What struck me about the people around Jesus is that the worse they felt about themselves, the likelier they saw Jesus as a refuge. Peter could not wait to get to Jesus after he betrayed Jesus. A prostitute entered the home of a Pharisee to wash the feet of Jesus. That is a pretty hostile environment for a prostitute. The down-and-out were never afraid to touch Jesus and always tried to be close to Him.
My question then is this: Do we(the church) have the same effect on people?
Sometimes I think Jesus was a genius. Well of course He is… He is the Son of God…DU!!!
I’m talking about the Kingdom of God. The Israelites knew all about kingdoms. They had their own for a short while. They knew the Egyptian one from long ago. The Babylonian one was still with them. The Roman Empire came by. They definitely knew all about kingdoms. Having your own meant you were the boss. Not having one meant you were on the lower end of the food chain. Even the devil knew about kingdoms. The obvious way to freedom was to have your own. The the only way to have your own, or to hang on to your own, is through a lot of effort and lots of fighting.
Then one day a Baby was born.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
I AM the way, the truth, and the life
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
I AM the true vine
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Our Father in heaven
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
You cannot serve God and money
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Stretch out your hand
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
I am the good shepherd.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench,
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
So the last will be first, and the first last
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
For they preach, but do not practice.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
I AM the door
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me,
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Take, eat; this is my body.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Lazarus, come out.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Neither do I condemn you
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
And they crucified Him and divided his garments among them,
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
It Is Finished!
And … no one noticed a new kingdom
The devil probably noticed that something was happening, but he probably was thinking most of the time. “WTF” (For those of you that don’t know, the Christian version would be,”Oh my goodness, what’s going on here?)
Leo Tolstoy wrote a book called “The Kingdom of God Is Within You”. What a title. Dallas Willard said that each of us have our own little kingdom and I agree with him. We all have this small space where we rule. Jesus came, and without anyone noticing it, established the Kingdom of God here on earth. One that works the opposite of all our earthly kingdoms. He does the same within our little kingdoms. Question – “Will we notice it?” The thing with a kingdom is that it means freedom. I can do what I want, when I want. Money and power are some of the best means to help me to be free. Jesus however said “Seek first the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God implies God is the ruler. Do I really want that in my life?
And then…
I start to notice a glimpse here and a hint there. God is here!! And it strikes me. If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!
The devil is probably still going “WTF” 🙂
Brannan Manning said the following…
“History attests that religion and religious people tend to be narrow. Instead of expanding our capacity for life, joy, and mystery, religion often contracts it. As systematic theology advance, the sense of wonder declines. The paradoxes, contradictions and ambiguities of life are codified, and God himself is cribbed, cabined, and confined within the pages of a leather-bound book. Instead of a love story the Bible is viewed as a detailed manual of directions.”
As Brennan said, history shows us that we tend to make God smaller. I want Him to fit into my comfortable world. I want Him to become like me. Hell, if God agrees with me, then I am the good guy. This is something we all do in our own small way and when we get together in groups, we amplify this effect. History shows us that we do this over and over and over…and over.
A lot of us however are not in groups at the moment. We are in the wilderness enjoying the Mystery that IS God. We try to come to grips with a God that is bigger than we can comprehend. My question is this; “Is there a way that we ensure that we do not repeat history or are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes? And yes, I’m talking to those “outside” the organised part of church. We are not immune and the dangers are much bigger than we think, because our mistakes are small and not easily detected. How will I ensure that God does not end up looking like me? For this one, I have no answer. Perhaps you have an idea. If you have, I would like to hear it 🙂
God bless
If we stop talking/blogging about “Emerging“, “Emergent“, “Missional” and “Post-(anything)“, will we then talk/blog about Jesus?
If you think that this is a stupid question, look at the christian blogosphere the past 2 years. What is the culmination of all we’ve talked about?… and no, it’s not Jesus.
About 2 weeks ago, a lady, Andrea Pouliot contacted me and asked if they could put one of my posts(Be more than you are (Becoming real) on their website. She and one of her friends, Kimberly Lisowski, wrote a book together called The Apple You Were Fed. In the comments she said the following…
We expose our every misconception to allow readers to see the carnival cut-outs (masks) we lived behind, the ladders we climbed, the sin list we compared others to… We have put ourselves out there to share this life-changing message. We do not teach it, but rather show our embarrassing journey to freedom.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? I’ve not read it yet, but my copy is on the way. Have you read it? If not , check it out. Perhaps God is waiting for you in those pages 🙂
Another author, Jim Robbins came by a few months back. His book’s title is Recover Your Good Heart. This from the first chapter:
We say people can come into the Kingdom through grace, but once they’re in, we switch from grace to duty, obligation, and pressure. Though we preach that you can’t contribute a thing to your own salvation and that it’s all God’s gift for you, once you’re “safe” however, you’d better keep up and step up.
What happens when your quality of life depends upon the correct judgment of a professional whom you believe to be trained and capable, yet you discover he has given you the wrong “cure”?
So, is there a cure? You will have to find out for yourself 🙂
Both books are available at amazon.
So, today is the big day. I hope that everyone in The States will go and vote. I’ll be glad when this is over, but I think the debates will go on for quite a while after this election. Molly had a post on the election the other day and the number of responses were amazing. It seems that the christians are a lot more devided in this election than the previous one.
From an outsider’s perspective, I think the conservatives in the church made a huge mistake when they decided Bush is God’s man. He is incredibly unpopular outside the United States and it seems not so popular in the States as well. I think John McCain would have had a great chance if Bush was not the Republican leader before him. I also think that this election may put the conservative right(the ones shouting from the pulpit) at a crossroad of becoming irrevelant. In Bush you gave the world a very poor example of christianity. Every candidate you support from now on, will be met with distrust. If you wanted Obama to loose, you should have endorsed him 🙂
Who will win? It seems Obama will, but McCain has come back from behind more than once. Whatever happens, I’ll pray for your country and your leaders. May God bless you all.
This post is more questions than anything else. (And the second part is more ranting than anything else.) I want to know what you guys/gals think. In short, I need help. It revolves around the spending of money.
Money. How much of it is enough? Anette and I talk a lot about this because at the moment we do not have enough of it, or perhaps I should say, we do not generate enough income for ourselves, but we have enough because God provides for us. But in a few years, if everything goes according to plan, Anette will earn a huge salary and I am already weary for when that happens. How will we know where to stop buying stuff? How much stuff do we NEED? What car to buy? What home to buy? WHEN IS “WHAT WE HAVE” ENOUGH? Is there a place where we are happy with what we have, or do we always need more and more and more? Is there a point that we can reach in our lives where we have enough and then start to give all the excess away?
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” – Will Rogers
I ask these questions because I believe we have to decide on money before we have any, because when you get used to it, it becomes the worst drug of all. It is my observation of human nature that we are never satisfied with what we have. We always NEED more or better. Take cell phones or mobiles as they are called in some countries. Do we really NEED an i-pod? Why? Will we feel more valuable if we have one? Take the cars we drive. Do we need the newest model? Can I forgo a new car to buy a good second hand one in order to help where there is need? Where will we draw the line and say we have enough?
Our town had a building boom the last few years. What mostly happened is a house or three would be demolished and then flats of townhouses would be built in it’s place. Each inch of space would be used to cram in as many living units as possible to make as much money as possible. Now we have something we never had before. Traffic jams. Our roads were not made for these loads. People’s tempers are starting to flare up and they need more time to get to work. At the root of it all, lies the love of money.
The Bible of course says “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Timothy, 6:10.” Or “all sorts of evil” as some translations say. Of course somebody will point out “the LOVE of money” not money itself. Let me tell you, there really is no difference. Money is the means to do stuff. We look to money to save us. If only we had more of it. Ask anybody in ministry that is helping the poor. What will help them the most? God or money? I believe if the church had a choice between God or money, it would choose money. You can do so many good things with money. Almost all ministries are DEPENDENT on money. God? Well in would be nice if He joins us…
I cannot recall a place in the new testament where Jesus gave people money. What then did He give them? And more important, how are we like Him?
There is a bigger reason for these questions. Look at what is currently happening in the world economy. I find the word “growth” very interesting. Companies need to grow they tell me, but grow to where? How much is enough for any company? How much money do companies need? What drives growth? Is it all the little people like me that do not know that the love of money is the root of all evil? Does our growth depend on our love for people or on greed? Greed is a vicious circle. Work to have money to spend. Spend to create jobs. Grow, grow, grow, more, more, more is our mantra. To what end? Where will it stop? When the earth is consumed? (Please go and read MORK on this if you haven’t already.)
“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.” Ellen Goodman
I believe we need people who will draw a line and say, ”We do not need more.” I believe christians or followers of Jesus are in a position where we can draw such a line. Jesus makes it possible for us to let go of money because we have Him. He did not come to free us from 10% of our income but all of it. Yes, we need money. Yes, money is important. But where do we draw the line, because a line will have to be drawn by someone and that someone might as well be us.
Also see Out of Ur on this topic.
For something very scary, go to Jesus People Pray That False Idol Will Save God’s Economy. (Look long and hard at that picture.)
I am going to kill you.
What do you think when you hear those words? Some person killing another? Let me sketch you a few scenarios to add some color to those words.
I say it through clenched teeth after you killed my wife and all I can think of is revenge.
I say it laughingly after you threw me with some water and I now chase you around in the garden.
I say it smilingly to you before we go on the tennis court to play a match.
I say it to you because I am a psychopath and you are about to die.
I say it to my group of friends before I tell a joke.
I say it because I wear a scary costume and I want to scare the living daylights out of you during Halloween.
You can add your own scenarios, but the context matters, don’t you think? The same with emotion. How does regret sound when you read just a sentence? How does sarcasm sound when we read a sentence. Hope? Joy? Anger? Where am I going with this? I want to take you to the harsh words of God in the Bible. For example:
Mat 23:23 “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.
Mat 23:24 Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!
Mat 23:25 “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness.
Mat 23:26 Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too!
Mat 23:27 “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside.
Mat 23:28 In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.
Mat 23:29 “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives;
You may ask, “where is the love of Jesus in this? He seems very angry and He is giving them quite a tongue lashing. Where is the patience? The tolerance? How does the picture change if I tell you Jesus was crying when He said those words? (Go on, read them while you are crying. What are the emotions you are feeling?) Does the picture change when I tell you He wanted to hold them in His loving arms, and show them the damage they were doing? Does the picture change when I tell you there was sadness and regret in His voice? Does the picture change when I tell you that every time Jesus saw the Pharisees, His heart broke?
Read again some of the angry words of God in the Old testament. Was He ONLY angry when He spoke them? Could He been crying when He said them? Do our version of God allow for a God that cries? Did a great sadness sometimes come over our Father? Did He say words with regret? Was there hope in His heart that the situation would turn out differently? I think we want Him to be angry, mad and fuming all the time. We can please an angry God(we know how), but how will we heal the heart of a heartrending God? Can we run into the arms of an angry God and cry with Him?
Did God get angry? Yes, of course, but how did that anger look? I wonder…
Context matters don’t you think? There is so much of the Father’s heart we still have to discover and just maybe…when we get angry about all the wrong things happening around us, our anger will have a heart broken by Love.
(This post dedicated to Tracy Simmons)
Our view of God is mostly influenced by His largeness. He is this big, gigantic, huge, massive, enormous, vast, giant of a Being. The Bible also says that He is love. From our viewpoint, this vastness plus the fact the He loves puts Him in a place where we expect one thing from Him. He MUST give. According to our want. What good is He if He does not give me what I want? He SHOULD provide. He should make my life easier should He not? Sure, I will worship my ass off, sing songs till I am blue in the face, give all I have to the poor and do what He wants me to do, but I EXPECT something in return. I WANT inner peace. I WANT healthy children. I WANT a fair life. Why else should I follow these rules? Just to get nothing? In all of this there must be something somewhere in this for me. You want me to be friendly? Sure I’ll be friendly, but where is my reward? I don’t do this for zilch you know. Where is my return?
I know I sound crude in the above paragraph, but test yourself. Somehow God should do something in your life. He should do certain God-like things. This means one thing. When He is in our company, He can never just Be or be Himself. We do not allow Him to be who He is, because then there is a possibility that I may just get Him and nothing more. Where are the perks?
Sometimes I believe God must be the loneliest Person of us all. Does He have any needs or wants? Do we even care about that or for that matter; do we care about Him at all? Is there someone around who will love Him for who HE IS? Not for what He can give us, but for who He is. Can I stick up my hand and say, “God no matter what, I will be your friend. Even though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, I will be your friend.” Can He rely on us? Can we be trusted to be a friend to Him or are we the fair-weather-sort-of-friend? Do we really love Him?
What kind of a person am I? Am I the kind that makes friends with the rich in the hope that I will invited for the feast? Do I despise the lowest because there is nothing in it for me? Jesus came as the lowest of the low and somehow there were people that came to love Him, not for what He did for them, but for whom He was. “Peter, do you love Me?” Sheesh, why that question? Because it matters to Him, that’s why.
Katherine wondered when this post would come out. Well, here it is at last. You can read the first part here and the second here. As I’ve said, relationship entails a variety of components.(Read part 2) Perhaps then, we should be more watchful when we say “christianity it’s a relationship.”
I would like to suggest that we change the word relationship for the word friendship. Jesus had all kinds of relationships with the people He met. (Ask the pharisees what kind of relationship they had with Him.) But He called His disciples friends. The implications are staggering. He simply did not come to rule over people. The people wanted Him as a ruler, but what He wanted was friends. How lonely He must have been at times. He had all these expectations of the people around Him, but they all missed the fact that He wanted to be a friend. He had to state the obvious to His disciples, otherwise they probably would never catch on to it. Joh 15:15 “I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.”
Of course His Father was a Friend to Abraham. Isa 41:8 “But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.” He spoke to Moses as a friend. Exo 33:11 “The LORD would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend.” When we look at the Old Testament, God as a friend, is often overlooked. Again, I think it is overlooked, because we do not expect Him as a friend. Our point of view simply do not allow God this close.
Lucky for us, the Old Testament has a lot to say about friendship.
Pro 16:7 When you please the LORD, you can make your enemies into friends.
Pro 17:17 Friends always show their love.
Pro 18:24 Some friendships do not last, but some friends are more loyal than brothers.
Pro 27:6 Friends mean well, even when they hurt you. But when an enemy puts his arm around your shoulder—watch out!
Pro 27:17 Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Now of course, the some of the drawbacks in relationships are also found in friendships. You get artificial friends. Some stick with you, but when hard times come, they betray you. Proverbs 14:20 says, “No one likes the poor, not even their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.” Does that rich person have an intimacy with his/her friends, or are the so-called friends waiting around just for the feast? Mmmm. Perhaps the word friendship is also to easily used.
But friendship implies closeness. It entails intimacy. There is a familiarity about the “feel” of the friend. As friendships grow, we begin to open doors to each other that we do not show to other people. If we know Jesus as a friend, we know Him in ways that makes no sense to others. 2Co 4:8-9 “We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed.”
Jesus knows something about friendship. He met strangers and called them to follow Him. He spend 3+ years with them. They became His friends, but when the big test came, they faltered. What they did not know was that He fullfilled Joh 15:13 “The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them.” and when they thought it was all over, He came back to them and told them that He will always be with them.
What a friend we have in Jesus!!
In these three posts I’ve tried to show that we sometimes use a sentence without really thinking on the message we send out. We latch onto the newest cliché without it being relevant in our lives. We prefer that our mouths do the talking, instead of our lives. Christianity is not a religion, it is a friendship. Can we throw this sentence at others to show that we have a superior faith? Yes, we can, but when we do, we are no friend of Jesus.
Windblown Hope 