We Are Spiritual Beings!

Say to them, “The Lord Yahweh says this. . . .I mean to raise you from your graves my people. . . .I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live.” (Ezekiel 37:12-14) If the Spiritof him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from thedead will give life to your own mortal bodies through the Spirit living in you. (Romans 8:1)

There doesn’t seem to be much room for debate for that, according to God’s Word, we are spiritual beings! In fact, I’ve been ruminating about this statement and trying to unpack it for about a month now, “We are spiritual beings who have a soul and live in a body.” The scriptures quoted above confirm the fact that if we are believers we have a spirit. The confusing part has to do with the soul.

Conventional wisdom and common usage intermingles the two which, to my mind, diminishes the power of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives. In fact, I’ve just been following a Lenten devotional called Seven Weeks for the Soul by Gerard Hughes. Our church library had it, and a lot of other very good guides to refresh our spirit on display. I grabbed this one just at the start of Lent. (I must confess, the title drew me because I had already been pondering the soul/spirit issue and wanted to see if this book had anything to help clear my mind.)

Pastor Tim must have read this book! He has been guiding us through his worship messages, discipleship teaching and the Source on Wednesday nights on many of the subjects covered in this book. It all has to do with disciplining the soul - that our spirit may be our prime motivator and guide as we navigate this life wanting to serve God and fulfill His plan for our lives.

Our soul has to do with our mind, emotions and will. A spiritual person, like you and me, longs to demonstrate our spirit-led life through the Fruit of the Spirit as well as the gifts designed to encourage, instruct and serve others. A congregation full of spiritual beings who have disciplined souls will be walking witnesses to what God can do when His people submit to Him. The pure joy of that knowledge just has to burble over into our worship time! That’s my prayer for Washington Cathedral.

Pastor Sally Jo Holmes

"Easter is Just the Beginning!"

When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!” Acts 12:12-14

They were spending all night in prayer, praying for Peter who was in chains and in Prison. An angel came and set Peter free; and Peter walked out of Prison and came to the very house where they were praying. When he knocked on the door Rhoda would not even let him in because she was so overjoyed. The people thought she was out of her mind when she told them their prayers had been answered―all the while Peter was still knocking on the door. (This is slapstick comedy- - - almost something that would work for a Jerry Lewis sketch.) But it is so true to life―we are surprised when God answers prayers.

Easter is not the end of the revival at Washington Cathedral—it’s just the beginning!

Now we unleash the most powerful wave - hundreds of people every single week trying to live like Jesus; doing “random acts of kindness” and starting a ripple effect in our community and our world! This is the fun part!! Make sure to write me an email @ tim.white@wacathedral.org telling about your random acts of kindness adventures so that I can share them with the church. I’m excited to hear touching stories, funny stories and even stories where it did not seem to work. I will be sharing about this great-awakening in our church and how it is changing our lives. Remember, Easter is not the end of the story it is just the beginning!!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

"We Have a Date with God!"

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” Acts 18:9-10

Washington Cathedral raises the financial budget for the AFE School in Honduras that pays for salary, food, etc. Jackie and I just returned from visiting there. We just had a short time and Jackie was determined that one of the things we would buy would be Bible covers. Our Spanish is limited and everyone seemed to direct us someplace else in the city. Finally we entered a shop and Jackie said, “This place is not going to have Bible covers.” I looked at the man behind the counter and said, “You never know. This guy is a Christian.” She said, “How do you know?” But, before I could answer, the man said, “My name is Christian and I am a follower of Jesus Christ.” And he spoke in perfect English! (I could tell because he was listening to a sermon and the store was full of Christian artifacts.) Jackie told him that we were shopping with money that was raised by a sweet girl by the name of Rachel to buy things for an auction that will raise money for the kids living in the city dump. He asked who our connection was and we told him about Rey and Elise. “Oh!” he said. “I saw them on T.V. [Good morning Honduras] I really want to help!” So he sold us everything at half-price and then took 10% off the total. If they didn't have what Jackie wanted, they even sent someone to run to another store to buy it and bring it back! After the sale he shared his faith with me and I invited him to come to the church I had preached at the day before. We have never had so much fun shopping. When we returned we told our kids, “That was such a blast - it felt like a date!”

We are praying that we can all reach out with our faith to touch three people. Easter is a great time to just walk across the room and start a conversation- - - Have someone over for dinner- - - Help someone in a way that initiates friendship. And you never know the good that can come by simply reaching out.

When we were at the dump, there were three new children there. The oldest was about seven. They had fresh faces and the look of terror. We were handing out popsicles, cookies and water in the 90+ degree temperature. People were mobbing us, but these kids were too afraid to come over and let us help them. I asked Pastor Jeony if he knew them and he said, “Not yet.” Jackie asked me to wade my way into the dump to give them something, but they ran when I approached them. We begged Pastor Jeony to make sure that he and Rey would try and build a friendship with them and develop trust through serving them so that “Together for Transformation” can save their lives.

When we reach someone this spring, we are helping reach someone who will not only benefit from a positive, authentic relationship with Jesus, but they may become a person that saves lives. What an adventure!! (I guess we could call this a date.) We have a date with God to experience all the joy of really reaching out and making a difference in three people’s lives.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White