There is No Plan B – Why going is urgent, not optional

Truth 1: All people have knowledge of God – As evidenced by the fact that all cultures create gods to worship and some people choose not to worship them.

Truth 2: All people reject God – People choose to worship the created gods which include sun gods, nature gods, money, self.

Truth 3: All people are guilty before God – There is not one person who is entirely innocent. Even the best of the best of us have failed.

Truth 4: All people are condemned for rejecting God – God hates and condemns all sin. No one can stand in His presence.

Truth 5: God has made a way of salvation for the lost – God sent His Son to redeem us. He is the only who is worthy to go before God and speak on our behalf.

Truth 6: People cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ – There is no other way under heaven by which man can be saved. We cannot earn our own way.

Truth 7: Christ commands the church to make the gospel known to all peoples – Since we know Christ, we are commissioned to share knowledge of Him.

God sends his servants è His servants preach è People hear è Hearers believe è Believers call è Everyone who calls is saved

We are God’s Plan. We are THE Plan. We are Plan A. There is no Plan B.

If you are waiting for God’s purpose to be revealed to you, wait no further. This is it. This is all of it. You have been equipped to do good works.

I love when grand arguments are made!

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Romans 10:13-15 (ESV)

How Much is Enough? – American wealth and a world of poverty

It’s Sunday afternoon. I sit here with a cup of coffee, with chocolate raspberry creamer, with chocolate whipped cream and a cherry on top. I needed it. Many American’s would understand my feelings and my “need” for something special to soothe me.

I’m livid and broken-hearted and broken-spirited and disgusted and angry and ashamed. It actually took more than a specialty coffee to soothe me. In fact, I’m not yet soothed. I need more time to calm down and think straight instead of through this red haze that follows me around.

I’m not proud of myself. I should go straight to God. I was with God all morning. And then my “team” let me down. We’re in this together people! We’re not playing at a game here. But we are in this together. We are only as good as our weakest player? Is that me? Did I let you down?

When we have a problem, what do we Americans do about? We throw money at it – even if that money is being thrown directly into the garbage. It’s not unlike going to a restaurant and eating half of your meal and refusing a doggy bag. Making a pot of coffee and dumping the last cup when it’s cold. We are wasteful.

We ask for good, entertaining programming and then we don’t participate. My excuse? It’s not good programming. I want better, different. Some people don’t even care about what’s offered as long as they aren’t expected to do more than they are comfortable with. We are consumers.

I don’t want to be a consumer. I want to be a reproducer. I want a challenge. I want to do more. I’m told to let others have a chance. Well, where are they?

I’m sorry. We are a part of the wealthiest 15% of the world and we are not content. We want more. We should do with less. We don’t take advantage of what we already have.

In the Old Testament, God allowed Solomon to build Him a Temple for his name. In the New Testament, God did not require an extravagant church. We are the Church.

Snarky alert – What a lovely, brand new facility we will have for half of our children to refuse to participate in. And the parents will sit back and lift nary a finger. We are not here to perform. We are here to consume. We are too embarrassed to praise, but we are not beneath teasing those who do.

Have at it!

Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

1 Kings 8:20 (ESV)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

The Multiplying Community – How all of us join together to fulfill God’s purpose

There is a common theme among many of the books that I have read recently. Jesus had 12 close friends – 12 friends so close that they did everything together. They walked and talked; slept and ate; listened and prayed together. The 12 disciples had the opportunity to witness, first-hand, what it meant to lead a godly life.

Imagine, learning how to pray to God from God. He would be the One to know how to ask the Father for what He needed. Jesus also knew how to accept an answer of “no” appropriately.

I have yearned for the opportunity to spend more time with people that I see as godly. I have yearned to learn how to pray from those I consider masters. I have desired to learn the tricks to teaching God’s Word by illuminating unexpected incites. I want a mentor.

And I’m not too picky. I want someone that I consider to be at a level of righteousness that I would wish to strive towards. I don’t want someone to randomly assign me someone who I might not admire. Smirk. You think I can learn from them? Laugh.

I’m not selfish either. I am more than willing to mentor someone else. Let someone else be by my side at all times – someone to witness my triumphs, but also my failures. That person would wonder why they were assigned to me. I’m a long way down.

Is this where communes start?

It’s impossible to learn godliness from someone if you are never around them. And we are so over scheduled … I can block a time with you for an hour over lunch and maybe an hour after work, and if you want to run with me at 4:30. Can you talk while you run? How about just listen?

Don’t even get me started on my circle of 12. What if I’m not happy with the 12 God has given me. Or the 6. Or the 3? Then I am reminded – Jesus accepted Judas. Jesus chose Judas. Jesus forgave Judas. Judas declined.

So if going out to all nations preaching the Gospel seems a little overwhelming, remember Jesus’ mini-church. And it just occurred to me, okay, the Spirit pointed out to me that I know a lovely young Muslim girl that lives in the Middle East. She shared Easter with us more than six years ago. It is possible ….

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.”

John 17:6-7 (ESV)

The Great Why of God – God’s global purpose from the beginning till today

Two really great incites in this chapter and excellent support and explanation. But first, what is his summation of God’s global purpose as set forth not only in, but throughout the Bible? “God blesses his people with extravagant grace so they might extend his extravagant glory to all peoples on earth.” We were made to glorify God and teach everyone to do it likewise. Not just our next door neighbor, but also the person on the other side of the Earth.

How has the American dream, well, Americanized the Great Commission? First we’ve turned the purposes of God into purposes for us. We have a habit of making the Bible all about us, rather than all about God and His great plan for salvation through His Son, Jesus. And it has been done so blatantly, that I only hope this isn’t the first book or person to point it out.

We go around preaching “God loves you” which is true, but it is not the entire story. “God loves you” stated for yourself is “God loves me” and the object of that sentence is the same object of the American Dream – ME. “Jesus loves me this I know” is a great starting point for children and new believers, but we have to mature from there. I wonder if that is why that particular song sung in adult worship makes me uncomfortable. Or if I’m uncomfortable because I know I am not worthy …

If we are worshipping only in the “God loves me” mindset, we tend to make worship all about me. What I’m comfortable with. Which music I like. Which church suits me. When church best fits into my schedule. And this extends into which clothes I will wear, which car I will drive, which house I will live in. If God loves me, don’t I deserve the best? If He blesses me richly, shouldn’t I live accordingly?

The second idea he presents is that we tend to take parts of the Bible and delineate whether they were meant for me or for “other people.” Now, I will agree that in the past, and certainly into the present and even future, I pick and choose what I choose to obey. I don’t deny that it is all meant for me as well as all people, but such is disobedience. No, this idea was new for me. We have a tendency to think that SOME people are called to missionary work overseas, but we are not among them.

I’ll leave you with his example:

We take Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, and we say, “That means other people.” But we look at Jesus’ command in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” and we say, “Now, that means me.” We take Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8 that the Spirit will lead us to the ends of the earth, and we say, “That means some people.” But we take Jesus’ promise in John 10:10 that we will have abundant life, and we say, “That means me.”

Radical p. 73

My mind is already making arguments for why I’m here and not someplace else … And I think there’s more to it than that. There are certainly people that feel an undeniable call to take up and go. There are certainly people whose character and personality and gifts spur them to go. And there is plenty one can do for others across the globe from here … The question is … Are they doing it? Am I doing it?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

Beginning at the End of Ourselves – The importance of relying on God’s power

More irony. The United States of America was founded as One Nation Under God. Our money says, “In God We Trust.” Our founding Fathers wanted the right to pursue liberty, justice and happiness without a king determining their rights and religion. And somehow, over the course of more than 200 years, we stopped pursuing God and started pursuing the American Dream.

Pursuing God means trusting Him with where He leads us, even if He leads us across oceans and vast amounts of land. No, now we are raised to believe that we can “be all that we can be” and “can have it your way” and “the sky’s the limit.” We believe that anyone can grow up to be President of this country and not because God gives you the authority, but because you work hard and you earn it.

Okay, I’ve oversimplified. But I know I was raised to be independent, self-sufficient, to work and study hard. I was lead to believe that anything was possible if I put the time and effort into it.

AND

I was raised to know God and Jesus and be baptized in the Holy Spirit and to go to church and Sunday School on Sundays. I attended a parochial school where I learned God’s Word.

BUT

I needed to work hard, get a good job and earn money to support myself and family so I could have a nice house and a nice car. And if I worked hard enough and obtained a very good job, I might just be able to have a very nice house and a very nice car and very nice clothes as well.

AND

I needed to raise my children to know God and Jesus and continue to attend worship services and return a portion of my blessings to God and discover my Spiritual Gifts so I could put them to good use at the church.

BUT

The two never really met. And we wonder why there is such a disconnect. And it is oversimplifying again to say that we’re good Christians on Sunday mornings and we leave it all behind during the rest of the week. It implies that we don’t sin while we’re at church, but we lose all self-control once we’re out of the pew. I would go so far as to say that we’ve been raised that way. To keep the two separate. We are to be one thing for church and to be another thing at work.

And so now, some of us are seeing the disconnect and want desperately to change, but we are trapped.

We need to glorify God through allowing Him to work through our weakness. He loves to do that! We need to relinquish our American ideal to be the best and take credit for everything we do.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
John 14:12-14 (ESV)

Too Hungry For Words – Discovering the truth and beauty of the Gospel

After reading the first chapter, I recalled stories of kids playing a game at Camp Cilca. I never went, but they talked about playing this one game like it was the most fun they had ever had. I am not sure of the name, but it was something like Hidden Church. I listened jealously as they discussed teams and team members and team names. I had a very vivid imagination and had quite the game worked out in my head. I’ve still never played.

But after reading the first chapter, I thought it would be, well, fun is the wrong word, but I thought I would like to, well, play is the wrong word too. I imagined people having to walk to church at strange hours and sneak in at different times just in order to meet and discuss God’s Word.

Then I read chapter two only to discover that’s sort of exactly what the author’s church did. The picked Friday evening, 6pm to midnight, and they stripped down service to just people and their Bible’s. They didn’t quite get rid of their comfy chairs, but it was certainly not the dazzling service full of music and power points that they were used to. They were uncertain of how many would come. In the end, 1,000 was not unheard of.

The author also spoke of going to rural Asia and being asked to stay for 10 days in order to teach the Old Testament. When he was done, he was asked to teach the New Testament on his last day.

And I try to think of someone that I would be willing to listen to for 10 days while they teach me the entire Bible.

And it occurs to me that it didn’t so much matter who, BECAUSE it was all so very new to them. If I had never heard the Bible Stories growing up, I would probably be captivated as well.

As it is, I would love to sit and discuss the Bible with an intense group of people for an indefinite amount of time. I don’t want to sit and listen to the same thing from the same person at the same decibel for much longer than an hour. Probably more like 10-45 minutes.

We’re the ones that put the Church inside a church. We don’t need more church. We need more Church.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

Someone Worth Losing Everything For – What radical abandonment to Jesus really means.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt

This book came to my attention through various acquaintances. A friend suggested I read it. It has been sitting on my end table these few months waiting for me, but each book at its proper time. I’m used to being among the first to read a book, juvenile that is. I apologize if this is old news to you. Hopefully, my own reactions to this book will be interesting if not enlightening.

First off. Is a book really the best way to start a movement? I’m sorry to be snarky, but I’ve heard of the book, but I haven’t heard of any radical movement to deny the world, and follow Christ. If it’s really happening, wouldn’t that be something that we would be hearing about? Again, perhaps I just don’t run in the proper circles. But that says something in and of itself.

“The youngest megachurch pastor in history.” That’s the opening line. It’s not even a sentence. It’s an appositive meant to follow the author’s name. Those of us whose work revolves around books, know the importance of an opening line. It’s what sucks you in. It’s what makes you want to hear more. It’s not supposed to automatically offend you.

“The youngest megachurch pastor in history” versus “Jesus Christ – the youngest minichurch pastor in history.” Okay. Now my attention is captured. What we live today is NOT what was intended. We don’t need 500 Facebook acquaintances. We need twelve loyal and dependable friends that we are willing to live with. We don’t need a New York Times Bestseller of the moment. We need a compilation of the books of the Word of God. We need a Gospel that wasn’t even written until after the first wave of THE WAY hit.

This first chapter points out that when Jesus’ followers came to Him and asked Him what they needed to do in order to follow Him; it was almost as if He was trying to dissuade them through His answers. If you follow Me, you will be homeless. If you follow Me, you must leave the burial of your father to others. If you follow Me, you do not even have time to tell your family good-bye. If you follow Me, you must sell everything and give it to those in need. Did Jesus even want followers?

I feel trapped. I have a house that is too big for me to responsibly manage myself. And if I attempt to take better care of it, I will be spending an awful lot of time on material possessions. I tend to spend money on luxuries that I want, but do not need. When I talk myself out of it, there is always a good Christian telling me that I, in fact, do need to treat myself – that I deserve some attention. How did we get so topsy-turvy?

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God”

John 6:66-69 (ESV)

Ironic isn’t it? We sing these same words maybe once a month in church, and yet we have walked away …

Chapter 14 – The Difference He Makes

Who was Jesus?

He was A Sinless Friend of Sinners – Jesus was perfect, but was followed by the untouchables. Jesus made the “righteous” of His day uncomfortable. Jesus made the downtrodden welcome. He preached impossibilities for us mere humans, but accepted us as we came to Him.

He was The God-Man – Jesus was either God or a lunatic or worse. Non-Christians can claim He was a great teacher. They can say He was the ultimate role-model. But Jesus said, “I AM.” He was, is now, and forever will be. He is GOD or He is a liar. If He lies, then how good is He? Who is the Father of Lies? Satan.

He was the Portrait of God – Jesus showed us the Father. Jesus was the closest we could come to experiencing God. Everything that Jesus is, is the Father. Although temporarily separated, everything Jesus taught and did pointed us to the Father - both the Father’s anger and perfectionism and His love and righteousness.

He was The Lover – God is love and God loves us. The proof is in His Son sent to die on our behalf. It is the proof that He chases us down to reclaim us. It is the proof of what He is willing to do to make us His. And Jesus wanted us to love Him back. The Father wants us to love Him back.

He was the Portrait of Humanity – Jesus shows us what humans were supposed to be like. What we were created for. We are fallen, but Jesus was not. If we want a picture of the Garden of Eden before the serpent entered, Jesus showed us. Jesus showed us what it was like to be in perfect communion with the Father and in perfect community with our fellow man.

He was The Wounded Healer – Through Jesus’ wounds we are healed. The great irony. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. He made us all perfect in the eyes of God and Jesus will forever wear the scars to prove it. We beat and abused Him. We mocked and scoffed at Him, but He still forgives us – the great healing of the Spirit.

I was moved by the author’s ending. We are perpetually caught between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We are living on Saturday, the day with no name. We are waiting for His Second Coming.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (ESV)

Chapter 13 – Kingdom: Wheat Among the Weeds

I don’t think that I am the first or only person to think this way, but I have felt alone in my ponderings. We are too comfortable. We have been too comfortable for a long while. And we need something to spur us off our haunches.

If we are not willing to sell our things off, take up our cross, live in community and bear each other’s burdens, then perhaps we need a cataclysmic event to do the job for us. Think September 11^th, but nationwide and exponentially bigger.

Even saying this, I’m slightly frightened of it actually coming to pass. Suffering is not something that we ask for lightly. Who is to say that I or my loved ones would even live beyond the event to survive let alone recover?

I have another blog where I review books. If I were to read books that only I like, and not what I need to read in order to recommend from a solid and diverse collection, I would nearly always gravitate towards what I call dystopian literature. Such books are usually post apocalyptic and sometimes even pre apocalyptic. Something bad has happened and humankind is recovering. Unfortunately, the new societies tend to over-compensate for past mistakes …

Where am I coming from? Where am I going? This chapter touches on the Visible Kingdom that the first century Jews were anticipating versus the Invisible Kingdom that Jesus left us with.

Christianity tends to thrive and exponentially increase where it must be hidden – China and Russia. Where Christians are persecuted and martyred, there you will find strength in hope, faith, and love.

But where Christianity rules … these United States … the Kingdom that Jesus wished to establish, suffers. We are viewed as UnChristian. Many non-Christians love the idea of Jesus, they just don’t care for the people who call themselves followers. I agree.

We could/would do a much better job if we were the persecuted minority.

My heart longs for the Spiritual Warfare rhetoric. I wish I could tame my meandering mind and remember …

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.”

C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory

Chapter 12 – Ascension: A Blank Blue Sky

Part 3 – What He Left Behind

Many of us continue to gaze up at a “blank blue sky.” We’re still looking for Jesus, our closest tangible contact with God. The author gave me chills when he lamented that Jesus left very little evidence behind. He never had a home or family of His own. We have no artifacts to view in museums. It is as if He left without a trace.

But this is not true. Jesus left a very potent mark on this world. He left his stamp WITHIN mere humans. Eleven remaining disciples had just spent three very intense years with Jesus and would go on to share what they had heard, seen – witnessed – with thousands upon thousands.

There were others who would do the same, some we know by name, Paul, and others we do not. Then the first generation of witnesses was able to share with their children. I may be slightly off here, but I am thinking Timothy is an excellent example. He was raised in The Way by his mother and grandmother from birth. Still a very potent marker.

If you don’t believe in the power of people as an artifact of Christ… consider how many Christians there are today. And if you were to add up every follower of Christ who has ever lived… What if the disciples had continued to look up for Jesus? Instead of out.

Jesus left His stamp in humans. And He told us so even if we still don’t get it. If we’re still staring up at the skies, we’re missing out. We’re living with Jesus. We’re begetting Jesus. We’re teaching Jesus. We’re buying from Jesus. Jesus makes our cappuccinos. Jesus is driving in the car next to us. Jesus is standing at the bus stop. We’re yelling at Jesus. We’re ignoring Jesus. We’re impatient with Him. And He stares right back at us in the mirror.

We’re still staring upwards waiting for His grand entrance – which He will make, in God’s time. But until then, He is still a humble despicable. And He told us to take care of Him. We seem to be failing miserably.

There is a lovely thing about that. Jesus placed the Keys to Kingdom in the hands of ordinary men. Yes, the Father sent His Spirit into their hearts, but they were still human. Peter failed test after test right up to the very end. But Jesus still placed the Keys into Peter’s hands. God, Jesus, knew what He was doing. He sees the Grand Plan and we ordinary mess-ups have a role to play. We may be ordinary bumbling fools, but we are also His precious, peculiar? Treasure.

And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:10-11 (ESV)

Chapter 11 – Resurrection: A Morning Beyond Belief

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Finally! I can fall into the category of “Blessed”. There was nothing I had to give up to hold the title and nothing I had to do to earn it. I simply needed faith. And faith, the Lord provides.

I was listening to Air1 the other day and they were talking about a listener’s friend’s Facebook status which said, “God is for the weak and stupid.” The listener had taken offence, but was uncertain of how to approach the friend. Confront them or ignore them.

I was also affronted by the comment along with the morning radio station crew. I was trying to imagine what I would have done in the listener’s place. I had decided I would probably ignore it. It was an argument that couldn’t be “won”. I generally DO ignore comments made from unbelievers regarding God and religion.

After a song, the morning crew came back and their station manager joined them. He had an entirely different take on the comment. Rather than being offended, surprisingly, he agreed with the statement. God IS for the weak and stupid. Thank God! For I AM weak and stupid.

More and more I am relishing such Bible verses as “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:25 (ESV) It’s not about how smart or intelligent or clever I am. God always shows His strength through our weakness.

Who else could take ordinary disciples who were cowering in fear lest they be humiliated and beaten and executed like their master and turn them into the first Church on earth? At the end of the Gospels, they are hiding; their Teacher is dead. In the beginning of Acts, they are “on fire” and preaching; Christ is risen!

I don’t question and try to prove or disprove the resurrection. I simply believe. And if anyone would call me foolish for it, well then, HALLELUJAH! I am the court jester!

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

John 20:15-16 (ESV)

Chapter 10 – Death: The Final Week

Ever since my church introduced the Tenebrae Service on Good Friday, Good Friday has been my favorite service. I believe I was in 7^th grade at the time and my best friend and I were the acolytes for the evening. The pastors gave us a measure of responsibility in our duties and we relished it. It had never been done in our church before and they gave us general directions for our jobs, but left the details to us. They trusted us!

It has never escaped my notice that we spend quite a deal of time on the events leading up to Christ’s crucifixion. There were special names for special days. Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Maunday Thursday, Good Friday. We don’t have such things for Christmas. We spend a lot of time in somber solemnity ending in the huge celebration that is Easter. And Easter is over in one quick morning it seems.

And yet, you cannot have one without the other. There is no resurrection without death. And there is no hope without the resurrection.

It is at this time that Jesus finally tells us who He indeed is. He doesn’t tell shepherds and he doesn’t tell lepers, women or children. These, humble despicables already know. He tells the High Priest and Governor. He tells Church and State. He tells religion and politics. And He tells them when He has been humbled beneath even the most untouchable. When He least resembles royalty. When He least resembles power. He admits that “it is as you say.” Yes, I am the Son of God. Yes, I am the King of the Jews. Yes, I am your biggest threat.

When it is no longer believable.

When there is no longer any chance of creating a powerful religious following.

When there is no longer any chance of starting a destructive revolution.

He conquers us, not by force, but with love and grace. Open arms on a cross.

But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Matthew 26:63-64 (ESV)

And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”

Luke 23:3

Chapter 9 – Miracles: Snapshots of the Supernatural

Jesus is tempted again to show signs of who He was. Jesus again shows restraint. He knew that He could win the crowds with a show of miracles. He chose not be a circus. He healed the sick knowing it was far easier to heal physical ailments. To heal a diseased spirit was much more difficult – especially when the people didn’t recognize their disease of the heart.

The miracle currently the closest to my heart, is the one performed at the wedding in Cana. You think you have heard it a thousand times and then your pastor presents it to you in a new a different manner – with a box of wine, and another box and another box and another box – in order to show the magnitude of the miracle.

But nothing brings it home better than presenting the lesson yourself. (This is precisely why I long to teach my own Bible Study. I know I would get far more out of it by teaching rather than sitting and listening for an hour a week.) Nothing makes it stand out clearer than preparing the lesson and then presenting it three times in a row to three different age groups of children. That was a blessed day!

Here’s the set up. It’s Christmas VBS and the Bible Story for the second day is the wedding at Cana. And I am to present it by having the kids act it out!! We’re supposed to decorate for a wedding. Have presents for the guests to bring. Have wine jars to fill. Have something to represent a well.

As if that were not enough, I needed to find kids willing to play the bride, groom, Jesus, Mary, disciples, guests, servants, and host. And dress them accordingly.

If you had told me that the second day was to be the most successful day, I would have laughed, spitting I’m sure, in your face. Every kid from age 3 to 11 enjoyed it and got into it. I had the pleasure of feeding the lines to the actors. My favorite was always, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” And we delivered it like a modern day man!

I tell this story because, unlike the other miracles this chapter presented, this one shows Jesus’ humanity. I enjoy a good wedding feast and you cannot let the wine run out. It also shows the love of a mother and son at work. It gives you a peep at a very special relationship that is hard for us to conceive of. And it shows Jesus keeping the 4^th commandment.

It’s also very funny. I can actually imagine Jesus grinning. If you don’t believe me, I’ll go into greater detail some other day.

When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Luke 2:3-5 (ESV)

Chapter 8 – Mission: A Revolution of Grace

“The more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus.”

“Jesus got a chilly response from more respectable types.”

“The Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth.”

“Why don’t sinners like being around us.”

These statements almost comfort me. I never fit in. I never belonged. I didn’t come from the right family. My mother seemed to understand that it would be this way and although she never explained it to me so I could understand as well, she tried her best to let me stand upon her to rise above.

Why do I try so hard to fit in at church? Why do I try to be respectable? Why do I seek acceptance from the church goers? Some of the people I enjoy the most don’t attend church. Some are none-practicing believers and others have never met Christ. I hesitate to do something that might change them. I prefer them the way they are.

I love people who love me not because I am a good Christian, but because they like me as a person who just happens to be a Christian. Despite the fact that I am?

People certainly didn’t love Jesus because He was a good Jew. The good Jews hated Him. The people who were considered unclean and unworthy and despicable loved Jesus. Jesus didn’t see them as untouchable. His righteousness was enough to cover all.

Jews believed one unclean person would defile the temple. Jesus came to show that one righteous man could cleanse humanity.

“The contagion of holiness overcomes the contagion of uncleanness.” Walter Wick

What can one do to wipe the stink of modern day Christianity from oneself? Perhaps you don’t take your ministry to the streets so much as you take yourself out of church and to the streets. Stop planning and start doing.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Matthew 5:46 (ESV)

Chapter 7 – Message: A Sermon of Offense

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 (ESV)

It really cannot be escaped. You go to church and the message is “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is not truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 (ESV)

Then you lead the children in worship and the Point of the Day is “We show we love God by loving others.” The Key Verse is “you are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14.

If you claim God as your Heavenly Father, then you must be sinless, but if you are sinful, then the Devil, the Father of lies, is your father. It cannot be escaped and as Christians we daily run the risk of being hypocrites. In fact, that is exactly what tends to drive me insane – the principle that you cannot help your brother to remove the splinter from his eye BECAUSE of the log in your own.

Yes, I do that. I am a hypocrite. I am not perfect. And there is no way I can ever be. And I am hopelessly judgmental and critical and suspicious. But I am supposing that I am no different from many others. I know I am on the receiving end of much judgment, criticism and suspicion from people who claim to be born again and follow Christ – people who would rather point fingers and stand in the crowd rather than make the effort at using the Bible for correction and discipline. Like Jesus said, he who has no sin, cast the first stone. Let’s not draw attention to ourselves. Who knows but the fingers will turn your direction.

This chapter captivated me. It highlighted two Russian authors, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, who represented two sides of the same coin. The former lived a downward spiral of depression because he realized he could never be good enough for God. The latter lived a victorious life because he realized that it was through grace we were saved. One author saw only absolute ideals, but the other recognized absolute grace.

I was raised believing that Jesus told us that hating our brother was breaking the commandment every bit as much as actually killing a man. And he told us this so that we could recognize that there was absolutely no way that we could ever be good enough on our own. And so we would completely rely on Jesus’ death on the cross for our mercy and salvation.

Amen!

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34a (ESV)

As Christians, we know exactly what we do. And so we take up the cross, our acknowledged guilt, and approach Jesus in repentance for forgiveness and try again tomorrow.

Chapter 6 – Beatitudes: Lucky Are the Unlucky

Part 2 – Why He Came

The author is a much better man than I. And you probably are too. When I hear “beatitudes”, I know they’re Biblical and I know they’re a list and I kind of consider them another list of Commandments. On the left side of the door, you have the 10 Commandments and on the right side of the door, you have the beatitudes and above the door, you have the 2 greatest commandments. You get the idea – move law – more legalism – more rules. I admit “blessed are the …” doesn’t immediately come to mind.

If I were to put this mindset of mine into words, it would probably look a lot like the rich man who asked Jesus what He needed to do and Jesus told him to sell everything he owned and follow Him and the rich man walked away disappointed because he wasn’t ready to make that sacrifice. You should be poor – nope, I’m pretty content. You should mourn – nope, I’d rather be happy. You should be meek – hahaha, how about faux meek.

No, the world has taught us to be the opposite. Our ambitions are to have it all and be the best.

I am currently leaving the author’s Stage 1 view of the beatitudes. He calls it Dangled Promises. Jesus promised these things to the unfortunates of the world to show them that there will be hope in the next world. This hope helps them to survive through this world. But I am not unfortunate. I am blessed in this world’s eyes.

Stage 2 is called The Great Reversal. And I am going to have to live here a little while so I can be ready for Stage 3. Mr. Yancy modified a list originally written by Monika Hellwig. The original list described the advantages afforded by the poor. The modified list describes the disadvantages of the rich:

1.     The rich do not know they are in urgent need of redemption.

2.    The rich do not know their interdependence with one another.

3.    The rich rest in their security on things but not on people.

4.    The rich have an exaggerated sense of their own importance, and an exaggerated need for privacy.

5.    The rich expect much from competition and little from cooperation.

6.    The rich cannot distinguish between necessities and luxuries.

7.     The rich cannot wait.

8.    The fears of the rich are unrealistic and exaggerated because they don’t know that one can survive great suffering and want.

9.    When the rich have the Gospel preached to them, it sounds like a threat or a scolding and not like good news.

10. The rich cannot respond to the call of the Gospel because they have so much to lose and are not ready.

The third stage is called Psychological Reality. “The Beatitudes reveal that what succeeds in the kingdom of heaven also benefits us most in this life here and now.” People who have it all are still not happy or fulfilled. The people who leave the glory behind and enter into servanthood find more happiness and fulfillment than most people can possibly understand. Examples: Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.

Part of this resonates with the very reason I want to find my passion to live it. Pretty silly to say I have to find it. I’m a passionate person, but what is the thing that makes me most angry and frustrated that I want to change and would be willing to leave everything else to do? And how is that in line with God’s Calling on me?

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1:29 (ESV)

Chapter 5 – Profile: What Would I Have Noticed?

I thought I had grasped the fact that Jesus would have been ordinary looking. He was not someone who would physically draw your attention. No second glances for Jesus. But the author threw me for a loop when he had me imagine Jesus as, well, not slender… And I suppose my mind will always insist that he’s taller than me – probably not. I knew that Jim Caviezel was a long shot from the real Jesus, but at least he had me imagine a laughing Jesus.

But here’s a thing I had not considered. Jesus was at least charismatic. And if it wasn’t charisma, everything He said was better than well-spoken. Crowds flocked to listen to Him teach and stayed for days. They shunned leaving to buy dinner for the chance to hear Him. Like refusing to take a bathroom break during a particularly long movie only on a much grander scale. People didn’t want to miss a thing.

There are very few people at whose word I hang. I am generally formulating my next thought to be spoken and waiting for my opportunity to say it. I remember falling asleep in lecture halls. “Brilliant” professors took the stage for an hour and I couldn’t manage it. There are some days that the preachers hold me captivated … maybe for a couple of minutes, but then my mind wanders.

I am trying to think of someone that I love to listen to … My cousin. That’s it. He’s funny. He finds the funny in the ordinary and then presents it to his listeners and we long for him to tell it again and again and again. I am dying to hear the chocolate covered coffee bean story AGAIN. I DO NOT talk on the phone, but once a year, maybe twice, I can listen to Damon on the phone for an hour. Just acknowledging every once in a while that I am still there listening.

There is something in common between Jesus and Damon. They talk about ordinary life. Jesus didn’t tell stories resembling Revelation. He told stories about prodigal sons and sheep and harvest. He told stories that the people could identify with.

I made a new friend yesterday. We were friends within five minutes. No, I didn’t hang on every word she said, but I gravitated to her and kept coming back to her. Here is the reason why and I told her as much. She answered every uncomfortable question I could possibly ask in those first minutes. She used words that I might have been struggling to choose. She asked questions that were right up front and again in words that I wouldn’t have guessed to use. She was authentic. She called it “real”. Of course I was thinking she was “keeping it real”, but I was worried she’d find that offensive coming from me. So I said authentic. And that’s when she loved me back. Because I told her why I loved her.

Jesus was probably the most authentic person to ever walk the earth. I cannot imagine He would be anything otherwise. And yet here is the sting. He refused to answer those questions up front that everyone needed answered. And every question a person asked of Him was met with another question – a harder question, or a life-changing choice.

Be the least and you will be made to be great. Sell everything you own and follow me. Take up your cross and follow me.

Yeah, I would have been in the crowds. No, I probably couldn’t have followed.

As many were astonished at you –

his appearance was so marred, beyond

human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of

mankind –

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

He had no form or majesty that we should

look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men;

A man of sorrows, and acquainted with

Grief;

And as one from whom men hide their faces

He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 52:14, 53:2-3 (ESV)