The Limelight Church, Nightclub, and Marketplace - June 16, 2010

Daily Reading

1Kings 9, 2Chronicles 8

Daily Verse

And though this temple is now imposing,

all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say,

'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?'

1Kings 9:8

Daily Thought

The Church of the Holy Communion sits on the corner of West 20th Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. It opened it's doors in 1844.

"But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them..."

--1Kings 9:6

"We're more popular than Jesus now;

I don't know which will go first-rock 'n' roll or Christianity."

--John Lennon, Datebook Magazine, August 1966

In 1983, The Church of the Holy Communion is converted into the Limelight Nightclub. Andy Warhol hosted the opening-night party, and soon crowds were lining up outside to get in.

"...then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name."

--1Kings 9:7

"Imagine there's no Heaven... and no religion, too."

--John Lennon, Imagine, 1971

This Spring, 2010, the Church turned Nightclub is reborn as the Limelight Marketplace, with 35 upscale boutiques and restaurants, complete with stained-glass windows.

"Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?"

"Because they have forsaken the LORD their God."

--1Kings 9:8-9

To God's Glory

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

Our God in Heaven, You are, and shall always be our first love. With all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our strength, we will love You, follow You, and serve You. You will know we are doing this when You see the love we have for all the people around us.

God, do not allow us to chase after empty religion, but may our religion be the kind of religion that You embrace, that we will keep ourselves pure, unpolluted by the world, and that we will look after and serve the poor, the marginalized, the orphans and widows.

Amen

Just Before The Big Bang - June 15, 2010

Daily Reading

Psalm 134, 146-150

Daily Verse

Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars.

He set them in place for ever and ever;

he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Psalm 148:3, 6

Daily Thought

A string lowers the shell into a tube, where a lift charge explodes propelling the shell high into the air. At it's highest point, the burning time fuse reaches the shell, ignites the black powder which explodes the shell casing, ignites the stars and scatters them in all directions across the sky.

I love fireworks.

The colors. The designer uses various metals to make his stars. The metals, when burned, emit photons. Different metals, different wavelengths, different colors. Lithium burns red, calcium orange, sodium yellow, copper blue, barium green, potassium violet, titanium white. You get the picture.

Shapes, too. The designer puts everything in just the right place, creating flowers and willows and rings and horsetails and stars and spiders and smiley faces.

The designer puts everything together just right so he gets the exact explosion he is looking for. The fireworks are awesome and everyone cheers.

"We are fairly confident that we know how the universe came to be, right back to one-billion-trillion-trillionth of a second after the Big Bang."

--almost all 21st century scientists

But what about just before the one-whatever-trillionth of a second after the Big Bang?

He determines the number of the stars

and calls them each by name.

--Psalm 147:4

To God's Glory

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

Our Creator, when we star-gaze, we are looking at Your handiwork. When we are amazed by the universe, we are awed by You. You explode the universe into existence by Your Word, by Your breath. All things were designed and created by You and for You. May all creation glorify its Creator.

We worship and praise You.

Amen

The Kind Of Person God Can Forgive - June 14, 2010

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 6-7, Psalm 136

Daily Verse

Then from heaven, your dwelling place,

hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause.

And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.

2Chronicles 6:39

Daily Thought

I invited her to church this Sunday.

"Oh, but you don't know what I've done," she sighed. "I'm not the kind of person God could ever forgive."

"Crucify him!" they shouted.

--Mark 15:13

Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists.

Others slapped him and said,

"Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"

--Matthew 26:67-68

"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

--John 19:15

They stripped him

and put a scarlet robe on him,

and then twisted together a crown of thorns

and set it on his head.

They put a staff in his right hand

and knelt in front of him and mocked him.

"Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.

They spit on him, and took the staff

and struck him on the head again and again.

--Matthew 27:28-30

They kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

--Luke 23:21

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

--John 19:16

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them,

for they do not know what they are doing."

--Luke 23:34

"You're right, I don't know what you've done, what kind of person you are," I nodded. "But here's what I do know. I know what Jesus has done and what kind of God he is."

To God's Glory

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

Loving Father, Your love endures. I've put it to the test! So have others. All of us. And yet Your love lasts forever and forgiveness is always in front of me. So, God, thank You for forgiving me because of the blood of Your Son.

God, may I live life with confidence. Not in my own strength, but in the absolute certainty that Your Son did everything I need to restore my relationship with You. Forever.

Your love endures forever.

Amen

Ants Follow Ants - June 13, 2010

Daily Reading

1Kings 8, 2Chronicles 5

Daily Verse

"But will God really dwell on earth?

The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.

How much less this temple I have built!"

1Kings 8:27

Daily Thought

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

--John 1:14

Ants release a chemical called a pheromone so other ants will follow them. That's why a trail of ants walk in a straight line, one behind the other.

Ants follow ants.

God made Adam and Eve, and said follow me. Instead, Adam followed Eve, Cain followed Adam, and I follow Cain.

And none of us follow God. We act like ants, but we were made to be like God. So....

Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but took the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

--Philippians 2:6-7

Then Jesus said, "Come, follow me."

--Matthew 4:19

To God's Glory

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are holy and righteous. I am not. You made me in Your image, so deep inside I have always known what I should be like. But, on my own, I wouldn't do anything to change. Thank You for seeking me and inviting me to follow You. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Jesus said, "Follow Me." God, I commit to following You with all that I am. Help me keep that promise.

Amen

All These Things - June 12, 2010

Daily Reading

1Kings 7, 2Chronicles 4

Daily Verse

When all the work King Solomon had done

for the temple of the LORD was finished,

he brought in the things his father David had dedicated

-the silver and gold and the furnishings-

and he placed them in the treasuries of the LORD's temple.

1Kings 7:51

Daily Thought

The first Temple, 960 - 586BC, destroyed by the Babylonians. The second Temple, 516BC - 70AD, destroyed by the Romans.

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.

--Matthew 24:1

Temples last a long time, but they don't last forever.

"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

--Matthew 24:2

We make religion out of things, the buildings we design, the clothes we wear, the songs we sing, the translations we read, the rituals and the statues and the stained glass.

"Do you see these things?" Jesus asked. They don't last, they won't last. Stop calling my attention to things.

This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me?"

--Isaiah 66:1

You are that house.

Jesus said, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

--Revelation 3:20

To God's Glory

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

Holy God, your servant King David asked, "O LORD, who am I that You care for me," that You turn your attention toward me. I keep turning my attention toward things, and yet You look upon me and care about me. God, may my focus never waver. Keep me from being distracted by things. May I look to You first, may I seek Your kingdom, your goodness, You always.

Amen

Science Knows God - June 11, 2010

Daily Reading

1Kings 5-6, 2Chronicles 2-3

Daily Verse

But who is able to build a temple for him,

since the heavens,

even the highest heavens,

cannot contain him?

Who then am I to build a temple for him,

except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?

2Chronicles 2:6

Daily Thought

Steven Hawking, a very smart man who taught at Cambridge, wrote a book about the universe.

He says our galaxy is one of more than 100 billion galaxies, each with 100 billion stars. Give or take. And all 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars are moving away from each other, so if you trace backwards in time, 13.7 billion years, all the stars were all together in one small, very heavy bundle.

And then there was a Big Bang. Chapter 8.

When I reach Chapter 8, I'm thinking, "I don't understand this. There has to be a God."

When Hawking reaches Chapter 8, he concludes, "I do understand this, and there has to be a God."

To God's Glory

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

My God, We worship You. We come together as Your church, Your people, to a place of worship, not because You live there. No building can contain You. No world can contain You. No universe, either. You hold all things in Your hand. By You all was created, and You hold it together.

I love the study of this universe, God, because Your fingerprints are all over it. God, good science leads to worship. May we on earth open our eyes and see You, and come to Your house because You have seen fit to meet us there. And there we will worship.

Amen

Veritas Is A Cool Motto - June 10, 2010

Daily Reading

Proverbs 22-24

Daily Verse

Buy the truth and do not sell it;

get wisdom, discipline and understanding.

Proverbs 23:23

Daily Thought

Emblazoned on the gates guarding Harvard Yard is the Latin word Veritas. Truth.

It is the motto of Harvard University.

Entering through those gates, I was greeted by the statue of John Harvard. Except it wasn't.

Dubbed the Statue of Three Lies, the bronze depiction is inscribed:

• John Harvard (no, it's a model)
• Founder (no, but he contributed A LOT of money)
• 1638 (no, 1636)

Buy the truth and do not sell it;

get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

--Proverbs 23:23

But where? Where does one find truth? Even the very gates that proclaim truth betray me.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life."

Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."

--John 14:6; 17:17

To God's Glory,

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

Dear God, I love reading Your Word. I learn so much about You, and about me. Okay, I'll admit, I don't always love learning about me. But I have learned to love the Truth, and Your Word is Truth. It reveals Your glory and it exposes my sin. As painful as that often is, God, it is good, because it leads me to Your grace, which returns me to Your glory.

God, even while I reject You and rebel against You, You love me so much that You seek me out. You expose my sin with Truth, not to condemn me, but to turn my heart back to You. I love Truth, God. It opens the door for Your love and grace.

Amen