesus’ conversation with the disciples the night before He was arrested and crucified.   Jesus is instructing His disciples, revealing how they are to continue in their relationship with Him after He is n...

  A Scriptural Basis for “Jesus in Idaho Falls” (short version) When Jewish leaders questioned Jesus why He was doing what they considered “work” on the Sabbath, He responded, " My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working .” (John 5:17) and added, “ I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does .” (John 5:19) These verses can help us interpret Hebrews 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus …. If Jesus “saw” in real time what the Father was doing and based His own actions on it, and even limited what He did to what He saw the Father doing, should not believers in Jesus be looking to see what He is doing on earth?  That is not to exclude of course, looking to Jesus as High Priest, worshiping Him who was raised above every authority and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. And it doesn’t exclude studying His word and His works when He was on ea...

Statements 1882 - Jesus sent a 48-year old divorced woman with a 13-year old daughter to the bleak desert town of Eagle Rock to pray, share the gospel with every person in the community, organize and raise funds to build the first church building, organize and teach a Sunday school, start the first school and the first library, and work for justice and morality in the community.  1883 - Jesus expanded His church in Idaho Falls through the organization of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church.   1884 - Jesus provided a place for His people to meet through the completion of the first church building in Idaho Falls.  1885 - Jesus continued to instruct the youth of the city through the opening of the Eagle Rock Academy, led by the pastor of First Baptist Church, who wrote to the people of Eagle Rock, “I have come to Eagle Rock to give my time, my talent and my energies to the advancement of the religious and educational interest of the town and county.”  1886 - J...