All posts by Richard Harrell

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About Richard Harrell

Connecting life, art, and the power of story in ways that change my world. I am a disciple-maker and lover of Jesus living in a small town in Georgia. I am also on a spiritual journey, looking for points in life that point me to new and full life in Christ Jesus.

Too Many Santas, Too Much Brussel Sprouts

Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , , ,

Stats say that the King’s Cross/St Pancras Tube Station is London’s busiest place, making it one of the busiest in the world. It’s also the location of Potter-world’s Platform 9 3/4 (King’s Cross and the point to travel by train to continental Europe (St. Pancras.)

It was also the location of the largest gathering of Santa Clauses I’ve ever seen. Thousands of them. All sizes, shapes, ages, gender, and quality-of-gear. They were easy to identify. We were the odd-people-out.

Think: red-and-white, jingle-bell rave.

While serving in missions in Europe, I invited my daughter Rachael to spend a week in London with her dad. She’s an art-nut and museums were the order of the week (along with two-a-day fish and chips.) As we walked out of the station, we landed in the middle of brussel-sprout-eating, beer drinking Santa Clauses. They were there on purpose, with a mission, and in it together.

As Christ-followers, we certainly don’t dress alike or eat the same food. But this visual reminds me that we identify together with other Jesus-lovers. When you or I meet a Christian, no matter the language, nationality, race, gender, etc., we are in it together. There is community.

We are on a mission to represent King Jesus – the only one who restores us to a full understanding of what it means humanly to be His creation, the only one who has accomplished what we need to be redeemed.

And our purpose is to invite the values of the Kingdom into our lives and into the lives of the people and the circumstances we connect with today. We long together to see people genuinely loved (not based on a good or bad dichotomy; but because people are worthy of our love and respect.) And we have hope to give through our words, actions, and prayer.

That ever-growing crowd of Santas who were on mission, with a purpose, and with an identity, showed up for a raved at King’s Cross Station. They threw a party.

Renovation Vineyard has our next rave planned. We are baptizing in the ocean on Sunday evening, June 27th. Cake and ice cream at Andy and Cindy Grigg’s place in Cherry Grove at 5pm; then a two-block walk or drive to the 55th Ave. Beach Access for baptisms. If you want to join the party, let me know!

And we already have our next party planned – it’s a worship-rave. It’s Sunday morning at 9:45.

Study Notes for John 15:1-17

John's Gospel - Study Notes, Pastor Rick's Study Notes, , ,

Teaching Notes on John 15:1-17

Jesus talked a lot about gardens and farming and plants. Vineyards, olive vines, trees growing from tiny seeds, fig trees all are a part of his Kingdom teaching.

v. 1 Jewish hearers would recognize this visual from the OT. God took Israel like a vine and planted it in the promised land, and it filled up the land. But because God’s gracious protection was removed through their disobedience, this vine lost its vitality and invaders had destroyed. Jesus is the true and perfect vine that we can become a part of. Jesus may have just instituted the first Wine and Loaf supper; the vine would be appropriate to follow this.

The tender or farmer is also the owner. This is really important. The gardener is not a paid worker but the one who owns the land and planted the vine. It’s his full interest that the vine bears much fruit.

Answered Prayer is connected to fruitfulness

v. 2 The branches of the vine grafted into the True Vine will be pruned and cut off. He snaps off what will not produce fruit – could be referring to Judas?

v. 3 Cleansing by the logos, the message, the Gospel of the Kingdom. But the pruning and trimming will be painful.

v. 4 Remain in Christ, remain in relationship with Jesus and it follows that Christ will remain in us. The assumed is that we can reject or remove ourselves from that vital relationship. We can choose a “by ourselves” lifestyle, or we can choose to remain in Him.  Fruitfulness requires connection to the Real Vine.

v.5 We are the branches. We don’t bear fruit if we aren’t remaining connected. In fact, our spiritual lives depend on the connection to Jesus. Eph. 2:12 reminds us what we were when we were separated from his life. We were dead in sin.

v. 6 Jesus is speaking during the early Spring. This is the time of pruning, much leaves, no fruit, and the farmer is preparing the vines for a great harvest.

Illustration: Italy and the vines.

Choice is ours to remain in Christ, believe He is Lord, submit to Him as leader; or unplug and be destroyed.

v. 7 Ask whatsoever (you will is understood but not in the original). It should glorify God. It should have Jesus stamped over it. It flows from remaining in the Vine. And it leads to much more fruitfulness. 14:13, 16:23 Jesus repeats this promise. It is a promise that is conditional to our choices. We might choose to ask for something, but if we have not chosen to remain in Him in an intimate life-giving connection, if we aren’t asking that God be glorified, etc., then we might ask amiss.

v. 8 The much fruit here is tied into the ask, the granted answers, God getting glory, and becoming more and more His followers.

v. 9 The Father has loved the Son (aorist, completely, perfectly), the Son has loved me the same way (completely, perfectly) – it goes without saying I will continue, abide, steadily walk in the Son. Our love is grounded in Jesus’ practical act of love for us, but also deeply rooted in the bottom of the father’s heart of love for the world.

v. 10-11 Connects joy as a fruit in our lives to the consistency of our humility and obedience. When we love unconditionally, we are living the value of the Kingdom and the verb is future, we will continue to live in these values (imagine what life would be like without light, love, mercy, truth, peace, etc. – all these are removed when the Kingdom is ignored.) His joy in us; not the joy we can muster up or activate by “feeling good.” It is his joy inside – Spiritual fruit – and it is both full and eternal.

v. 12 When we love we lived like Jesus. The verb here is “keep on loving one another” – endure in love, persist in love. When we humbly trust and follow God, we are showing Him love. Just the day before, Mt. 22 Love God. Love people.

Illustration: Serve your wife to love her. Listen to your wife to love her. Respect your husband to love him. Stand in his corner and cheer for him to love him.

v. 13 -17 Expands on and defines “Love others as I have loved you.” This is obedience. This is real love. And this is the process of bearing much more fruit – that lasts. 10:11 the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. If you keep on obeying what Jesus says…

v. 15 When Jesus says the word friends, he thinks of you and me – His friends. Friend and servant aren’t mutually exclusive. He is unveiling truth and Himself more and more. As Jesus unveils who he is experientially to us as we “keep on remaining”, we discover that the two are entwined. I am Jesus’ friend and servant.

v. 16-17 He chose me, you. He chose me to be one of the Redeemed, the Restored. He appointed me, you. He gave me a purpose, a calling, an adventure, something to accomplish – and that leads to going, moving, stepping into that purpose and bearing fruit that lasts. That’s the fruit that springs out of our relationships into other’s lives to God’s glory. And it flows out of living a life of love and purpose.

It’s “keep on going” “keep on bearing fruit” along with “keep on remaining.

Study Notes on Amos 9:11-15

Pastor Rick's Study Notes, Study Notes - Old Testament,

If you’ve joined me in my recent Study Notes section, my goal is to help you take each Sunday’s message a bit deeper. I never have time enough to share all I learn in the study. I’ll visit commentaries, word study tools, biblical background texts, languages, and several translations in preparation each week. These are my notes:

Study Notes on Amos 9:11-15

vv. 11-12 – The Greek translation of this passage echoes Acts 15:16-17. While this is written in Hebrew, the OT Greek version says this: …from the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory, so that the rest of humanity including the Gentiles, all those I’ve called to be mine might seek me.

James quoted 11-12 in Acts when Paul and others stood before him Acts. 15

v. 11 “house” is literally “tent” or tabernacle; but in context of David, it can mean Kingdom.

Amos was one of 12 minor prophets. He, in fact, claimed to be “neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet.” He was a shepherd and a worked with fruit-bearing trees.

Most timelines of the 16 different prophets who make up the prophetic books of the OT have Amos as the first who spoke to the divided nation of Israel and Judah. He was unique and his book is the first of its kind.

Before Amos, there were “prophetic schools” of individual prophets for hire. He made it clear he was not of this. And when he got the call to prophesy, he went to the center of idolatry that Israel had set up in Bethel in place of the covenant worship of the Lord God. “It’s all coming down” he said. If you turn back and worship me, you’ll bring it down. If you don’t, watch how I bring it down. His message was so clear and powerful that the chief priest in Bethel sent word to the King that his words were too many for their land. And he sent Amos away. Amos wasn’t done yet.

He was an enigma. He grew up in Judah but went to Israel to prophesy. He declared himself not a prophet, but God called him to prophesy. He kept sheep but he worked with fruit trees. He was extraordinary in his quotability:

“prepare to meet your God.”

“let justice roll down like a river, and righteousness like a stream”

“I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet.”

Amos was the first of these prophets. For Him, The Lord God was ruler over all. He was not provincial and only ruled over the bit of land called Israel and Judah. He was Lord of all. There is no God but the Lord God. His both The Lord who is Near and The Lord God of the Angel Armies.

His purpose in writing and speaking this prophecy is:

  • To reveal God’s mercy to His people
    • God is their intimate deliverer who has come near – and they have ignored His nearness. He has not moved and He calls his people back from the edge where they’ve gone too far.
  • To bring warning and a call to repent and reengage with God’s covenant
    • He speaks, gives nudges, show signs, and uses those who hear from God to bring God’s people back from the edge of forgetting His covenant.

3Can two people walk together

without agreeing on the direction?

4Does a lion ever roar in a thicket

without first finding a victim?

Does a young lion growl in its den

without first catching its prey?

5Does a bird ever get caught in a trap

that has no bait?

Does a trap spring shut

when there’s nothing to catch?

6When the ram’s horn blows a warning,

shouldn’t the people be alarmed?

Does disaster come to a city

unless the Lord has planned it?

7Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything

until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.

And at the edge of completely leaving the covenant God, Amos says that they will experience a famine and a drought, not for food but for the Word of God, not a thirst for water but a quenching from God’s truth. They will run from border to border, from sea to sea, looking for His Word. And they will not find it.

  • To challenge the leaders and the people to reflect God’s right ways and His kindness to those who are beaten down and disenfranchised.
    • He spoke out against human trafficking.
    • Against the abuse and manipulation of those less powerful.
    • Against dishonesty and
    • They have forgotten how to do right.
    • They had chosen to trust in the prosperity and the military, but not in the covenant with their God who rescues.

And unless they turn from evil and turn back to the covenant, the repercussion of their sin will be their end. No matter where they run from destruction, it will find them.

  • To declare God’s plan for restoration to His people.

5:4 – “Come back to me and live.” I know the vast number of your sins and the depths of your rebellion. Come back to me and live.

On that terrible day of destruction, when it is darkest, when hope runs thin, God’s plan for restoration becomes a reality. And that brings us to our passage.

He spoke to both Israel and Judah and called the people of God away from superficial religion to a real relationship with the Lord God. No leaves would do; he wanted fruit.

Fig trees found their way into vineyards. The fig has more seeds in its fruit than any other fruit Potential.

Workers with sycamore fig trees knew that the fig ripens faster if bruised while on the tree. The bruising makes the fig sweeter.

Juxtapose Amos with the Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree.

He preached in a time when both nations had stable political and economic infrastructures. Jereboam was king in Israel; Uzziah was king in Judah.

The problems were: 1) prosperity had blinded eyes to the needs of the poor and hurting, 2) political security had replaced their dependence on the Lord’s security, 3) a relax view of the covenant had redefined what obedience and faith was.

Religion was divorced from the compassionate character of God; worship was void of relationship and covenant.

Amos and Amaziah the priest square off 7:1.

Justice like water; righteousness like a flood – 5:24

Fruitful life maintains nearness to covenant, dependence on God’s provision, and compassion toward those in need.

With Him

Day At A Time God-stories

My friend is a bookbinder. We lived across our village from Georgio and his family. I met him at our Fratelli (that means brethren) Church; but, he knew everyone and I would have met him eventually, even if he didn’t show up at our men’s Bible study. Georgio is truly one-of-a-kind.

The first time he invited me into his basement shop, I was spellbound by the smells, the multicolored and textured leathers, the different stages each project had reached at his hand, and the finished product. A book easily discarded or shoved away from use or view, was now both useful and a work of art.

I visited him in his basement shop on the rocky ledge overhang of the Angrogna River in our village when I could. But not often enough. Because if I spent time with him, I could have learned to bind books. That’s how you become a bookbinder. Spend time with a bookbinder.

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus called disciples to join him on a mountainside; and he called them to “be with him.” Read Mark 3:13-19 and, as you read each verse, think through the who, what, when, where, and how of this passage. Consider how important it is that they were “with him.” They spent time with Jesus and he invested his life in them.

How important is your choice of people to hang out with, or for that matter, who’s art, writing, movies, music, and lyrics you will “be with?”

And for the Jesus-followers, how valuable is your time invested in one other person’s life. Time spent praying, encouraging, studying, being real and honest – in one person’s life at a time. Just being with him or with her. That is the call of the disciple-maker.

Each person is valuable and, though we get beat up and scarred, and our days (read: “pages”) don’t always hold together well, people are worth the investment. We disciple when we work with one person and bring them back to life, with a purpose, and for the beauty of how God has made that person. The work of art can then reflect and give applause to the Creator. That’s the goal of discipleship.

I might be a bookbinder right now if, in my friendship with Georgio, I was “with him” more and with a goal to learn and grow into a bookbinder. And I would have enjoyed a deeper friendship with a great guy who, last time I visited, has become quite the Christ-follower. He found out more about Jesus and what happens with we are “with him.”

Study Notes for Esther 4:13-17

Pastor Rick's Study Notes, Study Notes - Old Testament

Esther’s response is Seek God, Count the Cost, Act.

  • Pray and Fast – brokenness, longing for God’s Kingdom to come, tenacious in prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 parallel.
  • Know that we may die Illustration: Wimber and call for martyrs.
  • Step into the moment

God, the Lord, Israel’s land, the Temple the Exile – none are mentioned in the whole of Esther.

Haman represented the enemy’s persistent attempt to end Israel’s existence. His heritage was Amalekite. And this tribe of Canaanites was consistently at war with the Jews. That’s why Mordecai wouldn’t bow to Haman. That’s why Haman wanted to kill every Jew.

Judges 2 reminds us that, if a people of faith are not careful, the next generation will grow up “who knew neither the Lord God nor what He has done for his people.”

Mordecai grieved, not for himself, but for His people. We grieve when the people of God suffer.

vv. 5-7 Mordecai was sent clothing to change into and pause the mourning – by Esther the queen. And he refused. She then sent a trusted counselor to find out what troubled him. The Hebrew says, “what this, and why this.” That’s the drive of those who look to the needs of the world. What is going on? What is happening?

Mordecai turns it back around to Esther – this is what, this is why, and how can you make a difference!

The king didn’t allow mourning or sadness in his presence; the Father welcomes the hurting. Juxtapose the Persian monarch with the Father in heaven.

Missional status and calling.

The understanding is Perhaps your position in the Kingdom, what God has provided, is just for this time and this need; and – the wording assumes – and what will you do with it.

If Mordecai represents the heart of sensitivity to the world’s dangers, needs, future, etc., Esther represents the heart of the intercessor to stand in the gap, to plea for deliverance.

Mordecai’s position is: God will raise up one who will sustain the Jewish people, for God’s people will persist. But will this be the time you step up? God’s people will continue. The Church will stand; but will it stand and bring God’s kingdom because we stand up, pray, count the cost and act.

Has our day heard a call for the end of Christianity? Is our culture so opposed to the Kingdom of God that they would forego reason and compassion to see it end?

Love for the Kingdom, love for God’s people, love for those yet to come to the King motivates the Mordecai’s. Trust in God’s favor while counting the cost undergirds the Esther’s.

The greater the gifts, the higher the expectation. The more accessible the position, the more relevant the need to parlay this into action. Those who have wealth are blessed by God with this gift. Those who have speaking skills are given them by the Father. Etc.

Illustration: When we are given gifts and opportunities, we can often choose other than action:

  1. We coast – we get by with only a little.
  2. We move into the middle – so we don’t stand out.
  3. Best to own the mission, make our lives count, and leverage our position and relationship for the Kingdom.