'Restorative Justice'

Isaiah contains four familiar prophecies of Jesus in what have become known as the Servant Songs (Isaiah 42:1–4, Isaiah 49:1–6, Isaiah 50:4–9, and Isaiah 52:13–53:12).   They describe a mysterious “Servant of the Lord” tasked with bringing justice, restoration, and salvation

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
'The Importance of Remembering'

King David wrote a song to celebrate the Israelites bringing the Arc of the Covenant to Jerusalem for the first time. It was a huge event that included lots of music, Levites and Priests, sacrifices, and feasting. The song of David capped it all off. (I Chronicles 16:7-36) The song is beautiful as it incorporates praise, adoration, and thanksgiving. Two parts of the song stick out

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
'Seeing Clearly'

Making good decisions in life requires that we see clearly. We need to see clearly the people in our lives, the teachings we hear, and the resolution of problems within family and community members. I encourage you to read three important passages within which Jesus gives

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
Compassion Moves Us to Serve

Elie Wiesel was a survivor of an Auschwitz concentration camp. He lived through and witnessed horrors too terrible to comprehend. In one of his books he wrote, "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference." The hatred of the Jews was terrible, but worse was the indifference that permitted the atrocities to happen. Indifference allows hate to win over love. 

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
'Sowing for a Harvest'

Consecration Sunday was a celebration of God’s work at Munholland. On October 22, 1936, Metairie Methodist Church was birth. “Metairie” means “farm” in French. Thirty-six followers of Christ got together and looked across the houses and farmland. No doubt they heard Jesus speaking to them. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
'What Does Consecration Mean?'

What does it mean to be consecrated to God, to offer your full self to him? There is a single verse in Leviticus that gives us insight.

“Slaughter [the ram], take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar.” (Lev. 19:20)

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
Walk in the Way

The Christian life is not a one and done. Committing our lives to Jesus is a daily endeavor. The Christian life is not a casual affair. Christ wants us to follow him sacrificially, not only when it is convenient and doesn’t cost us. Isaiah 34:8-10 is a call to a daily life with the Lord.

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
'The Secular Saint'

Christian communities have try to figure out how followers of Jesus Christ are to relate to the world. There are three different schools of thought. First, Christians should withdraw from the world so as not to be drawn away from our relationship with Christ and putting our faith into practice. This approach was not just for the monastics. 

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
'Are you ready?'

The motto of the National Coast Guard is “Semper Paratus” which translates “Always Ready”. They must always be ready to do whatever work is required of them whether it is for defense or for recovery. No matter the task, they are ready. Are we always ready for the task at hand? Jesus tells a parable of the

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Rev. Jonathan Beck
What is ‘Righteousness’?

Righteousness is a puzzling word for most of us. We don’t use it much anymore. In the 1960s it meant the person was cool. Later it meant that someone was a generally descent person. But what does it mean in the Bible?

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Rev. Jonathan Beck