Lies!

For Tuesday, April 7, 2026:

Matthew 28:11 NLT: “As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened.”

The tomb was discovered open, and the body of Jesus was missing. This is exactly what the Jews didn’t want to happen. That’s why guards were placed at the tomb. But what happened next is even more unbelievable.

The leading priests met with the elders and agreed to pay a large bribe, asking the guards to lie. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’’’ Religious leaders without truth have no platform on which to stand. Lying violates every commandment that they teach.

Verse 15 concludes this section: “So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.”

Question: Why would anyone stick with a religion predicated on a lie? This is one more example of religion getting seriously off-track. God rescued his people from Egypt and gave them the Promised Land. Then God’s Son came to Earth to rectify mankind’s sin problem. Forgiven, the people should reconcile with the Lord, not be fighting over the authenticity of the Son. God had everything worked out until mankind lied. It’s like the Garden of Eden all over again!

God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Love all three and love your neighbor, and the Lord will smile on you!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Arrested!

For Thursday, October 2, 2025:

Mark 14:46 NLT: “Then a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs grabbed Jesus and arrested him.”

The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders had been planning Jesus’ demise for quite some time. They didn’t want to arrest Jesus in the Temple. It would seem wrong. It would look bad if a temple teacher were arrested. “Keep police action out of our worship space!”

One of Jesus’ defenders produced a sword and sliced off an ear of the High Priest’s slave. Jesus restored the ear, to which I would say, “Look at what just happened. The man you’re arresting can heal whatever’s wrong and cure any disease! Perhaps we should rethink this!”

But without knowing it, the Pharisees were fulfilling God’s plan. The blood of Jesus was to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Mankind would thereby be redeemed. It would be a rough couple of days for Jesus, but after that, his mission would be complete. (“It is finished!”)

Jesus would have to walk through the fire by himself. (50) “All his disciples deserted him and ran away.” God was keeping them safe. If they stayed close to Jesus, they too would have been killed as accomplices. But God was counting on the disciples to function as leaders of “The Way,” the new Christian church! They needed to be preserved!

The church that the disciples established still exists nowadays, with many franchised locations. We worship at one each week. Thankfully, God had the disciples temporarily step back. When Jesus rose from the grave, they regrouped and came back stronger than ever. 2K years later, people are still signing up for the Jesus team!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Conspiracy!

March 18, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 14:53 NLT: “They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered.”

We’ve heard a lot in the news lately about conspiracies. A conspiracy is, “an agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.” The leading priests, elders, and teachers of religious law were conspiring against Jesus. They should be ashamed of themselves. These teachers of religious matters were conspiring to falsely arrest and eventually murder Jesus. Obviously that was a bad decision and a violation of more than one commandment.

Jesus knew more about God, the Kingdom, and eternity in heaven than the alleged religious experts, so jealousy could have played a part in their decision. I believe position, power and money were also a part of their displeasure.

Jesus was an itinerant preacher, which means that he traveled around a lot and spoke in many different places. He acknowledged this, saying, “The Son of Man has no home.” And when these crowds gathered to hear Jesus, they were oftentimes not at the Temple, which means their tithes were not at the Temple.

The way in which these leaders “did” religion was part of the problem. They had studied Torah and knew God’s commandments well. For them, the goal was catching someone else doing something wrong, enforcing the commandments. They obviously skipped over the parts about God’s love, forgiveness and offer of salvation. The text about loving your neighbor as yourself wasn’t front-of-mind.

Having a complete Bible nowadays gives us a complete picture of what those religious leaders got wrong. Following Jesus, we have been taught how to live our lives. Other Christians should be the nicest people we meet!

Remember, God’s desire is that none would perish, and that all would repent and return to their creator!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Psalm 44 - Teach Me Your Experience!

May 16, 2016 Monday Message:

“We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.” Psalms 44:1 NIV

We would do well to learn from our ancestors; life would be easier. But mankind seems to learn best in the school of hard knocks. We have to try things for ourselves, make our own mess, then try to clean things up and straighten things out before we realize that it would have been simpler to just listen to our elders, to learn from them.

When I was a young man, coming out of high school, going off to college, I thought I knew everything; I had life under control. My parents were hopelessly boring, simple people, who were intent on curtailing my youthful exuberance. I’d show them!

But as an adult, raising my own children, I frequently heard my parent’s words coming out of my mouth. It seems that my parents get smarter the longer I live!

America’s Revolutionary War supporter Edmund Burke wrote, “Those who don’t know history, are doomed to repeat it.” Learning from those who walked before us gives us the opportunity to build upon their experience, to increase our generation’s knowledge.

When legendary New York Yankee’s catcher Yogi Berra first came to the major leagues, he asked the previous catcher to “teach me your experience.” According to the Bible, that was a good thing to do.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10 am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. Sunday, May 22, Pastor Michael Pilla resumes our study in Romans.

Ancestral Accolades

February 18, 2013 Monday Message:

We’ve been looking at the 10 Commandments. Ex. 20 The first four are about our relationship with God, and we wrapped up that section last week.

Jesus also taught us, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Matt. 22:39 and the remaining six commandments deal with exactly that: Our relationships with others.

#5    "Honor your father and your mother..."

If I had understood this sooner, I could have done a better job with it. As a know-it-all young adult, I felt my parents were hopelessly old-fashioned and no fun at all. After all, I was young, hip, better looking, had more hair and less weight, and, frankly, I was cool. Or so I thought.

As I grew older and wiser myself, I discovered that my parents had been full of wisdom all along. But now my eyes were opened and I could see. I came to realize that those who once appeared fatally square were actually the ones on a solid path. I have been able to discern, not just in my parents, but also in all elders, much perennial wisdom. Gaining that knowledge had a lot to do with thinking less of myself, and caring more about others. It’s been a gradual learning process; progress, not perfection.

I don’t think I’m alone in this. Elders throughout our country are routinely discarded in favor of the tragically hip. Instead of valuing senior wisdom as a resource, and giving elders a place of honor, it seems we can’t be troubled by their presence.

The Bible says that even though walking with the Lord might make us unpopular in the short run, it will work out in the long run. We should all be intentional about this good, God honoring thing, lifting up our parents.

This is the only commandment that comes with a promise. God will grant you abundance and a long life in the land He is giving you.

Next week, #6: Killing vs. Murder!

Norton Lawellin

We’ll worship this Sunday, Feb. 24, 10:30am, Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF), in the North end of the Oliver Ministry Building, 27^th Street & Bloomington Avenue, Minneapolis. Jesus explains the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed as we open up Luke Ch. 8.

NL