photo by Matt Tomalty on Flickr

In a small village filled with the darkness of the night lies a humble home with a small shining light. It’s just bright enough to reveal the face of the elderly lady laying beside it. A lady who was so full of life and joy. Someone who found joy in cooking and making people feel welcome at her home. She has been bed-ridden with a high fever for a few days now.

The night no longer holds the promise of comfort. She spends too much time in bed, warm and filled with pain. With very little effort she begins to remember the promises from her forefathers. The ones that patiently waited for their promised Messiah. Just like them, she waited… not for her savior, but for her health. It had been too long and too painful to get up any more and it was becoming more alarming as the days went by.

The next day, she opened her eyes to the voices in the crowd just outside her window. Feeling worse than she had before, she found enough strength to pull herself out and sneak a peek through her window. There was a crowd making too much noise. Among the loud bunch was her son in law. She looked over to her bedside and found a cup with just enough water to provide her tongue enough strength for her to say aloud, “this is the man my daughter married… The kind that brings loud noises to her sick mother in law?”. She takes the last sip and puts the cup down and her head back in her pillow.

She drifts away into sleep.

A few minutes later, she hears the door open in her bedroom and turns to look. Before her lies this stranger. He wasn’t a good looking man, nor a strong man. He didn’t look like a physician or a healer. He looked like an unemployed man.

She turns to see the man next to her and it’s her son in law. Feeling too weak, she can’t find the words to yell at him. She turns her sight again to this stranger that stands between her and her son in law. There was something different and fascinating about him, but she couldn’t figure it out. “Maybe the fever is making me hallucinate” she thought.

The stranger begins to approach the old lady and extends his hands towards her and touches her flesh. Immediately, she begins to feel the overwhelming warmness that kept her in bed all these days begin to escape her body into the hand that is touching her.

After a few seconds, he lets go and she is just in awe at this man. She didn’t know what to say, so she immediately gets up from her bed, and heads towards the kitchen. Just as she begins to plan to prepare the best meal this young man ever ate, she turns her head and looks at her brother in law. She smiles and then looks at the stranger and she smiles again.

She was at a loss of words, so she let her meal do all the talking.

She’s back!

What meal would you cook for Jesus if he healed you from a terrible fever?

© 2012 MoeVivas

This is a narrative account and should never replace the facts written in scripture. Today’s story can be found in Acts 7

We are protectors of the faith! Free men who hold to the precious law of Moses, and the sacred scrolls. We are Cyrenians and Alexandrians and Cilicians. If you defile the law of Moses, you have to deal with us, and we are men of law and men of violence! Be warned pegan men, for with the words that you speak, you will be bringing condemnation upon yourselves.

Today, we are instructed to approach a young man called Stephen and forbid him of speaking against us. He has continually defiled the law of Moses and we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against our God. A punishment that is worthy of death.

We begin our approach by stirring up the people, the elders and the scribes. We gather together and claim the life of this young man. He preaches the doctrine of demons and with his life, he will pay the price for his blasphemies.

While arriving at the market, we see how this man is barely a man. He looks like a young boy.

“Young men, we beseech you in the name of Moses and our God to quiet your mouth”

Let’s see him run for the hills.

Silence.

He doesn’t seem afraid. He looks around at our crowd and with boldness begins to speak of our forefathers. He begins to plead his case against the council in the name of his God and his words prick at our hearts. As he looks around, he can tell that our eyes are filled with vengeance, our teeth are gnashing, and our hearts betrayed.

He pauses, looks at our direction and says, “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do you”.

We get on his face and I call out, “Be careful with your words boy, you will die a painful death if you are not careful. Don’t try to become a hero or we’ll make a martyr out of you”

His face, begins to shine in ways we never seen before, and he calls out with a loud voice, “Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? They have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now been the betrayers and murderers”

Now when we heard this, we were cut to the heart and we began to gnash our teeth at him. As he continued speaking, we couldn’t hear anymore. We covered our ears and rushed at him with one impulse. We grabbed him by his cloak and dragged him out of the city.
We grabbed our stones and began to stone him.

“Where is your God now son? Where is your faith? Does your blood speak highly of your Lord?”

We grabbed his robe and laid it aside our Lord Saul. He demanded we dragged him naked around the city and continued stoning him. Then just before he died, he found enough strength to call out and say “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

A moment of silence hit or crowd. We all looked at each other and then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”

I looked at my brothers and hit him with the last stone and he fell down and died.

We are warriors who hold and protect the law of Moses.

We are His messengers.

We are His people

We are the Synagogue of the Freedmen… and we just executed justice.

What would be your first reaction when you see a stone headed towards your brain?

Who do you want to see featured in the next Usual Suspects?

If you get a chance, stop by and let me know if your love is too safe? Sometimes mine is.

Here’s an excerpt of the post:

What made Jesus so dangerous and so threatening was that He was intentional in desiring to be in people’s lives. He wasn’t satisfied with a handshake and a “Shalom”. He wanted so much more. He desired a place in the heart of people. He made the long trip through Samaria, not around it. He wasn’t satisfied with just knowing there were Samaritans confused and fighting for the rights to a well. He desired to be part of their lives.

READ MORE…

Ever since I was a kid, I was introduced to villains. They were present in the cartoons I watched, the comics I read, the movies I watched. As I grew older, I continued to learn about the role of villains in my life. In my teen years, my opponents in the basketball courts of Brooklyn became my villains. We had to outscore them and many times we even fought about it. Even in business, our competitors are viewed as villains. We are the good guys, they are the bad guys.

In the first book of our Bibles we are introduced to a villain. Satan has been a villain from the very beginning and is persistent in making our lives difficult. He lives to lie, steal, kill. That’s his Modus operandi. We have been instructed to resist him, rebuke him, and persevere against his attacks towards us. A very important truth. But somewhere along our way, things got a little fuzzy.

Today, it seems that us Christians have taken a new approach to villains. If someone doesn’t agree with our way of thinking they automatically become our villains. It saddens me that I hear so often how people perceive churches and pastors to be the bad guys. There is a loud voice speaking ill of the church and its leaders. People who have taken the initiative to flat out compare the church and its leaders to Satan and his works.

Don’t misunderstand me, I am one of the Church’s loudest critics. There are things that we do wrong, but there are also things that we do right. We have made mistakes that have caused pain and harm. But we have also healed wounds, brought hope and restored lives. As much as we have done all these things, I would never call the church or its leaders the villains. That’s too harsh of a word.

When I was a child and first played soccer, I was taught to always kick the ball out of my opponents possession. Many times, we were caught up in a crowd and everyone was kicking aimlessly at the ball, often hitting each other in the shins. Only when I looked up, did I realize that I was actually kicking the shin of my own teammates. A mistake that could have easily been avoided if I just looked up.

Our villain has always been Satan and his angels. I often wonder if he’s sitting down laughing as we continually kick each other in the shin trying to destroy each other. I wonder what would happen if we just took the time in our lives to look up? Maybe if we did, we would realize that the church and its leaders are not our villains, but are actually in our team.

In all their imperfection, they want to score as badly as we all do. Something that we have made much more difficult by kicking them in their shin.

How about we give them a chance? How about we Look up? We may be surprised who’s in our team and who our actual villain is. After all, we can’t defeat our villain, if we don’t know who he is.

Who is your villain? How do you overcome Him?

Train rushing past the station (copyright 2011 Moe Vivas)

I open my eyes in the morning and before I get out of bed I am already bombarded with information. Worries and responsibilities that come with the day at hand. I muster enough strength to make coffee and glance at the clock. It’s 7:11A.M. I’m already running late. I take the last sip of coffee and crack a smile as I begin my daily sprint to get to the office. I’m a New Yorker, fast life is the way we do things. I got this!

While I’m shaving, I’m already thinking of the phone calls I need to make, the emails I need to send out, the reports I need to submit. I grab my utility belt filled with iPhone, wallet, cash, keys. I sprint out the door and head towards the station. All this time, my mind filled with things – the kind that distract you from real life.

When the iron horse gets here, I get on and spot a seat. An unusual gift in the city of New York. Spring break, yes!

I sit down comfortably, glance at my fellow passengers (all too busy doing something) and decide to open the door of my mind, empty it out of all clutter and close it. No thoughts, distractions allowed for the next few minutes. I reach into my pants pocket and take out my iPhone. I open my YouVersion app and start reading from John 14. As I’m reading I begin to understand that if I have any desire to live with an ongoing, unending awareness of God’s presence, I must develop the habit of instant obedience to God. A wonderful reminder this morning.

As I get out of the station, I begin to think that I work hard at trying to be obedient to my employer. Not only because I like to abide by the rules, but because it speaks of responsibility, ownership and maturity. A truth that I must carry over to the Gospel. I’m not bound by the law, but I am called to take responsibility, ownership of what I’ve been given and mature in my walk with my Lord.

What helps you keep focused and obedient to His word?

We love to read the book of Genesis and marvel at the story of creation; our eyes are filled with adventure with the books of Judges and kings; we rejoice romantically at the poetry in Psalms; we are filled with joy at the coming of the Messiah in the Gospels; we hold tight to the wisdom of the epistles. But when it comes to Revelation, we groan and ignore the last book of our Bibles. We treat it like a non-canonized book – It’s the bastard child of the good book.

That needs to change.

No other book has the depth and suspense that we get in Revelation. In it, we have visions of heaven, the glory of Christ, seals, trumpets, horses, famines, judgment, dragons, whores, action, drama, and so much more. We also find blessings, curses, lakes of fire, vengeance, judgment and worship. Nobody and no other book has a better story than this one. And it’s not fiction.

In Revelation, we finish the story of redemption. This precious book wraps up the Gospel message in such a way that it gives us a hope that is divine. We get a view of the fruits of the Church, the final defeat of our foe(s), and the reward of those who call Christ their King. I would dare say that without Revelation the Gospel message would be incomplete.

I think it’s time that we move past John 3:16 and Psalm 91 and embrace the 66th book of our Bibles with the same intensity, hunger and enthusiasm that we give to the other books. We as Christians have to be willing to take all of Jesus. His love, His sacrifice, but also His judgment, His curse and His hell.

I can’t pick and choose what parts of the Gospel I like. I have to take the whole package. By doing so, I have a better understanding of what He did and why He did it. Genesis to Jude makes a lot more sense when I read the book of Revelation. After all, it too was God breathed.

I’ll have more to say in another post. But for now, give Revelation a try. I promise you that you won’t go crazy!

When was the last time you read Revelation?

Why is it so easy for Christians to ignore the last book of the Bible?

Other than spending time with my family, my absolute favorite time of the week is Saturday morning. I wake up early before anyone, walk to the kitchen and start the zen-like process of making the perfect cup of coffee. When done, I walk over to my desk with a finely pressed espresso in my hand. I spend a few minutes with my iPad reading the Word of God and praying. A few minutes later, I wake my iPad from its slumber and fire up Instapaper.

There are currently 25 articles waiting for me to read. After a few sips of the good stuff, the precious time begins. I have precisely the right music on, and in that moment, I make love to words. I don’t consider that time busy, I’m not working – I am enjoying the moment. I really treasure those 90 minutes and I have come to the realization that I need this time every single day.

In those precious minutes, I am aware of the gift of quietness. During this silence, sitting in this room, I’ve offered myself to listen. I break the flow of productivity and things to do. I divorce myself from people for those moments and I listen to what I’m thinking. It’s amazing what your hear when you make time to listen.

I want to do this every day, for 90 minutes, no matter what. I think inspiration is worth the sacrifice.

Do you make time to listen? If so, what does your routine look like?

I’ll be talking about the future of computing and the future of us Christians: The Cloud.

So, hit up your fancy browsers and go to Pop Parables and make that 16 hr process worth it. I appreciate it.

The Future: The Cloud

So I decided I want to turn you into virtual TSA agents. Please take note that this exercise works best when you flip one of your eyebrows up like the Rock and put your hand in front of your chest to signal a stop. Then you have to pump your fist in the air and snag my bag out of my hands.

So, what would you find in my bag?

• FŪL laptop bag: A great bag that is not too big and fits comfortable around my wrestling shoulders. They also push back on my shoulders to reveal a chest that is able to pull out 35 pushups with no sweat. (yes you can laugh)

• 6X4 Blue Campus Writing Notebook: Best ruled foolscap notebooks for writing. Love the feel of it. There are lots of Japanese characters on it that probably says something like “made out of materials that will make you sleep while you write”.

• Moleskine Black Pen: From the makers of the famous notebooks, except it’s a pen. No magic, it writes.

• 1st Generation iPad 32GB Black: 1st iPad that came out. It has been a great device to me. Unfortunately, she has a sister that is coming out in March and I will be upgrading. I’m selling this one for $250.00 with case.

• 32GB iPhone 4 Black: I spend more time with my iPhone than any other device. I also touch it, swipe it, pinch it a lot more than I do my wife (I know crazy!)

• Blackberry Bold (Work): This is for work email. This thing is always buzzing and never shuts up! I secretly wish I can accidently drop it in a public Times Square toilet. If you’ve been to one, you would know, that wouldn’t be pretty.

• Ruby Red Nintendo 3DS: iPhone is good for basic gaming. But when I want to do real gaming, I use this. 3D is pretty darn cool and the games are great.

• Project (RED) HD Beats By Dr. Dre Headphones: I have a $200.00 pair of Shure in-ear headphones that are my favorite. Due to vertigo, Dr forbid me from wearing in-ear headphones, so this is second best. Sound is not nearly as good, but style is great. I may end up selling them and buy better sounding headphones.

• (not shown) Army standard military gas mask. Hey, I live in New York City and we get threats everyday. I’m prepared for a toxic gas attack, or a New Yorker who has a gas problem in a subway car.

Well, that’s it! I hope my bag items is not a threat to the public.

* I have the YouVersion Bible app installed on my iPhone and iPad, so I do my daily Bible reading on those devices. I actually can’t remember the time I read a physical Bible unless I’m in church. I know crazy!

** All my devices are naked. I don’t believe in cases.

I would love to see what’s on your bag. If you want to be creative, please share a photo in the comments. If you want to keep it simple, just write what you carry with you everyday.

Mom: hmm, not really.

Little Johnny: how about Discipulus?

Mom: isn’t that a Polish cheese?

Little Johnny: no Ma! They are two blogs that are written by that silly New Yorker.

Mom: oh Johnny, does anything good come from NY?

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The blogosphere is a weird animal. It demands words, attention and activity. Leave it hungry and it will devour you, your self-worth and your community.

I don’t want to give you excuses, but the fact is that writing and I have not been in good terms lately. In fact, writing has been sleeping on the sofa the last few days.

I could have easily put together some words and call it a blog post, but I don’t want to put together a diarrhea of words just to say I wrote. I want to write something that makes me feel good and that demands time, attention and lots of editing.

So last night I woke up at 3:00 A.M. And went over to my sofa and kissed writing in her neck. We talked for a few minutes and we are back in love.

I’m gonna be a beast the next few weeks. I’m going to write and write and write (maybe drink some coffee in between). We’re going to be like a new couple that spends all their time making out.

If you want to come along, grab a seat, put your feet up, grab a bubble gum cigar and a NYC bagel and be part of the conversation. If you don’t, it’s OK. I no longer participate in the Colombian necktie business, so we’re cool!

There’s a saying in New York that goes:

*when the Giant sleeps, the rats eat the cheese from its table

That’s what I plan to do.

Thanks for your patience! Tune in to Discipulus tomorrow and you just may see yourself on it.

-Moe

*I have no idea what that means. I made that up