Why the Psalms are Important

There are a lot of messages of hope and help out there. This is a time when we need those kinds of words. 

But, if I’m honest with myself; There are a lot of days, hours, moments where I’m

Not. 

Okay. 

I don’t often feel anxiety, uncertainty and (let’s call it what it is) fear. I’m typically the strong, resilient, perseverant one. 

But, today is not that day. This week has not been that week. 

As I've scrolled through my preferred flavors of social media, I find equal measures of hope and despair. I don’t know how to find my center when my community, work, church, and even family have been in a state of constant flux. I’m disorientated, unsettled and honestly...

Exhausted. 

I’m tired and I want to avoid these feelings by thinking about something else. And yet, I can’t escape them, just as I can’t even escape my own home. It is in those moments that I am reminded of the type of resilience that is called for in this time. The same resilience that communities of faith have cultivated for thousands of years. The same resilience that is described in the book of Psalms. 

More than any other book of the Bible, Psalms reflects the spectrum of human life experience.

The poetry of this book speaks from the reality of our world, not as it is hoped to be, but as it truly is.  There is joy mixed with sorrow, praise held alongside pain, and despair mingled with hope. Collected within Psalms are prayers of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. 

Isn’t that how life is?

We go through seasons when all seems right with the world. We feel a sense of gratitude for the constancy of love, life, and affection. These are the Psalms of Orientation. 

Inevitably life happens, and the reality of living in an imperfect, broken world hits us and we feel anguish, hurt and alienation. Our pain and suffering clash with what we had known to be true. The pain of that moment disorientates from what we thought was stable and true. These are Psalms of Disorientation. 

Psalms of disorientation deal with the raw reality of pain and grief. Unmasked and unfiltered. Humans need to express this and God desires to hear it. Your struggle in quarantine, your frustration with your living situation, or your sorrow at the widespread devastation of this pandemic, and your fear for your family, are welcomed by God. 

You are meant to share your unfiltered feelings with God. 

Psalms demonstrate that you need to process and not pretend or push away negative thoughts. 

The way of resilient faith recognizes we must deal with pain and suffering as it really exists, but we must also trust that prayers begun in hopelessness will not end there. God delights in surprising us with hope. Psalms of New Orientation reflect feelings of great joy when God breaks through our despair and evokes a sense of newness and reorientation. 

The subversive lesson of Psalms is that pain and praise are a conjunctive force for good and both are elements of faithful living. Psalms teach us that God has and will continue to give us space to be raw, real and honest.  Our cries of desperation and delight are welcomed. 

This is precisely why the Psalms are so important. 

This is why we will be spending some time on Facebook live in the coming weeks, helping us to pray through the Psalms in this way. Join us on Facebook at Noon every day next week for our journey through the Psalms. 

Written by Sarah Wise

Sarah Wise teaches for our School of Biblical Studies and manages many of the behind the scene components for our ministry. Sarah has a Masters of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary.

Merry Christmas from Emmaus- A year in Reflection

Merry Christmas everyone! It is absolutely unbelievable to think that we are just days away from another Christmas and only a few weeks away from a brand new decade! We hope that everyone is preparing for a holiday filled with family, food, and traditions that warm the heart with love and memories. Before 2019 comes to an end, we wanted to take some time to update everyone on the life of Emmaus. 

The Biblical Narrative Series completely exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations this fall. The staff came together and prayed to have 25 people in attendance for 7 Monday nights. We all thought that 25 people committing that kind of time to exploring their Bible would be such an exceptional experience. God blew our minds with 80 attendees from 11 different churches and 6 different denominations! We are nearly sold out for the upcoming session of the New Testament Narrative Series that will be beginning this spring. The life that has been breathed into this program has given the staff high hopes for its continued growth in the future! 

Our students in the School of Biblical Studies have journeyed through nearly the entire Old Testament. They headed into Winter Break this week with just one more unit to finish before they get to collide with Jesus and his disciples in the Gospels! It has been a wonderful semester building relationships with one another. There have been many laughs and just about as many tears as God’s word works its way from pages in a book to treasures in the student’s hearts.

Our newest staff members Kristi Marsh and Morgan Phaneuf have officially completed their first full year with Emmaus, and are constantly demonstrating how much of a gift they both are to this community! Both now have several book lectures under their belts and many hours spent in all the things that Emmaus has to offer. The staff grows beyond coworkers, beyond friends and into a family as we work together to fulfill the mission of Emmaus. We are so glad that Kristi and Morgan are a part of this family!

Kristi Marsh Teaching

Morgan Phaneuf Teaching

Speaking of family, the Emmaus team is losing an entire family, but it’s for an incredible reason. Lizzie Rogers, who has been a part of our teaching and support staff, will be leaving for God’s new adventure in her life this week. Lizzie’s husband, Trey--who is also an Emmaus alumni, a former staff member, and a current board member--has been called to be the lead pastor of a church in Lexington, Kentucky.

2019 has been one of the most exciting years in the history of Emmaus, and we are so excited as we look forward to everything that God has for us in 2020! In your end-of-year giving, please consider an investment into the staff of Emmaus. If you are already a partner with the staff of Emmaus, THANK YOU!  If not, would you please consider making a one-time or ongoing investment in the lives of our staff as we continue to serve in the mission to equip all people to engage their Bibles and be transformed by Jesus! 

Thank you for partnering with Emmaus Ministries! We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in 2020!

Biblical Narrative Series: Journey Through the Old Testament

Do you have questions about the Old Testament? Have you made the resolution to read through the Bible in one year only to stop in the middle of Leviticus? Who is Nahum? What’s a Psalm?  On September 23rd, Emmaus Ministries will be launching our Biblical Narrative Series and it’s all about the Old Testament! 

On Monday nights, for 7 weeks, from 6:30 to 8:30, we will be covering the entire Old Testament, book by book. Attendees will receive their own workbook that includes structural outlines of each book, full color maps and timelines. The sessions will be a lecture style format in which instructors will give the historical background and context that will help Bible readers feel equipped to more effectively engage in reading and studying the Bible. 

This is a completely new format for our Narrative Series and we are excited to share what we believe is the “new and improved” program. In the past, the Narrative Series has met once a month for during the course of a typical “school year” (from August to May) in an individual seminar style format, covering the entire Bible in thematic sections. This year, we are starting a more course style format, meeting during consecutive weeks with a series on the Old Testament in the fall and the New Testament in the spring. We hope that this format maintains momentum and makes the Biblical Narrative Series accessible for small groups, church groups, ministry staff and friends to do together. 

The heart of the Biblical Narrative Series is that attendees leave better equipped to engage their Bibles. It is our hope to take these unfamiliar books that were written in a different time to a culture that is completely foreign to our current day and make them come alive. It is difficult to feel like Obadiah is relevant to our lives today when you don’t know why it was written in the first place, or to whom it was originally written at all! However, with historical context and good application of the mindset of the original readers, these books become the living and active words of God. 

If you’re interested in signing up for the Biblical Narrative Series, here’s what you need to know:

When: Monday Nights September 23rd through November 4th from 6:30-8:30

Where: Canterbury Conference and Retreat Center 

1601 Alafaya Trail Oviedo, Florida

How: To pre register visit: www.emmausbibleministries.org/narrative

Cost: $50 to pre register or $75 at the door on September 23rd 

Back to School: A New Year

School is in session! Last week we kicked off the 2019-2020 year with our new School of Biblical Studies students! Over the next 10 months, we will journey with this class as they study every book of the Bible. 

Emmaus Ministries derives its name from the story of the disciples who met Jesus on the road to the city of Emmaus: Luke 24:31-32: And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”  It’s an absolute joy to walk with this group of people as they set out on their own Emmaus Road Journey. We know that as the year goes on, we will witness their hearts begin to burn through the study of the Bible. 

The first two weeks of class are seminar style, during which the students learn the method we use to study the Bible here at Emmaus. Our school teaches a variation of the Inductive Method, a way in which to study the scripture that seeks to draw conclusions only from the text. This approach sets aside any preconceived notions that a modern reader may have and focuses on the text in its original context. This is the lens through which our students view scripture and then move it into practical application to their lives today. Inductive Bible study has three steps: observation, interpretation and application. 

We use the Book of Jonah to teach the Inductive Method. This book of the Bible usually comes loaded with preconceived ideas, mental images, even songs and stories from childhood! Students are usually familiar with certain aspects of the story, they may relate it to God speaking to Jonah, or Jonah running away and getting swallowed by a “big fish.” Students often find that they have to let go of what they think they know about the story in order to inductively study the book. 

As the week progresses, The Book of Jonah begins to transform from the “familiar children's story” to a convicting, relevant, and timeless lesson about how God loves his enemies. It becomes a case study of what it looks like to truly repent and follow the Lord. For our students, Jonah is no longer just a story on a page, but a story that reveals truths about God's character in such a way that imprints something on their hearts. 

We are so excited to begin another year of studying the whole Bible and to watch as the students encounter Jesus throughout the whole of scripture. Our hope is that you’ll join us in this year while this class journeys through the bible. Please pray that our students meet Jesus with fresh eyes on open hearts. Our goal is that this would be not just scholarly school, but one of disciples that are growing, maturing and learning what it looks like to follow after Jesus.

Meet the Staff: Caleb Ives

Caleb and his wife Latoya.

This week we have the privilege of sitting down with Caleb Ives, the executive director of Emmaus Ministries. Caleb came on staff in 2012 when Emmaus Ministries was a bible school in the mountains of North Carolina. Caleb and his wife Latoya moved to Florida with their 4 daughters during Emmaus’ relocation and relaunch in 2015. Caleb is known for teaching the word of God with life and being a friend to all that he meets.

Caleb, lets just jump right in, what do you do around here?

I guess I do “director” things!  I teach in our different programs, shepherd the staff team, lead board meetings, and think a lot about vision for the future. But honestly, I feel like I spend most of my time in conversations. Whether with staff developing teachings and designing ministry programs, with students wrestling through difficult Bible passages and life challenges, or with pastors & leaders exploring ways to equip their Church to follow Jesus and engage their Bible. I end up spending a lot of my time in conversations.

What is your favorite part of your Job?

I love pretty much everything about my job, but my favorite part is seeing people discover new things in the Bible. It’s exciting to see individuals and churches feel equipped and gain renewed excitement to engage the Bible. And it’s incredible to get to play a part in them becoming captivated by the beauty of the Gospel and the character of God as He is revealed in the Scriptures.  Basically, I love having a front row seat to see the gracious work of Jesus transforming lives and communities! Dang...I love my job!

When did you know God was calling you to be a part of Emmaus?

Well, this really is a three part answer. PART 1: In 2011, I was Pastoring in Michigan and felt a tangible sense of lack when it came to my knowledge of the Bible. Along with this I was struggling with anxiety and a lot of shame. At a retreat in Florida, a mentor told us about the School of Biblical Studies and my wife and I knew this was what God had for us. That retreat center in Florida “happened” to be Canterbury Retreat Center in Oviedo, FL. Four months later we were living in the mountains of North Carolina, and I was studying the BIble all day, every day in the School. Over the next year, I became a new person as the Gospel saturated my heart and the Spirit reshaped my life. PART 2: I came to the School planning to leave afterwards, go work at a church while finishing seminary, then go plant the church I’d always dreamed of planting. But, during my student year, my wife and I began to feel a desire to serve this ministry that God had used to impact our family so much.  After graduation we interviewed with a couple of awesome churches and tried to find something we could do OTHER than join the missions staff. Ultimately, God continued to pull us back to Emmaus. So, we committed to joining staff for two years, (while I finished Seminary) then we were going to go plant a church. PART 3: After those two years, I was a part of the staff team who discovered God was directing Emmaus to relocate to Central Florida...to a retreat center...by the name of Canterbury Retreat Center in Oviedo, FL (see Part 1). It was a crazy collision of our original call for me to be a student and the deepening call for this to be the ministry we give our lives to. It was through this process of discernment that our family really felt God running deep roots of this Emmaus calling in our hearts. In 2015 we moved with a few other staff to Central Florida to relocate Emmaus. Then in 2018 I accepted the commission as the new Executive Director of the ministry. It’s been quite a journey!

Which Bible Character would you want to get coffee with?

Am I not allowed to say Jesus? The right answer is pretty much always Jesus. If not Jesus, I think I’d like to grab a coffee with the exilic prophets. I have really been inspired by the faithfulness of the ministries of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. They are rejected, persecuted, mocked and ignored. Jeremiah is told from the start of his ministry that no one will listen to him, but he remains faithful and is willing to do absolutely insane things in obedience to God and in service to the people. Daniel manages to be both incredibly humble and unbreakably strong as an exile in Babylon, his courageous trust in God has always challenged me. Ezekiel essentially has to redefine everything he thought he would be doing as a priest in Jerusalem, instead being called to be a prophet to the Exiles in Babylon. Another reason I’d want to have coffee with those guys, their stories would be epic: Jeremiah took a three month walk to bury his underwear as a prophetic sign; Daniel spent a night with lions; Ezekiel cooked food over cow poop and saw some super trippy visions. That would be an entertaining conversation for sure!

What was your favorite Christian Song to jam out to growing up?

Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith were definitely a background soundtrack for my childhood, but I’d say Carman was my jam as a kid. He had these ridiculous music videos and I thought they were amazing! I was also 110% “Down with the DC Talk” in my early adolescence. I can pretty much rap “I Don’t Want It” word for word to this day. It was the only Christian song I knew that used the word “sex” so, it had my attention as a middle schooler. In high school I discovered the Christian rap legend that is Antonious (sarcasm), but those bass lines rattled the windows of my 1988 Ford Taurus for a few years. You can probably tell that I was super cool.

Why Emmaus?

First of all, because Emmaus is committed to addressing perhaps the largest problem of the Church in America today: Biblical Illiteracy. Studies show that engaging the BIble is the number one discipline that produces life-long spiritual growth. Also, the Emmaus Road of Luke 24 is an experience that continues to repeat itself. As people journey together with the Jesus who opens the Scriptures, it continues to produce burning hearts with renewed passion for Jesus & His mission. It settles the anxious heart with the hope that is in Jesus. I’m so glad God has called our family to be a part of this ministry!

 If you would like to partner financially with the Ives family you can follow the link below or if you would like to read Caleb’s updates you can follow that link below.