Two days in a row, I know, right!!?? Not a lot since yesterday except that I found out that the police report on Mike's accident will be filed by Friday, and that, in cancelling our insurance, we're getting a refund on the balance, so yay!! Mike hasn't been back to the scrapyard to finish clearing our stuff, but hopefully tomorrow. Then I can see about the refund on our registration. Progress is being made, FINALLY... ugggh... Anyway, prayers for wisdom going forward as to getting another car. When/if we do, it's going to be mine rather than his. My building DOES have a small parking lot, but when I had asked last year, they told me the waiting list is so long that it wasn't worth mentioning. There are literally 12 spots, I believe, for 50 apartments. So... yeah.

I continue to get pictures/video from Jeremy. I'm truly happy that he's found someone to love. I wish only the best for them. Prayers that Jeremy's trip home will be worry free.

Oh, and before I forget again, be sure to check out the podcast "Diving In with Matt and Joe" for more during this sermon series. To be honest, I haven't looked at it myself, as I'm not really into podcasts, but it's available for additional insights to anyone who's interested.

This message brings up a couple of spiritual realities that I've mostly avoided mentioning here, although I have had multiple experiences with them. The main reason I haven't talked much about the existence of ghosts and demons is that I feel like people may not take me as seriously. But the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. For the purposes of brevity and relevance to this message, I'm only going to relate one incident.

Back when my oldest was little and my son was either still inside or an infant, I had a scary dream one night. I was in my kitchen, cooking a meal when this man came in offering to help. He was a stranger, so I declined and thanked him for the kindness. He then grew in size to nearly reach the ceiling; and threatened me if I continued to refuse. As I recall, that was the end of the dream. When we got up the next morning, I told my now ex-husband, Rich, about it because I knew of his long history of Spiritual Warfare. He's literally seen the spiritual border between good and evil, so he knows well of what he speaks. He knew exactly who I was talking about from the dream. He agreed with me that the best solution was to stand in the kitchen and pray. I did so, and never had another issue. Any other encounters or situations have been strictly with ghosts.

But the truth remains. Demons are real, my friends!! And they are NOT meant to be messed with. While Ouija boards may be sold in the toy section, they are definitely not a toy. Now, according to what my father has told me before, it IS possible to pray over them and get a positive interaction; but most people don't know that, neither do they care. What boggles my mind is that many people who claim to be Christians manage to believe in God, an essentially spiritual entity; yet deny the existence of OTHER spiritual beings. Especially considering the fact that this story, along with that of Mary Magdalene, give clear evidence of demonic powers at work. Honestly, it saddens me to think that the Catholics are primarily the only "Christian" Church to recognize demonic activity as the reality it is.

Just another little thought here, although I'm still 3 months behind with these sermon summaries, it seems fitting that I'm getting to this one so shortly before Halloween, doesn't it?? ;)

Let's open our Bibles now, shall we?? Today's passage is from Mark 5 --

Mark 5:1-20

New International Version

Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis^[b] how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

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As Pastor Joe opened this message, he brought out the "takeaway thought" immediately -- "Jesus rules the unseen world and gives us freedom."

One of the problems unbelievers have with this passage is that they think Jesus essentially "murdered" the entire herd of pigs by sending them off the cliff. The truth is found by reading more carefully, however. It was actually the DEMONS' idea to enter the pigs after they were exorcized out of the man. Jesus only ALLOWED it to happen. As many of you realize, Jesus was a Jew. Pork, ham, and bacon were off limits to them, according to Old Testament Law. Although Jesus, I'm sure, respected the lives of the pigs, this situation demanded that the well-being of the man come first. Therefore, although He also knew that it would be a huge loss of income to the community, He allowed the pigs to die.

Moving on from that, Pastor Joe outlined 3 major ways in which Jesus broke cultural expectation in this story. The "No No List", as he phrased it.

• This account takes place near the Decapolis, as seen in verse 20. That area was a primarily Gentile region. A brief search shows that the word "Gentile", as indicated here, not only means "non-Jewish", but non-Israelite. The Decapolis was a 10 city metropolis of Greeks. The overview tells of a long standing animosity between them and the Jews, partly due to the Greeks being mostly Pagan in religious beliefs. The fact that Jesus was even willing to travel here, never mind do any sort of healing or ministry was simply mind-boggling to the Apostles. His actions here foreshadowed the spread of the Gospel into the broader Gentile populations after His time was done.*

• As we have already observed, pigs were ritually unclean for Jews. Thus, having Jesus purposefully walk right into the herd was shocking. But, once again, we see here the higher value He put on a man's life and well-being than on the pigs. (I mean, you can always get more pigs; but that man, as an individual, could not be replaced.) His story may have been the only way that certain others could be Saved. The same could literally be said of any of us. We need to stay open to the leading of the Holy Spirit because we don't know if we may be someone's only path to Salvation.*

• Another source of uncleanliness for the practicing Jew was death. According to the Judaic Code, the only ones permitted to touch a corpse were immediate family members. This even applied to the Priests. And after that, the person/persons who had touched them were ceremonially unclean for 7 days. As we read our passage above, we notice almost immediately, that this man came from the tombs. (vs 2) For Jesus (or the others) to be anywhere near this man would be risky, at best.

All of this clearly exhibits Jesus' Authority, but wait... there's more!!

Exploring a bit further into the text here, we find a detailed listing of the physical challenges being presented by these demonic spirits. Verses 2-5 show us that iron chains, violence, and chaos were the normal course of action (or expectation) for and from this man on any given day. We read that there was no one strong enough to stop him or subdue him. Pastor Joe pointed out that the command to subdue the Earth, as seen in Genesis 1:28, is the same word used here. It was the Creation Commission for Adam and Eve to "put things into order", with God's help. In our Scripture above, we see that Jesus is the only one powerful enough to "put things into order" in this man's life. This brings us back to our opening "takeaway thought". There is a man being controlled by the unseen realm. Jesus takes authority over it, setting the man's situation to rights, thus giving him freedom.

Scripture leads us into ultimate reality. This story is real. It was part of a normative experience. (My story above bears this out, even in today's world, even though it happened over 25 yrs. ago now.) The point doesn't lie in demonic or ghostly encounters, however. It lies in the fact that we can all relate to feeling shame, brokenness, and loss of identity at various times in our lives. We seek freedom. In our seeking, we may actually cause ourselves further chaos. This man had been completely abandoned by the time this story takes place. He was treated by those around him as, "less than human". He likely felt as many of us do at times, thinking, "I equal my pain". We have been so deeply hurt that we can scarcely imagine our lives without pain, so we place our entire identity in it. We know that we need rescue, but don't always know where to turn.

Continuing through verses 6-10, we see that the spirits recognized Jesus' Authority. This is why they sought out another unclean host. As we saw earlier, it was the DEMONS' idea to enter the pigs.

In verses 11-15 we read where the villagers in the area sent Jesus away for losing them 8 years worth of income. He disrupted their ENTIRE ECONOMY!! This shows us that God's Redemption is of far more value than money.*

The result was that the man was freed and made new. For the first time in what we can only imagine was a long while, this man was accepted, seen, and even loved. The "good news" of the Gospel is that this freedom extends to us. It's available any time we choose.

The Biblical significance of this passage is HUGE. When Jesus instructed this man to go and tell others what God had done, he became the FIRST MISSIONARY to the Decapolis, or Gentile world. He was the first Gentile to spread the Gospel to others Gentiles.

Friends, our stories MATTER. By sharing them, we are helping with God's Plan to bring Heaven and Earth back together. We pray the Lord's Prayer in recognition of Who God is, and our need for Him on a daily basis. (Not that we use it every day, just that we receive His love every day.)*

What's important to remember when sharing our stories is presentation and timing. We declare in love, not in bashing or judgment. We need to take Jesus' examples in gentleness and humility. We have to expect resistance and even be willing to let people walk away unchanged. (Remember the Rich Young Ruler??) We have to recognize, also that, although Jesus disarmed the demonic realms in His victory over the powers of sin and death in our lives, they are not yet fully destroyed. That won't happen until after the Final Judgment of God. (See Revelation 20)

Grab a small snack and commune with your Father as you meditate on this message.

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

1. The fact that Jesus ministered to the non-Israelites as well as to the Jews debunks the idea that Jesus came ONLY to the Jews. Although a thorough study of the New Testament, especially in relation to the Old, proves out the fact that Salvation has ALWAYS been intended for all of humanity, not just one group.

2. A couple of thoughts come to mind here. One is from my Baptist upbringing in the 70s and 80s. It was a common saying that, "You may be the only 'Bible' some people ever read." I also wanted to bring out the fact that sharing our story doesn't guarantee immediate results. In 1 Corinthians 3, verses 5-9, basically, Paul is talking about divisions in the Church. At the same time, he is coaching them in the fact that each person who ministers the Word of God may be performing a separate role in the process. Some plant the seed, some water, others may receive the harvest. In any case, we are all cooperating with the plan of God in spreading the Gospel. Each role is equally important for this reason, so don't discount the experience even if you don't see the result yourself. Just be content in knowing you've done your part.

3. As to the bit about Redemption being more valuable than money, don't get it twisted here. It's not that God doesn't want us to have it. The point lies in the level of faith we place in it as opposed to trusting Him for our needs. Or, for the rich, to make proper use of it and continue to be humble, thanking Him for the ability to live well and help others. Remember our series from the beginning of the year?? It was on Work. One of the key verses in that series was Deuteronomy 8:18, which tells us that God gives us the ability to create wealth. Also, near the end of the Bible, we have 3 John 1:2, where he is addressing his audience with these words, "Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you, and that you may be in good health, even as it goes well with your soul." This shows us that well-being in all areas of life is equally important to God.

4. While the Lord's Prayer is standard in many Churches even today, it's important to realize that it isn't meant to be a prayer in and of itself. The Disciples asked Jesus HOW to pray, not WHAT to say. Jesus' response is a PATTERN for prayer. Now, if you're stuck for how to START praying, it's okay to use this as a "jumping off" point; but we should never allow it to become a meaningless bit of Scripture we memorize as kids and repeat by rote every Sunday.

Music -- No rights!!