Every. Single. Day.

Can I be completely honest with you?

Yes?  Thanks.  Here goes...

I'm tired. Tired of the struggles of this life.  Primarily the one I fight with myself.  It's been a rough couple months internally.  I've been fighting the desires of my flesh, those needy selfish pointless things that result in nothing good.

I get angry with myself, and it just spirals and becomes a vicious circle.  Sound familiar to anyone?  I catch myself getting grumpier and more irritable.  Quickly I become very self-centered and avoid any challenge to that concept.  I stew.  And I close my ears.

And I don't listen for God to speak to me.  To remind me of things I know in my heart.

Then, like yesterday, there will be a break in the internal storm, and the light will shine through.  And humble me to my knees.  That break can take many forms.  A word from a friend, a song, a view of the mountains...and I hear what God has been constantly saying through the whole bit of self chaos.

"Get over yourself.  Love your God with all your heart.  And your neighbor.  Every.  Single.  Day."

Anyone else?  You get so caught up in daily life, yourself, your family, and you loose sight of God.  But he wants us to put him first every day.  Not Sunday.  Not Wednesday night, or when ever your group meets.  Not when you feel like it, not when you want to.

Every.  Single.  Day.

This is not me making things up.  This is straight from the mouth of Jesus.  Look up Luke 9.

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

 This is something I'm saying as much to myself as I am anyone else.  Being a follower of Jesus, a student, a disciple of his, means to deny yourself daily.  This isn't meant to be some directive to punish yourself or anything like that.  It is, simply put, shifting the focus of your life from yourself to Jesus.

Easier said than done.  Trust me I know.  But this is me, and M28, encouraging you to do just that.  There is no secret.  No formula on how to do this.  All I can suggest is what has worked for me in the past, and what I'm implementing moving forward.  Spend time with Jesus.  Pray.  Read the Word.  Meditate on the scriptures.  Or find what draws you to him.

Another thing is do follow the commands he gave us.  Three huge ones are:
        1)  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and all your mind and with all your strength.
        2)  Love your neighbor as yourself.
        3)  Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

That pretty much takes care of everyone on the planet.  The last two are fairly easy to figure out.  But how do you show love to God?  I know I reference this scripture often on this blog, but it seems that important to be repeated.  Matthew 25:

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

and

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

 This isn't stuff you need credentials for.  You don't even need a high school diploma for this stuff.  Feed the hungry.  Give drink to the thirsty.  Welcome strangers.  Clothe those without.  Care for the sick.  Visit those in prison.  There are people in need all around you.  Maybe on your block or in your apartment building.  Maybe it will take a bit of a drive.  But they are there.  Waiting.  Waiting for you.  Waiting for Jesus.

Every.  Single.  Day.

I say all these things because I need to hear them.  And because I want to challenge and encourage you as well.  You don't need dynamite or a backhoe to move mountains and tear down walls.  Try a smile.  Patience.  Kindness.  Put others before yourself.  Family.  Friends.  Strangers.  See what happens.

Do it today.  Do it now.

grace, peace & hope
-Jesse

Location. Location. Location.

What is Jesus telling us in his conversation with the woman at the well?

There are a lot things to be discussed and said about this portion of scripture, found in John 4.  Read for yourself below, and then I'll share my thoughts.

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Deep stuff right?

Now I can't break down all the original language and things, but I believe the main idea translates.  What I read here is that location doesn't matter.  She is discussing a mountain that her people have worshiped at for generations.  While the Jews worship at the temple in  Jerusalem.

Jesus says there will be a time, and it's here now, when you won't worship on the mountain or in Jerusalem. 

What does that mean for us?

I mean, I've never been to Jerusalem, or this mountain.  But I have worshiped God.  So, if it's not in either of these once ascribed holy places...where is it?  Jesus says God will be worshiped in spirit and truth.  Because these are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

So he seeks those who worship in spirit and truth.  How do we do that?  Well, this isn't a step by step.  You have to work out your own faith.  However the Church, the body of believes, can help encourage and challenge each other on in their faith.

So let me offer this simple challenge:  follow where the Spirit leads.

Imagine you've been praying for a co-worker.  Is that all you do for them?  Or do you open your heart, your ears, and listen to them.  See what they are and are not saying.  Pay attention and learn to discern.  God will guide you.

Let him.

Worshiping God is spirit and truth is not restricted to sacred music and cathedrals.  Worshiping can happen in a club to rock music, if a person's spirit is open to God.  It can happen in the middle of a forest, an office cubicle, or executive board room.  It can happen on the dock of a grocery store, the parking lot of a movie theater, or a tattoo parlor under neon lights.

Be open to the Spirit moving in your life.  It won't always be a miraculous sign.  It can be in a smile.  A kind word or time spent with someone hurting.  Discipleship isn't about scoring conversions.  It's about teaching others to be like Jesus.  I think the best teaching is observed, not heard.

So keep your heart and mind open for the Spirit to move in you!  Look for the little things, the compassionate things, and just serve God with all your heart, soul and strength.  He'll fill in the rest.

grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

Tame

One of my favorite stories of all time is the "Chronicles of Narnia," by C.S. Lewis.  The adventures of various children going on magical adventures into a fantastical land full of wondrous creatures.  Especially the magnificent character of Aslan the lion.

There are many correlations between Alsan and Jesus/God.  He creates the world of Narnia.  He sacrifices himself to save one who had done wrong.  If you have not read the books go get them and read them.  You're not too old or too young to understand and enjoy them.

One idea that occurs several times in the series is that Aslan is not, "a tame lion."

I think that is probably one of the most true concepts about God in the books.  God is not tame.  He does not fit into our human religion.  He is greater than whatever box we can make for him.  Whether it is a list of rules, or a magnificent cathedral.  Or even restricting him to, "the basics of the early church."

He is so much more than that.  He is not tame.  His ways are not our ways.  Who are we to think we can fathom how God works?  I know I have been guilty of this often.  God is good.  God is love.  This doesn't change.  Even if our definitions of the words do.  We are the ones who change.

What is considered good today might not have been considered good fifty years ago.  Or even twenty.  Either way God is not restricted by our concepts of good...or anything else for that matter.  We don't see the whole picture.  God does.  God made the picture.  In every sense you can imagine...and all the ones you can't.

We can not afford to box God into our concepts.  God is not a galactic wish granter.  He isn't an old sweet grandpa sitting on the porch of heaven waiting for his kids to come home.  He is not limited to our traditions.

Look back through the stories of the Bible and see the things God asks people to do.  Some of it is down right horrible by our standards.  The Plague of the Firstborn.  The Flood.  The massacre after Moses got the ten commandments and the people were worshiping the golden calf.  Pretty much the book of Joshua.  Even his chosen people had his wrath poured out on them.  Not to mention Job.

What did Job ever do wrong?  Nothing.  He was the most righteous person on Earth.  Yet he lost everything.  Was afflicted with physical maladies and pain.  I shudder at, yet love, how God answers Job in chapter 38. (NAS)

Who is this that darkens counsel, by words without knowledge?  Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!  Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell Me, if you have understanding,

 Further on God says

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?  Let him who accuses God answer him!

Job 40:2 (NIV)

These are really good chapters where God is laying it all out on the table.  Job responds in part with this:  (42:4-6 NAS)

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.

I love that.  "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear," in other words I know You by what I have heard about you.  Then, "but now my eye sees You...and I repent..."

He is not a tame lion.

And that is a very good thing.  Think about this:

What if God was small enough for us to understand Him?

If God operated as we did, we would be in sorry shape.  But he has offered us grace, and peace and hope in Him.  He's already finished the picture.  He knows what it looks like in the end.  It does not matter if we can't see it, or understand it.

Follow Him with out the regulations and laws.  Follow Him with your heart and soul.  With everything within you.  He gave us what we need to follow Him.  And that is what he wants from us.  To follow, believe, to baptize, teach, and make more disciples.  Go forth and multiply.

Are you willing to follow God with out religion?

After all, He is not a tame lion...


grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success

The following blog is an excerpt from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers

Copyright ©1992 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd.  Original edition copyright© 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc.

The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you…” (Luke 10:20)

Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor it is sin.  The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live.  Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing his reproach” (Hebrews 13:13)

In Luke 10:20, Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice.  We have a commercialized view—we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right.  Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation.  Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them.  Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God.  One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simple awakened by His Spirit.  As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God’s testimony to us as His workers.  God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others.

Unless the worker lives a life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple.  Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups.  But Jesus never dictates to us in that way.  Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an “if”, never with the forceful or dogmatic statement—“You must.”  Discipleship carries with it an option.

Breaking the Habit

So, you're addicted to going to church too?

Let me tell you, there is hope, and you are not alone.

God gets angry with empty ritual and meaningless tradition.  Read Isaiah.  Read the stories of Jesus confronting the Pharisees.  They had replaced their faith in God with regulations.  The Ten Commandments were never about keeping the "rules"...they were about putting God first!  That is the first commandment!

"You shall have no other gods before me."

(PS - I'm not advocating not following the 10 Commandments...just change the perspective of why we follow them.)

It is so easy to replace knowing God with knowing about God.  And that is a danger of just "going to church." A person can go to church their whole life and never know God.  They can know plenty about him.  They could even quote scripture like nobody's business.  The Pharisees were pretty good at that stuff too.  Then you get someone like the centurion with the sick servant.  This guy is a Roman soldier.  But he sees and recognizes the authority in Jesus.  Did Jesus turn him away because he was not a devout follower of the law?  No.  Look at what Jesus said, (it is really mind blowing if you think about it.)

I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.

You know the craziest part about this?  The guy didn't even come himself.  He sent people to Jesus.  And when Jesus was coming to heal the guys sick servant...more friends come and tell Jesus that the centurion didn't feel worthy enough to have Jesus come under his roof.

Man that is hitting home to me right now.  Really hard.

How often have I walked into "church" thinking I belong.  That this was my place.  That is the attitude of an addict.  I have the right to be here.  Who are you to tell me different?

Church is not a place to go.  It is people to be with.  It is the body, the whole body, of Jesus.

The body won't grow if it sits around.  Well, it might get fat, but it won't grow.  It won't become healthy and strong.  The Church isn't supposed to be sedentary.  Jesus told his disciples to, "Go."  But they didn't.  Not at first.  Then difficulty struck, and they scattered...and so did the Word.

My friends, it is high time we get out of our pews, couches, folding chairs, or whatever you sit on in your regular gatherings.  A farmer can't harvest a crop if he just sits in his barn and doesn't plant the seeds.  Neither can we prepare the harvest for Jesus if we just sit in our storehouses. 

Break the habit.  Church is good.  Christ is better.  Show Jesus to the world around you.  Don't hide your love for him behind the stained glass windows of a church or the fish bumper sticker on your car.  Let's stop just going to church and let us be the Church.

See you out there.

grace, peace + hope

-Jesse

Addicted

Addiction is a tyrannical master.  If addiction is a thousand page book, I've read the dust jacket, and maybe opened the cover.  I'm not an expert.  But I can tell you that addictive behaviour is destructive behaviour.

Let me tell you nothing good comes from any form of addiction.  Whether it is eating, sex, drugs, drinking, gambling, cutting, hoarding, American Idol...addiction is bad.  The verse below is not specifically about addiction, but many of the actions listed can be addictive.  (1 Peter 4)

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

So these are things to be avoided.  A few words later Peter writes, "be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray."  Clear mind and self-controlled.  Not addicted.

Okay so we have established that addiction is bad.  (You know I was kidding about American Idol right?)  Well, sort of.  But there is an addiction that most Christians have.  I know I have struggled with this particular addiction for a few years now.

Going to church.

Yeah.  I said it.  Going to "church" can be an addiction.  And I'm not splitting hairs on what type of institution.  The denomination, size of congregation, size of building-facility or home, what you wear, what the leaders wear...none of that matters.  The addiction lies in you and me.  We get comfortable.  It's nice to come to a place, "where everybody knows your name..."

Come on, you can admit it.  I know it's true for me.  If I was to be 100% honest I could not say that every time I've gone to church was because I wanted to worship God.  Sometimes it was an obligation.  Sometimes it was a source of pride.  Sometimes I just wanted to see friends.  Sometimes it was the only thing to do.

Then there were the days I went because I needed to feel that spiritual high.  I didn't really want the Spirit to convict me, but I wanted to get on the worship roller coaster and feel like I had been moved.  Those days I really focused on the music, the way it made me feel, how well the worship team sang.  Could it transport me out of the mundane.  I was there for selfish reasons.  It wasn't every time I went, but it was frequent.

I was addicted to going to church.

And there can be many reasons for it.  For me it was the spiritual high and needing to keep busy.  For others it could be guilt.  Or pride.  The sense of belonging.  There are as many reasons as there are church goers.

But going to "church," be it in a huge facility or a grass hut is only a fraction of what we should be doing as disciples of Jesus.  Going to church is not a bad thing.  Being addicted to it is.
 

Tomorrow:  Breaking the Habit

grace, peace + hope-Jesse

United We Are Christ

Many parts.  One body.

Jesus is the vine.  We are the branches.

If we remain, better yet, abide in Christ we are united.  We are joined in him.  It is because of him that we even exist as Christians.  Heck, it's because of him we exist at all!  A branch separated from the vine withers, dies, and blows away in the wind.  A finger not connected to a hand is useless.

A believer not connected to Jesus is as useless.

The nourishment and life a grapevine needs starts in the roots.  Through the roots up through the vine.  Only then does it go out to the branches.  The nourishment and life a follower of Jesus needs starts Word.  Through the Word through the Vine and into the branches.  Jesus is both the Word and the Vine.  He is what brings life internally, and holds us together.

The disciple John says this,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

Plants also need light.  At least most of them do.  A process called photosynthesis where the plant transforms light into life.  Jesus is also the Light.  He brings life from outside of ourselves.  That blows my mind when I think about that.

Jesus is what makes us exist.  He is also what nourishes us from the inside.  He also brings life from the outside.

How incredibly, uncannily, awesome is that!?

Creator.  Nourishment.  Sustenance.

He created us.  Humans beings.  You.  Me.  But he doesn't stop there.  He didn't set the machine in motion and walk away.  He also brings us life internally.  Through his spirit.  This is the comforter he was telling the disciples about before they headed for Gethsemane.  So where is his outside sustenance found?

In other believers.

We build each other up.  We encourage one another.  We bring correction when needed.  We challenge and push when lethargy and complacency draw close.  We teach, preach, prophesy.  I know I've said this again and again, but they aren't my words.  Matthew 25:35-36 records Jesus' own words,

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

  He also tells the disciples that people will know they are his followers by their love.  Our love.  How we treat one another, and those around us.  Jesus isn't calling us to love an ideal.  He's not asking us to embrace dogma or a facility or a paradigm.  He is telling us to love each other.  Regardless of what we wear Sunday morning.  Or if we gather Monday nights instead.

As Christians, and I completely include myself in this criticism, we often replace the teachings of Jesus for traditions or programs.  We think that if we just do these few things consistently, in the right manner, we'll have a better chance of staying pure or faithful.  Maybe there is some truth to that.  But it becomes deceptively easy to replace the love for Jesus with the dedication to a ritual.

Correct me if I'm wrong, seriously, but I'm pretty sure God got fed up with his children when they were offering meaningless sacrifices and holding pointless celebrations.  Check out Isaiah for starters. 

"The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?” says the Lord.

That is Isaiah 1:11.  Seriously, keep reading that book.  There is some powerful stuff there.  The rituals and traditions are not what nourish and sustain us.  That can only be found in Christ alone.  In him we live, and move and have our being!  (Acts 17:28)

Yes, there are divisions in the Church.  That in itself does not mean the Church is divided.  I know it just seems like wordplay, but it's the truth.  God is not divided, yet he is three in one.  Why would his body be any different?  He created us in his image after all.  A branch is part of the vine, not another branch.  If we abide, remain, belong to, rooted in, Jesus...well we are part of the vine.

Separate but united.

Divided we stand...but United we are Christ!

grace, peace + hope

-Bear

Divided We Stand?

It's late in the evening.  You're belly is full from the meal you have just eaten, but your mind is troubled.  You and a group of friends are walking through a vineyard.  The air is warm and you would normally have enjoyed such a night.  As you walk along you hear his voice.  He gestures to some of the vines and says,

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me..."

Those are the words of Jesus, taken from John's account; chapter 15:1-6.  The image is what I see in my mind as the disciples follow him from the upper room to Gethsemane.  Judas has just left in an odd turn that Jesus described as betrayal.  Peter has just said something in his usual knee-jerk reaction sort of way to which Jesus said Peter would deny him.  Three times!  Jesus is talking about leaving, and a comforter to come.  That the disciples would face trials and persecution.  Heavy stuff.

Now he is talking about vines and branches.  And how Jesus is the vine, and they are the branches.  They of course also being, us.

You and me.

You're a branch.  I'm a branch.  That guy on the soap box, he's a branch.  The shy one in the corner, she's a branch.  The guy with the tattoos all over, yeah, he's a branch too.  So is the guy in the suit, the lady in the uniform, the kid on the skateboard...

Get the picture?

We are all different.  Each branch is separate from each other.  My branch isn't connected to your branch.  Not by ourselves anyway.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Paul later uses the description of a body.  One body many parts.  He's talking more about spiritual gifts there, but the idea is similar.

Difference doesn't mean disunion.  Look at the people Jesus drew to himself.  Fishermen, tax collectors, activists, men, women, children.  Vastly different.  One thing in common.  They all needed to be forgiven of sins.

Just like me.  Just like you.

But in the common ground they had Jesus.

So while there are many "denominations" within the Church, and many differences within the denominations, Jesus is the branch.  We may differ on somethings, or out right disagree, and I'm here to tell you that is okay.

Again, many years later, Paul is arrested for spreading the good news of Jesus.  He writes a letter to the part of the church in Philippi.  (See, the church is all of us together, not just a building.)  Here he mentions something these folk seemed to know something about.  In verses 15-18 of chapter 1;

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Christ is preached.  That is awfully magnanimous of Paul.  He doesn't care that others are preaching for reasons other than good will.  Christ is preached.  He's in jail.  But Christ is preached.  Now if that isn't a division, I don't know what is.  But the underlying fact remains, Jesus is The Vine.

Please do not misunderstand.  There is a difference between disagreement and difference and malicious division.  That type of division would be against Jesus.  Jesus cannot be divided.  Therefore the Church cannot be divided.  If we all individually remain in him, he will remain in us.  If we come together, remaining in him, with others who remain in him, we are the Church.

And it does not matter where or how you meet!  Huge campus, country church, Gothic Cathedral, or grocery store parking lot.  The types songs that are sung, do not matter.  Remember, hymns were "modern" at some point.  Jesus taught from inside the temple, to synagogues to hillsides and homes.

We are all different.  Individually, and in the places we gather to worship and fellowship.  And that is okay!  Some vines are longer than others.  Some have more leaves or fruit.  Some are new, some are very old.  But one thing keeps them all connected.

Jesus is the vine.

Tomorrow:  United We Are Christ

grace, peace + hope

-Bear

Follower or Consumer?

To be a follower of Jesus is to forsake...material things, time restraints and religion/religious activities for relationships. It is putting aside judgmental attitudes for the gift of grace and mercy to hurting people around me. It is not just investing my finances but sending "me" and actually investing my time and energy in another person. Through my actions am I creating a desire for those around me to follow Jesus or the religion of the world?




Let me assure you I have not "arrived" but must daily make the choice not to look to the past and to previous comforts, but to the present and future trusting "God is working in you (me) giving you (me) the desire and power to do what pleases him." Philippians 2:13

A work in progress,
Kay

Breastfeeding - Part 2

The Sunday Morning Worship Service

-or-
How to Breastfeeding at the Teat of the Double-breasted Suit
Part 2

The Fancy Sunday Morning Spectacular.  Light show.  Fog machines.  Pretty singers in matching outfits, except that one guy who never quite gets the memo.  Or maybe it's simpler.  Choir and a song leader.  Then you sit down for 30-45 minutes while someone looks out at you from a pulpit and tells you what the Bible is saying to you.  Because clearly you can't figure it out on your own.  And maybe in the early days you can't.

Now imagine you've been going to church your whole life, or that you've been going for at least several years.  Does this story change?  Sure.  A little.  Maybe you are reading your Bible a few times a week, or even every day.  Perhaps you're even doing one of those nifty reading plans to read the whole Bible in a year.

You arrive at your pew/seat/whatever Sunday morning and wait to "get fed."  The pastor gets up, opens up his suit coat and begins to nurse you.  Usually in clever repetitive letters or phrases.  On average at least 3 points.  There are well timed and placed jokes.  Well, sometimes well placed.  And you sit there and lap it up.  You've become the four year old running up to mommy asking for some milk.

It's weird.

It's immature.  My friends, if you know who Jesus is, I mean really know who he is, not just the stories about him.  You're ready for solid food.  And it's available to you.  Pastors are wonderful people, at least most of the ones I have known are.  They are genuine God loving folk who want to serve God with all their heart.  The word pastor comes from the Latin word for shepherd.  Jesus told  Peter to feed his sheep.  He told him to be a "pastor."  Something tells me this is not what he had in mind.  Imagine with me one last time today...

You see a shepherd.  For me it's one of those Bible picture ones.  White guy with a blondish beard, in some sort of blue dress with stripes on it.  He gets down on his knees amongst his sheep and picks up grass.  He starts to chew it.  Then he spits it into the mouth of the first sheep on his left.  Again and again he picks up the grass and chews it for his sheep.

Again...it's weird.


So why do we do it?

Yes I strongly believe Christians should have teaching and instruction.  I do not believe the only way is by coming back to the trough every week and getting your fill. 

The Word the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

(Hebrews 4:12)

When was the last time your soul and spirit were divided by the Word of God?  When was the last time your thoughts and attitudes were judged by the Word?

It's time we grow up church.  We can not keep waiting for pastors and church leaders to tell us how we are to live for Jesus.  Jesus had plenty to say on it himself.  It's right there in the last third of your Bible.  The books titled Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Jesus has a lot to say for himself.  If you don't get it, ask someone.  Maybe they will know, maybe not.  So read it again together.  Keep reading and seeking God.  He'll tell you what it means.  That is how you eat the "meat" and give up the "milk."  Get up, work for your food.  Don't wait for the breastfeeding!


grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Breastfeeding - Part 1

The Sunday Morning Worship Service

-or-
How to Stop Breastfeeding at the Teat of the Double-breasted Suit
Part 1

Alright people.  I've been writing my posts with a mixed audience in mind.  Not anymore.  Hey you, Johnny and Susie Pew-Warmer, I'm talking to you.  (And myself.)

The gloves are off.

For the better part of the last 2,000 years Christianity has enjoyed a type of celebrity.  A few hundred years after Jesus set our forerunners (the disciples) out to make more disciples, baptize, and obey his commands...the faith of Christianity is made legal and embraced throughout the Roman world.  Before this it was tolerated at best in some places and culled in others.  Suddenly those who were spreading the Good News of the Kingdom in secret are allowed to speak openly.  Jesus is now safe.

Soon the religion of Christianity comes to power.  Homes, catacombs and other hiding places are abandoned for the public forums and official buildings.  Leaders emerge.  Learned men who studied and knew more than the rest.  A gap began to form between the brothers and sisters and those who led the way to Jesus.  We know this as clergy and laity.  (I'm really simplifying the history here, look this stuff up it's out there.  I recommend Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna.  But there is a lot out there, go find it.  After this blog if you don't mind.)

Laity below, clergy above.  Sometimes literally.  Think about the last Sunday morning worship service you went to.  I know there is a lot of variety out there, but the average "church" in the United States has some form of platform or stage for the leadership to lead from.  Okay, maybe I'm being harsh on the format of public speaking arenas, I mean "sanctuaries."  Think about it though.  There is a psychology in speaking to people above their level.  Look at old Gothic style churches too.  The lines in those buildings were designed to draw your eye upward.

"Hey, didn't I say something about breastfeeding?"

Okay, so there is a gap between clergy and laity.  Somehow this led to the idea that the clergy had a closer walk with God.  After all they are the ones teaching the congregations week after week right?  They are the ones feeding the sheep. Surely they are special in God's eyes.

Really? 

What does this have to do with my ridiculous title?  I'll tell you what.  It's time for us to grow up.  It's natural for babies to breastfeed right?  But there comes a time when they stop.  If they get too old it just gets weird.  Why is it any different for us as followers of Jesus?

Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3

"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it."

As a baby you get fed milk directly by mom.  Then you are spoon fed somewhat more solid food until you can feed yourself.  You grow up and you get a job and earn money to buy, cook, and feed yourself.  Depending on your tastes, more complicated meals than milk or pureed carrots.  Simple concept right?


Think about that progression of eating with how you learn about Jesus at a "church."

As a baby you are fed directly nourishing food.  Whether you start in "Kids Church," or a "Beginners, class.  You're told the basic ideas of the Bible.  Generally you get a simplified version of the story with a digestible memory verse that sums up the story.

As you grow you get into more complex foods.  The stories you learned earlier take on a broader focus, or deeper meaning.  David isn't just the kid who killed the giant, he's the guy who coveted someone's wife, but is still a man after God's own heart.  It's a bit harder to chew but you get there.  As you grow more you might make a snack of a devotion time on your own, but the real Biblical meal is what happens on Sunday morning.

to be concluded tomorrow...

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Awaiting Further Instructions

As mentioned quite a few posts back I'm a fan of Lost.  I've been re-watching the series from the beginning with a friend who has never seen it.  Last night we got close to the end of Season 2.  I wont spoil it for those who have not seen it, but there is a small scene I would like to describe.

Two characters on a journey to find the meaning of something.  (I know this is the premise for many episodes but bear with me.)  Eko (a former Nigerian drug runner turned priest) and Locke (a former paralyzed box salesman turned great white hunter) trek through the jungle at the prompting of a dream Eko had.  As night closes in Eko tells John they are to make camp and await further instructions.

Have you ever felt like that?

I mean with your walk with God?  You're following him then you feel like you have to stop and figure out what is really going on.  What is the next step.  I know I've been there.  The problem was/is that many times we wait for further instructions and we never get them.  Or we don't want to hear them.  Or we were not supposed to stop to begin with.

Jesus told us a lot of things.  There were a lot of instructions and cues on how to live life.  Most of them were open ended.  Love one another.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.  Pick up your cross and follow me.  Love your enemies.  Remain in my Love.

Do it now...and continue to do it.

Read through the Gospels.  Look at the things Jesus told his disciples (an in turn us) to do.  Most of them are not a one and done thing.  He doesn't say "Get baptized."  He tells us to go baptize.  Not get a theological education but to go teach what Jesus taught.

Go.  Do.

The more we live our lives in connection with Jesus the more we hear his voice.  We can hear the audibles he calls out to us.  (I'm not saying literal audible instructions here) but the more we know Him, the more we know His voice.  The more we hear his voice, the more we can do through His power.

If you feel God leading you somewhere you don't need to wait for someone to tell you it's ok.  That's not permission to act blindly and recklessly.  What I'm saying is God speaks to us individually and corporately.  Don't wait to hear what God is telling you to do from someone else.  Pastor's and leaders are great.  But they are not substitutes for God.  There is a serious problem if your relationship with God is solely based on what a preacher tells you it is on a Sunday morning.

Hopefully none of your other relationships work that way.  Just imagine.  You're married.  You never see your spouse or hear from them.  The only way you communicate is by hearing what someone heard them say.  They can hear you all the time.  But you base your understanding of who they are by what someone else tells you.

Yeah.  That doesn't sound good to me either.

When I get married I want to be able to talk with my wife.  Hear what she is saying to me directly with my own ears.  I don't want to hear she loves me through my relatives or people she's known longer than me.  I mean I'll gladly accept that, but it's not enough.  I want to hear her say it.

God is the same way.  He is right next to us.  He can hear us.  He knows what is going on in our life.  We just have to open up and listen for him.  Learn his voice.  Learn to discern what he is telling us over what is just our own mind.  We do that through reading the scriptures and getting to know his voice.  Then we will know his voice when he gives us instructions.

Now don't get me wrong, pastors are incredible people.  The ones I've had the blessing of knowing.  I'm not trying to diminish what they do.  But I think it's time the Church woke up.  And listened to the voice of God himself and respond to him.

Jesus did tell the disciples to wait for further instructions at one point.  And I know there are times he tells us that too.  But remember that he gave us a lot of things that we can continuously do without waiting for instructions.

Feed the hungry.
Clothe the naked.
Care for the sick.
Visit the prisoner.
Love your neighbor.
Love your enemy.
Love God.
Take up your cross.
Follow Me.
Go.
Baptize.
Make disciples.
Teach.
Remember Me.

These are not items on a check list.  They are primary directives.  Stop waiting for further instructions and start on the ones we already have.

grace, peace & hope
-Bear

Abound

There is an oft quoted verse in Philippians that goes something like this:

"that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion,"

 I have heard this used many times in various ways.  Usually to encourage someone who is going through a transition or difficult time.  That God is doing something good through your life, and He will see you through to the end.

While I believe that sentiment is true, there is more to this than just that.

Let's look at the larger context, Philippians 1 verses 3-11: (emphasis mine)

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.  God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

 What Paul is really saying that God will carry to completion is that their love will abound in knowledge and insight so they can discern what is best to be pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness...that comes through Jesus.

That comes through Jesus Christ.

That sounds a lot like something Jesus said.

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

 So let's look at that again.  Paul is not just saying that every good work will be continued on til the day of Christ Jesus.  He wants their love to abound.  What does that even mean?  Abound is a verb that means:

to occur or exist in great quantities or numbers, to be filled; teem

Love to be filled with knowledge and insight.  Knowledgeable and insightful love that can discern what is best and be pure and blameless.  Love filled with the fruit of righteousness.  A fruit that comes through Jesus.

 "Remain in me."

 The fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus.  By remaining in him.  To abound with Jesus.  To be filled with, to teem with Jesus.  To occur or exist in great quantities of Jesus.

That is what Paul is praying for.  That is the good work that will be carried on until the day of Christ.  That those who are partner to the good news of Jesus will be filled with Jesus.  And to be filled with Jesus bears fruit of righteousness.  That fruit will fall into the lives of people around us by the way we live our lives.

If we live our lives teeming with Jesus, we can't help but share him with others.  When the storms of life come, and we face trials the wind will show our "fruit" to those in our lives.  When we are shaken by disease the fruit of hope and joy that comes from Jesus will drop.  When we are attacked by enemies with words or threats, the fruit of kindness and forgiveness will fall.  When we are blighted with hate and anger and fear, it is the fruit of patience, peace and love that shows.

All that comes from Jesus.  And we don't show that fruit if we don't remain in him.  To use the old expression, The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.  Let our tree be Jesus.  We are the branches.  Let his fruit fall from us.  Let his lessons and teachings and love be ripe in our lives.  Let his love and mercy and forgiveness abound within us.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

In the Meantime

"Christmas Time" is funny.  Funny in the way you have to laugh to keep from crying or punching a wall.  I can not speak for other countries, but here in good ol' America, it's consumerism at it's best.  Best of course meaning worst.

But this is not about that.

It's not even about how December 25th really isn't the calendar day Jesus was born.  (Many scholars believe it to be some time in the spring.)  It's not about Christmas Trees having nothing to do with Jesus.  If anything they are related (by way of stage plays) to Adam and Eve.

It's about your heart, my heart, and the heart of God.

We see slogans all over the place from well meaning Christians: "Keep Christ in Christmas," or "Jesus, the Reason for the Season."  I see many people get bent out of shape because someone says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

Where is your heart this season?

Is it caught up in buying the perfect gift?  Are you worried about what you'll get this year?  That one more thing will finally make you happy?  Today, in concept, is not about what is under the tree for you, or what you put there for someone else.  But what about better to give than receive?  Yeah that is good, so long as you're not giving to make yourself better.  (Besides, Paul uses that concept in Acts to show we need to help the weak.)

Is your heart torn to pieces by where you are in life right now?  Is it angry?  Hurt?  Lost?  It would be shallow and mean spirited of me to say, "get over it."  But I will say do not wallow in that pain.  There is Hope.

What today, "Christmas," represents is the physical collision of the Spirit of God with humankind. 

For God so loved the world that he sent his only son,  so whoever believes in him will not perish, but have life eternal.  He did not send his son to condemn the world, but that through him the world could be saved.  (John 3:16-17)

This is God showing us his intentions toward us.  He's saying, "Hey you, World.  I love you.  I want to be with you.  So here I am.  For you."  It's the greatest love story ever.  Nickolas Sparks, Stephenie Meyer, and Shakespeare can't hold a candle to the Author of Creation.

Jesus grew into a man.  He performed miracles.  He called his disciples.  He taught.  He healed.  He turned the tables.  He told stories.  He died.

He lived.

For you.  For me.  For that lady we cut in front of at the store this week.  For the guy we cussed out from the safety of our car for not giving us the right of way.  For the parent who just doesn't understand.  For the friend who doesn't want anything to do with God.  For the young family around the corner that is not married.  For God so loved the World.

That is what has been given to us.  We accept it or we don't.  If you accept it, the story doesn't end there.  In fact it's only the beginning.  If you call yourself a Christian, follower of Christ, or whatever the label du jour is, you do get a happily ever after...at the end. 

In the meantime, there is work needs doing.


Jesus gave us a lot to do.  In a few seemingly simple sentences he gave his disciples a monumental task.  The greatest commandment is to Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.  Then, love your neighbor as yourself.  He later said to go into all the world making disciples and baptizing.   Also to teach them everything he commanded.

Simple yet massive.  Christmas is about remembering what Jesus came to do.  His birth and life are not just to be celebrated one day of the year.  As followers of Jesus, it should be our daily directive.  Celebrate him by living out what he asked us to do.  By loving him, our neighbors...and yes, yourself.  Not in a self serving way.  But see yourself as the fearfully and wonderfully made creation he intended you to be.

Christmas isn't a holiday.  It's a way of living everyday.  Let us get to work doing our father's business.  Cause the happily ever after will come, but in the meantime...

Happy Christmas!
-Bear

Confession of a former deacon

I just finished reading an email news letter written by a fellow M28 Ministry staff member. In the letter he mentioned a quote attributed to St. Augustine.

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: Anger, at the way things are, and Courage, to work for change.”

My fellow staff writer goes on to write (and I quote),

"This sums up where I (we) am (are) these days and why I grow more passionate about Jesus. He is the hope of the world—you know. Without hope, all is lost. This is why I have become angry at how I have wasted so much precious life doing things that don’t matter. Anger can be a useless passion if it is not harnessed in the right direction. When it is, it can change people, places and things. It does not allow you to remain silent, absent, immobile or with excuse. I thank God for righteous anger. But what I need most is courage. Courage to think, to be, to do what needs to be done—to do what Jesus did. It is courage that I pray for most.

What he said resonates with me. I pondered what he said and realized I'm angry too. I'm angry how I have wasted time doing what I thought were "churchy" things: serving on the deacon board, playing in the worship band, serving as a leader in various sub groups of the church- things I thought were necessary to advance the kingdom of God that Jesus mentions so much when He spoke to his disciples in the Gospels. I believed it was my "ministry" to help keep the church finely tuned allowing it to be "attractional" to the "lost". I believed this was God's plan for me and this was necessary so they ("the lost') would come to a church service, listen to the pastor "do his job" (since I already did mine) by preaching a rousing sermon, and then at the end they would "make a decision" for Jesus by repeating a salvation prayer at the end of the service. This was the means to the end. From there they would join the church (and maybe a small group or a Sunday Bible class) and come faithfully every week. Then maybe once in awhile invite a co worker or a neighbor to a church service. Please don't read me wrong-It's important that everyone comes to a faith decision concerning Christ, but is this where it ends? Is this what Jesus was talking about concerning the advancement of the Kingdom? Jesus admonished us to go (Matt 28:19). His instruction wasn't getting people to come to church. I'm not down on "coming to church", I'm down on this being the primary exclusive role of the church. In the book, "Right Here, Right Now", the authors mention there is no distinction between the NT phases kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven. It should catch our attention that these phrases are used over eighty times in the Gospels regarding Jesus' message, while the word church is used a mere three times in all the Gospels. It is also intriguing that the word disciple is used over 260 times in the Gospels alone. The author points this out because of the undeniable fact that the vast majority of Christians and their leaders emphasize church but give scant attention to the kingdom of God and disciple making. I pray we all have the "courage" to be disciple makers and to what Jesus commands us to do-GO!

Redeemed failure

The coolness of the morning is gone along with the camaraderie of the women who gather at the well. Upstanding women come for water during the cool of the morning or evening.
Noon not only brings the hot sun, but a reprieve from the stares and whispers for women like me. My hopes and dreams seem to have fallen into the depths of the very well that was meant to bring life through its water.

I hear the jeers. I see the disappointment and disdain in the eyes that do venture to look into mine. Second chance!? I guess after five failed second chances the stakes become higher to deserve another new beginning.
Funny no one ever asked me, “why?” Guess it is easier to discard than take a risk and invest.

Good, no one is at the well…wait. What is that man doing there? He is asking me…what??? He must be new around here. You a man AND a Jew are talking to me, a Samaritan…asking me for… a drink?”
Who is this man? This claim he can give me “living” water! This well has been part of our history for years. It is the best water around. Who does he think he is to offer me something better than we already have? How can he give me water when he doesn’t have a rope or bucket? Doesn’t he know how deep this well is? Oh, I get it. Another man who wants something from me!
I wonder who he talked to, who told him I would be here…told him about me. Here I go again…..
Oh sure, I’ll never have to come here again for water?! I won’t have to be humiliated day after day?!
This is going to be good…ok, I’ll let him talk…let him have his fun!

"Alright, Sir,give me this so-called living water so that I won’t have to come here ever again…this spring that just keeps filling my jugs without coming here.”
Wait, he’s asking for my husband! “I am not married.” There, is that what he wanted to hear!
GASP!!! He is telling me about my failed marriages…details that no one else would know! I certainly haven’t told anyone that!
Something resonated within me when He said, “I am the Messiah.”
It was like a fresh rain poured down and cleansed the dust from my inside
out. For the first time in a long time I feel…strange… hopeful.This adaptation is taken from the story in the Bible of the woman at the well in John 4. Read it and you will soon discover this woman’s impact on her community drastically changed because of her encounter with Jesus. Jesus went out of his way, out of the “norm” for his day, and talked with someone who was viewed as unworthy and as a discarded piece of trash.

Are we not to do the same as Jesus did? If we just open our eyes, ears, and hearts and slow our pace, it wouldn’t take long to see people all around us who yearn for acceptance, hope, peace and restoration. Jesus met this woman at her need and didn’t try to clean her before he invested his time in her. He spoke truth to her and allowed the truth to set her free. He calls us to do the same, will we?

Seedless, Part II

So what's the big deal with seedless fruit?

There's nothing wrong with it.  Right?  I mean it doesn't cause mutations or anything like that in the people who eat it.  Well, I hope not.  But, fruit was designed to produce seeds.  It's how they reproduce.  You know a fruit bearing plant is healthy when it produces fruit that contains seeds.  That way, it will continue on.  God said it was good for this to happen.

But my real issue isn't with items in the produce aisle.

It's with myself.

And others like me.  People who say they are followers of Jesus but don't really produce fruit.  Or if we do it's just the stuff that tastes good but doesn't result in more fruit.  Jesus was pretty specific about this.  In John 15, where he talks about being the vine and branches, he tells the disciples this;

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

He cuts off every branch...that bears no fruit.  Jesus was talking to them in words that were very clear.  They were understandable references.  It shouldn't be that hard for us to understand this.  But I suppose in the "church" there has been a tendency to over complicate the Bible.  Everything gets really deep and super spiritual.  There's lots of flavor, and no hard bits to really work around.

Sure there are the tough subjects, but they don't relate to me, they are about someone else.  And thanks to this speaker who has had years and years of training and education, I am now more enlightened about this issue, topic, what-have-you.

We can go to "church" every week and learn more and more about Jesus and never really change.  No change in us, no change in the world around us.

Seedless.

What does it matter what you know?  What does it matter what I know?  Knowing isn't enough.  Knowing didn't spare those who mocked Noah.  They laughed at their impending doom.  Knowing Jesus died for us, that he showed us how to live in the kingdom now doesn't count for a hill of beans.  When we hold all that knowledge in, were like the servant who buried the gold because he was too afraid to invest or take a chance with it.

You remember what happened to him?  What he had was taken, and he was kicked out.  Or to use the words of Jesus from John 15 he was a branch that was cut off.  Please don't misunderstand.  I am not talking about money, tithes, or offerings.

This is about life and not sharing it.  My life.  Your life.  Jesus' life.

Think about this.  Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road when Jesus sees a fig tree.  When he sees it doesn't have any fruit, he curses it and it dies.  Sounds extreme right?  But there is a lesson in this that is easily lost on a culture like ours that doesn't understand the created world we live in.  Jesus' actions have a reason.  In the scripture the fig tree was said to have produced leaves.  And based on the time of year of this story, a fig tree with leaves should have had fruit.

It didn't. 

A fruit bearing tree without fruit, when all evidence suggests it should have, is pretty much worthless.

Do you have leaves?  Do I?  Am I producing fruit?  If I do, it's not enough.  I'm working on that.  I can't keep going to "church" whether it is in a home, a coffee house, or million dollar facility and gorging myself on another good sermon or series. 

Something needs to change in me.  How I look at what it means to really follow Jesus.  This isn't just a rant about "mega-churches" or that sort of thing.  This is about the body of Christ and how we live.  Rather how we don't live.
 
It's time to change that.  It's time for a revolution in the Church.  A transformation in the Body of Christ.  It's time we start bearing fruit with seeds in it.


to be concluded...


grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Hold On To What You Believe

Music is a powerful thing.

The same song can take different people to different places.  One of my favorite bands is Mumford & Sons.  I'm not here to advocate that they are for everyone.  But I find many of their songs to challenge me and encourage me on in my faith.  (If you want to discus "spiritual vs secular" feel free to email me through my profile.)

For everyone else curious about how this ties to discipleship, read on my friends, read on.

This week I stumbled upon their live album and a new song that wasn't on their debut release.  The title bears the same name as this post.  Hold On To What You Believe.  Everything about this song just gets into my skin.  From the swelling intro, the mellow yet pacing verses back to a swelling wave of the chorus.  The chorus is made up of two simple lines:

"But hold on to what you believe in the light
When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight"

I haven't been able to get those words and that thought out of my head all week.  When darkness robs you of your sight, hold on to what you believe in the light.  It makes me think of Joseph.  The seven years of plenty, followed by the seven years of famine.  Or maybe it's Jesus telling his disciples that he will soon be leaving and that their lives will get very difficult.  (John 15)

They need to hold on to what he taught them.  To how he showed them how to live.  To hold on to what they experienced in the light of his time with them, because the darkness was coming.

We've discussed before that being a disciple is essentially being a student.  Once we become a disciple, we are to make disciples of others.  Teaching them the things Jesus taught us.  That's the basis of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).  (Note - that's where our name "M28" comes from!)

Just before Jesus tells the disciples about the difficulty they will soon face, he tells them that they are branches, and he is the vine those branches belong to.  He encourages them to "remain in me."  Or if I may paraphrase;

 "Listen, there's a storm coming.  You're going to face all kinds of trouble because of me.  The world is going to hate you.  But that's alright cause they hated me first.  You don't belong to the world.  You belong to me.  And no servant is greater than his master.  If they persecute me, believe that they will persecute you too.

Think of it this way, I'm this vine here.  You are these branches.  If one of them is cut off, it won't produce fruit.  They have to stay in the vine to produce.  Just like you.  You have to hold on to me.  Hold on to what I've taught you.  Cause there is a darkness coming and soon I won't be here.  Hold on to what you believe in the light when the darkness robs you of all your sight.  Remain in me."

 In a way, the words of this song, especially the chorus come through my speakers or headphones as an encouragement from Jesus himself.  "Hold on to what you believe!  Hold on to me!  Hold on!"

So take that encouragement from me, and from Jesus, and if you have fellow followers of Jesus around you share it with them.  Encourage each other to hold on to Jesus.  To what he taught you.  And teach those things to others.

Hold fast, hold tight...hold on.

Grace, Peace & Hope
-Bear

On My Knees

In my last post we defined what being “lost” means. We also learned some easy ways to partner
with people and support them in their spiritual journey. But, sometimes it feels like we pray so hard
for an opportunity and yet, no one seems to cross our path. You are not alone in this! I believe as followers of Christ, we have a desire to partner with people and help them, with God’s help of course. We can’t change people, only God can.

Discipleship, as defined by the dictionary, is the making of a person who is a pupil or devotee of a doctrine (Christianity in this case), or a follower. At M28 we believe in the divine mission to find desperate or lost people. In fact, you will find resources and advice on the M28 website. Ok so enough about the obvious.

If you’ve been praying but do not have a disciple now, be continuously passionate in your prayer for the lost to cross your path.  We may never see the full harvest, but this is our divine mission. Pray continuously, and God will provide the right person in his timing, not our own.

I’ve been part of M28 since it began and I have not had the opportunity to partner alongside a non-believer. I pray continuously for God to bring the right person across my path. I keep asking God why, but then I’m reminded of some of the fruits of the spirit: faithfulness, selflessness and patience.
Am I truly being faithful in my prayer?  Am I praying for someone to cross my path because I truly want to lead someone to Christ? Or am I just doing what I’m “supposed” to do. I have to remind myself to be patient and faithful when I spend time on my knees in prayer for those that are desperate and in need of the Lord.

We all most likely know someone who is desperate.  Are they waiting for us, as believers, to make the first move? I pray that you spend time in prayer daily to complete the great commission God assigned to us. If you do this, God will provide opportunities for you to plant seeds. Maybe it won’t happen in the next month or two, but remember God wants us to exhibit perseverance and not give up because we haven’t had the opportunity yet. In 2 Chronicles 15:7 it says, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

We should want God to orchestrate the “how, who and when” of these opportunities. So be fervent and habitual in your prayer life. God is faithful and as he calls us to be disciple-makers, start with prayer, add a sowing of the seed, and pay attention to who may cross your path. God promises to be by your side and help lead you with the right words to say. God will provide and equip you to do his
work. His word says that he will never leave us or forsake us.

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not for yourselves, it is the gift of God.” So get on your knees and pray fervently for those who are desperate, so that they too can receive this gift.

The Arctic-Tropic Juxtaposition

It's story time again.  So put on your imagination caps and close your eyes.

No, don't really close your eyes cause you won't be able to read.  But, you know, mentally close your eyes and follow my lead.

You and some friends are on a gorgeous tropical island.  You're going for a hike to explore.  There is little human civilization around.  You're basking in the warmth of the sun and smell of the exotic flora, and you enter a small clearing with tall green grass.  Your companions are all chatting when you hear it.

A vicious roar.

Everyone freezes in fear for a moment.  Then you hear a crashing as a large animal approaches through the tall grass.  You can't really see it, but there is a white blur in the green.  Every one starts to run away.  Then with deafening bellow it emerges, and one of the guys shoots it with a handgun.  Suddenly it gets quiet.

Really quiet.

Someone in the group comments, "That's a bear."  You look at it, realizing what it is, but you can't comprehend.  You mutter, "It's not just a bear, it's a polar bear."  No one says it, but everyone thinks it.

What is a polar bear doing on a tropical island?

Let me say that again.  Polar bear.  Tropical Island.

Icebergs or Palm trees.


That is a scene from early in the first season of the show Lost.  If you've never watched the show, don't worry, this blog will make sense.  Hopefully.  I won't tell you why the polar bear was there.  That's not the point of the story.  The point is that after the bear showed up, everyone wanted to know why.  Why is this thing that doesn't belong here in this place at all?  It's not an "A-ha!" moment, it's a, "Huh?" moment. 

J.J. Abrams and the writers of Lost were extremely gifted in this.  Almost every episode, sometimes multiple times an episode there were moments like that.   Moments that made the audience wonder, now how in the world does that make any sense.  Those, "huh?" moments were a trademark of the show.

It seems to me that as disciples of Jesus we should frequently cause, "Huh?" moments.

Moments that really make people wonder what we are about.  Why would this person who doesn't know me come visit me in the hospital?  Why would they bring homeless people blankets?  Why on earth would anyone go into a prison and visit criminals when they don't know them?   How can she still praise that Jesus of hers when she lost her job, her husband left her, and her car got stolen?  Or even just, what are they smiling about?

Hours before Jesus' execution he prays to his Father for the disciples.  In turn I think that means he was praying for us too.  In John 17 he prays this,

13“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

He sent them into the world, they are not of the world.  The polar bear was not of the tropics, but he was there.  As we each follow Jesus and become his disciples, not just in our learning, but also in our doing.  We have to interact with the world around us.  If the bear hadn't come into the clearing, the group of people would probably have never known it was there.  .

Likewise with Jesus' disciples.  If we stay hidden, if we choose to not step out we might as well not exist.  So be out there, in the world.  Make the people around you say, "Huh?"  Now, don't dress up as a polar bear and run through the mall or anything as dramatic as that.  Be a living example of Jesus' life to those around you.  Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.

Last week Billy talked about finding the moon-walking bears, this week be challenged to be the polar bearBe the arctic juxtaposition in the tropics.

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Grace, Peace & Hope
Bear (the blogger formerly known as Jersey)