Thought a lot about heroic courage this week as I read Acts 5:17-42.  It prompted me to think about the heroic courage of John and Betty Stam, my maternal gandpa's brother and his wife who were beheaded because of the fact that they were foreigners and because of the fact that they were witnesses for Christ.  We don't need exactly this kind of heroic courage, at least right now.  Hopefully, we never have to have it but the fact is we do need heroic courage just to live life the way we know we should live it.  The big question is 'how do we get it'?
It is a big question and I won't pretend that I can give a conclusive or a comprehensive answer in the space of these few short lines.  I would, though, like to share an insight I gained from Timothy Keller.  In Acts 5:31, Dr. Luke uses an unusual word, a title really, for Jesus.   He refers to him as 'Prince and Savior'.  (NIV and NASB)  The RSV renders it 'Leader and Savior'.  It is the word translated 'prince' and 'leader' that is the unusual word in the Greek.  It is only used four times in the New Testament according to Keller.  One of the other places is Hebrews 12:2: "...looking unto Jesus the author and perfector...".  'Author' is the word. Interestingly, it is the same title that in other ancient Greek literature is used of Hercules and other heroes of Greek mythology.  Thus the connection with the notion of heroic courage.  Jesus had heroic courage. It was courage of a different kind than Hercules had but courage nonetheless.
One of the ways we can get heroic courage is by looking to Jesus.  Do you remember the scene in the movie, 'The Patriot', where the character portrayed by Mel Gibson in the climactic battle scene rallies the colonial army by picking up the flag that had fallen and charging back toward the advancing British troops?  The fleeing colonial army looks at his courage and it gives them courage and slowly, one by one, they turn and follow him and the tide of the battle is turned.
In the battles we face, as our courage falters, we can look to Jesus, and then one by one we too can have our courage renewed.
 

I hope that Uncle Howard and Eunice will get word that they were the topic of the blog this week.  To me the love they showed to Alan was a remarkable example of the voluntary, radical generosity that the first century Christians showed each other.  In Acts 4:32 it says, "...All believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of his possessions was his/her own, but they shared everything they had..."  This was no law.  It was done because the Holy Spirit motivated it, so that they were not 'possessed by their possessions.'  Too many and too much we have it the other way around.  We are defined by what we have rather than by who we ARE as children of the king.
Howard and Eunice voluntarily out of love for Alan dramatically altered their lifestyle to provide a safe and happy environment for a special needs young man after his own parents were killed in a car crash.  Our whole extended family benefited by their example.
The beautiful thing about it is they probably didn't even think about it as being some kind of amazing act.  They just did it without any thought of any kind of recognition.  Alan lived the last few years of his life giving and receiving a simple and authentic love, surrounded by cousins who doted over him.  I can still see his beaming face smiling up at Howard.
Thank you Howard and Eunice for giving us a tangible example of the Father's great unconditional love for us!

Resurrection Sunday dawned bright and clear in Clear Creek County.  Our community worship gathering on this day gave us a glimpse of what could be.  Over 100 people (a mega-church for us) crowded into the historic 'United Center' in Idaho Springs!  The United Center is the former United Methodist church building.  It retains it's historic charm with some nice updates.  It is a great place for worshipping together.
A community choir sang.  We celebrated the Lord's Supper and heard a message about how the resurrection speaks into our fears and our tendency to be burdened by guilt and shame.
Earlier in the week--Good Friday to be exact--I led a memorial service for a life-log member of our community who died suddenly.  Marjorie--Chee Chee--Bell was her name.  She and her husband, Bruce had recently come back to the United Church and we had spent some time with them.  Her service was held in the school gymnasium and around 400 people were in attendance.  This was another event that gave us a glimpse of the dream of what a vibrant worshipping church could be like here in our little 'Rocky Mountain Appalachia'.
That is the news from our corner of the world this Monday morning.  Thanks for reading!!