Respected.
Member of The Council.
Joseph of Arimathea was sitting pretty.
Then he met Jesus.
Mark and Luke both write that he
"was waiting for the Kingdom of God."
In realizing that the waiting was over he became a secret disciple of Jesus.
Why secret?
John states that it was
"for fear of the Jews."I am sure that the mantel of secrecy did not fit comfortably on the shoulders of this man.
Mark also tells us that this secret disciple
"gathered up his courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus."Not so secret anymore.
I can hear the rest of the Sanhedrin, when they get wind of Joseph's true allegiance.
"We should have known! Remember how he always was talking about the coming of the Kingdom? Like that's going to happen!"
"His refusal to give his assent to our plan and action against that impostor should have made it clear to us!"
His life was surely never the same.
No more Council membership was a given.
Respected?
How about persecuted?
Pillar?
Oh yes, but not of anything the world would applaud.
His life had been turned topsy-turvy!
A dear friend of mine ministers with her husband in the country of Cambodia.
The arrival of her letters requires me to put the tea kettle on and then settle down, putting my feet up with my cup of tea in one hand and my mouse in the other (to move me through her wonderful letter.)
Papa had called Heather and Jeff to do a new thing in Cambodia. This meant stepping away from the ministry they had been doing.
The call was to create a new kind of ministry training center.
Step by step the LORD provided what was needed.
Vision.
Funds.
Land.
Materials.
Workers.
Until one day The Rural Ministry Training Center was ready to accept its first students.
The premise of the center is to train future leaders in a setting that mirrors the villages that they came from and will be going back to.
It is set up as a small village.
There they learn such things as the importance of clean water and raising food and animals, as well as being able to share the Word of God.
Many believed the center was doomed to fail.
In the Cambodian culture status is very important and teaching people to be servants is not well received.
The church has suffered because of this.
Papa wanted to change that and He is!
Often Heather shares how confusing the new way is for so many. They are told that it will never work.
She and her husband must model the new ways clearly and consistently in face of much resistance.
It is paying off!
Her letters are filled with wonderful stories of how delighted the students and their teachers are when the realization hits that this new, upside down way is working!
Their lives are being turned topsy-turvy!
This is the third day of not reading for me.
It has felt very topsy-turvy for me.
Not normal.
I cannot tell you how many times I reach for something to read and then stop.
It seems so abnormal not to be taking in all kinds of information at every possible opportunity!
Yet it has opened the way for me to sort through much that needed sorting within this scrabbled brain of mine. I often say that there is a little person up there that is way behind on filing!
Time has slowed down.
In this slowed down mode I am able to explore thoughts and ideas.
Thoughts and ideas that Papa is bringing to the surface of my mind.
It is as if He is airing out my brain and heart.
I cannot even put into words all He is doing and showing me, but let's just say my life is in a state of topsy-turvy!
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