Greetings on this Most Holy Week,
This post is both an invitation and commentary. First the invitation. You are all invited to a Maundy Thursday observance this Thursday at 7:00 PM.
The word 'maundy' comes from the same Latin root from where we get our English word, 'mandate.' It refers to the fact that at that last Passover celebration Jesus shared with his disciples, he both instituted our sacrament of communion and mandated (commanded) us to continue to partake of the bread and the cup 'in remembrance of him.'
This Thursday evening we will obey Jesus' command as we gather to worship, read the gospel narratives of the Passion Week and share in the Lord's Table. This is a very reverent and solemn observance as we honor the Lord's suffering on our behalf. There is childcare provided for children up to six years.
Now the commentary.
This year the calendar happily syncs up the Jewish Passover celebration and our observance of Good Friday and celebration of Resurrection Sunday. This is not always the case. The reason? Early in church history, the observance of Holy Week was de-linked from Passover as an act of overt antisemitism. The Jews were accused of deicide in the death of Christ. This made Holy Week an occasion for annual pogroms where Jews lived in Christian lands. It is an ugly truth of history.
That is why I had asked Rabbi Librach to come to Wellspring last week and teach on the biblical observance of Passover as Jesus and his disciples would have celebrated it. I did so for several reasons. One was to continue the ongoing friendship between the rabbi, his congregation and the Wellspring family. The second was to take an action directly opposite to the centuries of persecution of Jews associated with this week. And the third was to continue to help us, as Christians, to re-center our understanding of Jesus' passion as the fulfillment of the themes and prophetic portents of Passover.
It was not only hateful to de-link Holy Week from the Jewish observance of Passover, it is unbiblical. The Old Testament calls Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles perpetual 'festivals of the Lord.' They are not only festivals of Israel--they are festivals unto the Lord, which have ongoing meaning for the people of God. We see New Testament fulfillment of Passover in the cross and resurrection. We see New Testament fulfillment of Pentecost in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. And we look forward to (are currently experiencing?!) the fulfillment of Tabernacles in the end-time in-gathering, or harvest, of souls.
So, in inviting Rabbi Librach, I know I was stretching the envelope a bit for some of you. To have a non-Messianic rabbi take a Christian pulpit is a bit of a stretch. But this was done with intention and with the elders' approval and blessing. I was confident that the rabbi, who is an excellent Bible teacher, would give us some solid understanding of the feast, and honor our faith in the process.
I have given him a rain check. We will let you know when this works out. I look forward to that--I hope you will as well.
In the meantime, may you all have a blessed and meaningful Holy Week.
Pastor Rick
P.S. By the way, the rabbi invited any and all of us to the United Jewish Center on Wednesday evening, April 18 at 7:30 for observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. I am planning to go myself. Maybe some of us can carpool down to Danbury.

Sunday morning we arrived back from our week-plus in Israel. It was an amazing tour and prayer journey. Wow! Thanks to all of you who prayed for us during our time in the Holy Land. We had many divine appointments and more than a couple divine encounters.

We experienced an amazing sense of the Lord's presence and peace at the Garden Tomb--the place where many believe Jesus was buried and rose again on the third day. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the location--but I know He is Risen! Then the heavens opened and the Spirit was poured out upon our group in Jaffa, where the Holy Spirit first fell upon Gentiles, as recorded in Acts 10. We met with Israeli soldiers on the northern border, about 250 yards from a Hizbollah headquarters. We met with leaders of an amazing ministry in Jericho called 'Seeds of Hope.' There are seven (7!) born-again believers in this ancient city that is now controlled by the Palestinian Authority. They run a kindergarten and community center to serve the local population and open doors for the gospel. We took the children of the kindergarten a gift from our own 'Welldiggers Weekday' school.

We were accompanied on the tour by Rabbi Cliff Librach of the United Jewish Center in Danbury, CT. Actually Rabbi Cliff helped to lead the tour. We had hoped that the good rabbi would be with us this coming Sunday to teach on the biblical Passover. But alas, his return flight and the drawn-out process of immigration control at JFK will prevent him from arriving on time to be at both services. So . . . the congregation will be forced to listen to me. (Hope you come anyway!)

I do plan to teach a bit about Passover and its significance to all the people of God, with some very contemporary applications for Americans in 2012. The Lord gave me a powerful middle-of-the-night download a month or so ago and I believe the timing is right to share this with all of you.

I also want to tell you about plans for Holy Week. We will observe Maundy Thursday on April 5th at 7:00 PM. This will be a special observance of the Last Supper with readings from the gospel texts and response in song. Childcare for 6 and under will be provided in the nursery.

Then on Resurrection Sunday, April 8th, we will hold to our normal schedule of services at 9:00 and 11:00. The children from Well Diggers, Go Fish, and The Rock will share in the service with song and some dramatic touches that should add a special touch to the festivities.

I am sorry that Rabbi Cliff will not be able to launch the week. But we have given him a rain check for another date to be named later.


Many blessings, Pastor Rick

This coming Friday Debbie and I will be joined by about 20 other pilgrims as we make our way from JFK in New York to Ben Gurion Airport, outside of Tel Aviv.

Would you like to come along? You can join us and help us in our assignment with your prayers.
Our trip has many purposes. It will be a prayer journey, a spiritual adventure and a learning holiday. We intend to visit many sites of biblical importance and to immerse ourselves in the life and culture of Israel. This includes meeting with Messianic believers in the land, especially our missionary and friend, Ariel Laurence Blumenthal and his wife and daughter.

We are blessed to have Rabbi Cliff Librach and his wife, Miriam, co-lead this spiritual adventure. Cliff has led several tours to Israel before, but this is his first church tour. He loves the folk at Wellspring, just as he is highly esteemed and loved by many of us. We are praying that the trip will be a spiritual blessing to the Librachs. Will you join us in that prayer?

Jerusalem, Jericho, Capernaum, Nazareth, En Gedi, the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea--these are all places we will visit. We hope to learn much by being on the ground and in the land where the biblical story actually occurred.

Many of you are undoubtedly aware of the tensions and threats that have arisen for Israel in recent weeks and days--first from Iran and then rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel. We have been quite aware of these potential dangers. But as we have prayed, we have sensed a green light to proceed. Indeed, the Lord has spoken to me that we have an assignment for this trip. I am not sure of the specifics, but I do believe that we are carrying prayers and declarations and blessings for the land and people of Israel at this time.

Will you partner with us in this assignment? Our intercessory protocol for this trip centers on a daily declaration of Psalm 91. Will you pray that for us, declare it for the mission in agreement with us each day while we are gone? Thank you! We leave March 16 and return March 25.

We expect to bring back plenty of blessings to share with all of you!
Pastor Rick

"Steve Backlund. Man, that guy really changed my life!"

Those were words I heard from several members of the staff team at Bethel Church when Debbie and I were there this past autumn for our sabbatical. Steve's message on relentless mind renewal has caused me to elevate hope in my own walk. And it has given rise to us intentionally pursuing hope this year as a congregation.

I have said to many that of all the outside speakers and ministers we have had at Wellspring over the years, Steve has been the most practical and his ministry has born the most consistent fruit. And we have had some great folks here over the years.

So what else can I say except, "Steve is coming this Friday evening!" We will have ONE meeting with him and his team of interns from Bethel Church this fall and it is this Friday, March 9 at 7:00 PM. Come expecting solid teaching; come expecting a touch from God; come expecting a prophetic word; come expecting healing in your body; come expecting heaven to invade earth.