LITN I, Verses 57 - 80

57. So when it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son, just as the angel had said.

58. As you can imagine, it was quite an event in the neighborhood. Friends and relatives from all around heard of how God had lavished this miracle of mercy upon her, and they shared her joy and celebrated with the family.

59. On the eighth day, as was customary, they came to the Temple to circumcise the baby...and everyone just assumed that they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.

60. But Elizabeth spoke up and said, "No! He is going to be called John!"

61. And those that she told said to her, "John? What kind of name is that? It's certainly not a family name...what's the meaning of this?

62. Then they gestured to Zechariah (who was still completely mute at this point, by the way), to find out what he would like to name his miracle-son.

63. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to every one's utter astonishment he wrote, "HIS NAME IS JOHN!"

64. And when Zechariah did this...when he and Elizabeth came into agreement with the word of God which the angel had delivered, his mouth was immediately opened, and he began to speak, audibly, praising God!

65. Well, the neighbors were just awestruck and astounded by all this, and the news of it spread like wildfire throughout the entire region.

66. It was the main topic in every conversation in every home in the area...and everyone was asking, "What in the world is this child going to grow up to be?" No one could understand it, yet no one doubted that God's hand was on him.

67. Meanwhile, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to prophesy, saying:

68. "All praise rightfully belongs to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them...

69. He has revealed the power of salvation for us right here in the very house of His servant David...

70. It is exactly as He said through his Holy prophets of long ago...

71. Deliverance from our enemies, and from the wrath of all who hate us...

72. To show mercy and benevolence to our ancestors, and to remember His holy covenant...

73. The sacred oath He swore to our father Abraham...

74. To rescue us from the hand of our adversaries, and to enable us to serve Him without any fear at all...

75. In wholeness and righteousness before Him throughout our whole lives!

76. And you, my son, will be called a prophet of the Most High...for you will go on before the Lord to literally prepare the way for Him...

77. To bring to His people the full revelation of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins...

78. Because of the tenderness and mercy and kindness of our God...the real God...by which the sun of redemption and reconciliation will rise to bring the dawn of a new day...

79. To shine in warmth and light on those living in the cold, dark shadow of death...to guide our feet into the path of peace!"

























80. And, indeed, that baby boy grew and became strong in spirit. He was very different...an unusual child...becuase the message he was born to carry made him unique. Basically, he grew up in solitude, living out in the wilderness, until he appeared publicly to Israel.

LITN I, Verses 39 - 56

39. So Mary, realizing that the big picture of this miracle involved much more than just what was happening in her, wasted no time in making her way into the hill country to a town of Judah.

40. And when she got there she went immediately to the house of Zachariah and, entering it, called out with great excitement for her cousin, Elizabeth.

41. Now she was in another part of the house, but at the instant in which she heard the sound of Mary's voice, the baby in her womb very forcefully jolted, and when this occurred, Elizabeth was filled, energized and thoroughly permeated with the power of Holy Spirit.

42. And this simultaneously spiritual and physical action and reaction somehow released a prophetic cry out of Elizabeth, as she approached Mary, and exclaimed to her, "Blessed! Favored of God above all other women are you! And blessed and favored of God is the supernatural Fruit of your womb!

43. And how is it that I have been so honored as to have the very mother of my Lord come and visit me?"

44. My dear, the very instant the sound of your sweet voice reached my ears, the baby in my womb literally leaped for joy!"

45. Then she went on to say, "Blessed is she who believed, without reservation, the creative word of the Lord...impossible as it may seem in the natural realm...unexpected as it most certainly was...you are forever blessed simply for believing!"

46. At these words, the music of Mary's internal praise and thanksgiving was released into an audible anthem of adoration, and for the first time she fully acknowledged the enormity of what was happening. She sang out, exuberantly, "My soul...my internal self...magnifies and worships the Lord,

47. And my spirit...the very essence of my eternal self...rejoices in God my Savior,

48. For He has looked upon the very simple and seemingly unimportant little life of His handmaiden, and has created an entirely different existence for her. From now on, all generations...all ages...will call me blessed, and will recognize the very special and unique place that I will hold throughout all of human history!

49. For He Who is absolutely almighty has done great things for me...and holy is His name...excellent is His reputation!

50. And His mercy...His compassion...His kindness toward the disenfranchised and the forgotten...the ones who think and feel that they are completely invisible...is on those who worship Him with a sense of awe, from generation to generation and age to age.

51. He has flexed the mighty muscle of His arm...He has scattered the abusers of the defenseless through sheer intimidation, exposing and thwarting the imaginations of their hearts.

52. He has put out of position the seemingly invincible ones, and has promoted those whose value has been hidden to the public eye.

53. He has filled and satisfied the hungry with delicious things, and the rich who have built their fortunes on the backs of the oppressed He has sent away empty-handed.

54. He has embraced and supported His servant Israel to help him, to remind him of His mercy,

55. Just as He promised our forefathers...to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

56. When Mary finished the song, she decided to stay with Elizabeth for a while, and so she did for about three months, and then returned to her own home.

LITN I, Verse 26 - 38

26. Then, in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth

27. to a little teen-age girl who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of king David. The young girl was a virgin, and her name was Mary.

28. The angel just went right into her house and said to her, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29. Mary was not only startled by his appearance, she was also troubled by his declarative words and wondered what he meant by his greeting.

30. But Gabriel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, I am here because you have found favor with God.

31. You are going to conceive today, and in a few months will give birth to a Son, and you are to name and call Him Jesus.

32. And your baby boy will become great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,

33. and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end…it will exist in the eternal now.”

34. After collecting herself and gaining her composure, Mary asked the angel, “How can I conceive a child today? I am engaged to a man, but I am a virgin...I have not slept with my fiance or any other man, for that matter...and have no plans to do so today!”

35. But the angel answered, “You are about to have an unprecedented encounter with the Holy Spirit that is going to affect your natural body and, when that happens, the power of the Most High will literally overshadow you and permeate your entire being. This encounter will cause you to conceive, so that the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God!

36. And your cousin Elizabeth is also going to have a child, even in her old age. She has never been able to conceive throughout her whole life, but she is already six months pregnant!

37. I know that this seems impossible to you…and, in fact, it is biologically and naturally impossible. But, with God, nothing in any realm is or ever will be impossible!”

38. Then Mary said, “You must understand that I can't even begin to comprehend or process all this with my mind, but in my spirit I say ‘Here I am, may it be to me, not according to logic or reason, but according to your word! I submit myself to the eternal, now Word of God that makes all things possible!" And when Mary said that, the angel left her.

LITN I, Verses 5 - 25

5. And this is where I'll begin the story: In the time of King Herod's reign in Judea there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. He was married to a woman named Elizabeth, who was also a descendant of Aaron.

6. By all accounts, both of them lived very honorable and fulfilling lives that were pleasing in the sight of God. They observed the commandments, and just basically had reputations which were above reproach.

7. It seemed that the only thing they lacked in their lives was a child of their own. For some reason, Elizabeth had never been able to conceive, and at the time in which the curtain rises on this drama, they were both well advanced in years.

8. Anyway, one day when Zechariah's particular division was on duty, and he was serving as priest before God,

9. he was chosen by lot (a custom of the priesthood) to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn the incense.

10. So when the time for the burning of the incense came, all those who had assembled to worship that day were just quietly praying outside.

















11. All of a sudden, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense!

12. Well, when Zechariah got a good look at this imposing, celestial creature, he nearly collapsed from fear.

13. But the angel very calmly and directly said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah...your prayer has been heard...the secret desire of your heart has been granted. Your wife Elizabeth is going to bear a son, and you are to call him John.

14. And this boy of yours is going to bring you so much joy...you can't even imagine! In fact, his birth will bring a dimension of sheer delight to many, many people.

15. And he will achieve unprecedented greatness in the sight of the Lord, and will never desire to drink his fill of wine or any other alcoholic beverage, because he will be born fully filled with the Holy Spirit!

16. He will effectively bring back the relevance of the real God to many of the people of Israel.

17. And in the sight of the Lord, he will be Elijah...or the Elijah of his day...because he will reunite the hearts of the generations...his message will resonate with both the parents and the children, and so it will re-connect them and make them as one. Even the skeptics and the doubters...the cynics and the indifferent...will be changed and motivated by the sense of expectancy created by his preaching. He will literally make people ready for a revelation of the real God."

18. Ironically, as the angel was speaking of doubters and skeptics, Zechariah's own sense of reason caused him to suddenly flee in his mind to the seat of his natural logic, despite the fact that an angel was standing in the Temple, prophesying to him! So he asked the supernatural messenger, "How can I be sure that what you're telling me is the truth? I mean, I'm an old man, if you know what I mean...I lost my virility long ago, and I'm married to an old woman, well past the change of life."

19. The angel said to him, "Don't insult me, Zechariah...I am Gabriel! I live in the very presence of God, and have been sent here to speak to you, and to tell you this good news. If there were any possibility that this thing wasn't going to happen, in spite of the biological facts of your life, I wouldn't be standing here!

20. How can you second-guess the very thing for which you have prayed? God has decreed this reality in the heavenly realm, but you must permit it to manifest on the earth by your agreement with Him. So this is what I will do...so that you won't inadvertently abort your own baby by your doubt-filled speech, I will protect the seed from the destructive potential of your own words. I will cause you to be totally mute until the day of your son's birth!"

21. Meanwhile, the people were still waiting outside for Zechariah, wondering why it was taking him so long to come out.

22. When eventually he did emerge, he couldn't even make a sound. But somehow, through his own, makeshift kind of sign language, he was able to convey to them that he had seen a vision in the temple, and somehow they comprehended.

23. When his time of service was completed, he silently returned home.

24. And, sure enough, after some time his wife Elizabeth actually became pregnant, as if she were a young woman married to a young man, just as the angel had said. The whole thing, particularly the pregnancy, was such an adjustment...such a shock to her, really... that for five months she remained in complete seclusion.

25. But during that whole time she never wavered in faith..."The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these strange days He has shown His favor, and has created this whole new reality for us!"

INTRO TO LUKE IN THE NOW: LITN I, Verses 1 - 4

1. It’s a known fact that so many have tried their hand at telling this amazing story from their own perspective. Because those who have been transformed by the potency of it wanted to be a part of the propagation of it, they have undertaken to draw up an official account…a story of record…of the things which have been fulfilled among us.

2. And these who have added their own voices to the narrative have honored the oral tradition of the eyewitnesses of Jesus’ earth-ministry…of those who were actually there, and who ministered alongside Him…embracing what those followers remember about it from its inception. And they have told their version of the story as a confirmation to the truth of it.

3. But it seemed desirable to me, also, to write an account of it through my own paradigm, while being careful to maintain the integrity of what has already been said concerning what happened from the beginning…and my motivation was to write it for you, most excellent Theophilus, friend of God.

4. I personally took on this responsibility, doing the research and investigation myself, because it was important to me that you know the full truth, beyond any shadow of doubt, of the things you have been taught. In other words, I wanted to be sure that you knew these things really happened.

Monday Meditations

Hey bloggers...I just tweeted on the church Twitter page: "Wow, what a weekend at CITN!"...Can I get a witness?

Everything from the softball tournament, to the praise and worship ("Searched all over can't find nobody like You!"...) to the blessing on the word, to the 404 Spaghetti fundraiser (looks like between the two events 404 raised enough money to finish paying for Rock The Universe, and to carpet the area of their sanctuary that P. Judah wants to recarpet), to the lunch with my Uncle Harry and Aunt Joyce Swilley who were in service and I didn't even know it, to the meeting in my office with the group that will be leaving with me after service next Sunday for Uganda...all of it was wonderful...seems like everywhere I went on the campus I could feel a sense of prophetic excitement and a spirit of visionary faith...

I'm really happy to be finished with Mark In The Now...I meant to include in my sermon yesterday about how in Chapter XV the curtain (veil) in the Temple was ripped from top to bottom as soon as Jesus released His spirit from His body...that was supposed to be a major point about the whole earth becoming the Holy of Holies...maybe I'll save it for next Sunday...

I've started working on Luke In The Now, and may have some of Chapter I posted later today...I just need to stay off of Facebook for a few hours...thanks for your support on the whole Gospels In The Now project...

I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate your openness to what we're doing, starting next Sunday...I had a nice long talk with Pastor D.E. yesterday afternoon on the phone, and he said that everyone there is very excited (they had about 2,000 in service yesterday)...I don't know what's going to happen, and I don't even want to overthink it...as I said yesterday in my sermon, if all it is four weeks of united services, then I want it to be four weeks of heaven on earth...

I'm certainly looking forward to going to Uganda...on the last day that we're there I will be ordaining the largest group of pastors that I've ever ordained at one time (as far as I can remember)...but a part of me wants to be here to see what's going to happen...but I also know that our steps are ordered, and it's all good...

Hey, do you remember me mentioning last Wednesday night a friend of mine from India who was sent to Bible College by Jimmy Swaggart? I haven't heard from him in 30 years, but yesterday he requested to be a FB friend! He's a pastor now, and I wrote him a note and said, "You're not going to believe this, but I just talked about you in my sermon!"...amazing...

Listen, I haven't responded to most of your blog comments these last few days, but I've read all of them, and, as usual, you all just blow me away with your stuff...FB is fun, but I really, really love this blog community, and am totally committed to it...I hope I can take my computer to Africa and keep it going...we'll see...

Anyway, I love you all...

Be back later...