by John Fischer
I recently heard the story of a young kindergartener who, when asked by her teacher what she was going to create for her art project proudly announced she was going to draw a picture of God. To which the teacher announced, "But no one knows what God looks like." "They will in a minute," came the bold reply.
She's right, you know. She's about to paint what God looks like to her, in her imagination, and she will be right. Not that God is relative to everyone's idea of Him, but that He is so multifaceted that no one picture can capture all of Him, nor can all of the pictures together make Him up. She is also right about the fact that we bring God to people, not only because are we are in His image, but because He dwells in us by faith.
What I love most assuredly about this statement is its audacity. "Oh, they'll know all right, because I am about to reveal Him to them." Would that we were all that confident about our ability to represent Christ to the world. This was a major part of Christ's role while on earth—to represent God to the world. "He who has seen me has seen the Father."
Our task is no less significant. If part of Jesus' purpose was to reveal God to us, part of ours is to reveal Jesus to others. "Christ in you, the hope of glory," Paul wrote. What a great thing to focus on as we prepare to do anything—go anywhere—see anybody… "No one knows what God looks like?" we can say to ourselves, "But they will in a minute…"
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Committing to Each Other
2008/07/31
by Jon Walker
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)
*** *** *** ***
Truth teaches that the quality of our friendships is more important than the quantity. We don’t need a lot of friends in this life, but we do need a few good ones.
By moving beyond superficial acquaintance with specific Jesus-ones, we become friends who are closer than family (Proverbs 18:24).
This requires considerably more commitment than our standard “to each his own” approach to getting along. Instead, we agree there will be “none of this going off and doing your own thing” (Colossians 3:15 MSG).
We see each other as individuals, unique creations of God and vessels of God’s grace. We “develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results” when we “do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor” (James 3:18 MSG).
Although this describes what a family should be, it’s a stone, cold fact that many people find closer relationships among friends than their blood relatives. But there is a different type of blood relative, sisters and brothers who are grafted together through the blood of Jesus Christ.
His power within us gives us the ability to become companions who stick together closer than a brother, or sister.
2008/07/31
by Jon Walker
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)
*** *** *** ***
Truth teaches that the quality of our friendships is more important than the quantity. We don’t need a lot of friends in this life, but we do need a few good ones.
By moving beyond superficial acquaintance with specific Jesus-ones, we become friends who are closer than family (Proverbs 18:24).
This requires considerably more commitment than our standard “to each his own” approach to getting along. Instead, we agree there will be “none of this going off and doing your own thing” (Colossians 3:15 MSG).
We see each other as individuals, unique creations of God and vessels of God’s grace. We “develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results” when we “do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor” (James 3:18 MSG).
Although this describes what a family should be, it’s a stone, cold fact that many people find closer relationships among friends than their blood relatives. But there is a different type of blood relative, sisters and brothers who are grafted together through the blood of Jesus Christ.
His power within us gives us the ability to become companions who stick together closer than a brother, or sister.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Jesus Taught the Most Important Command Is To Love
By: Tom Holladay - Saddleback Church
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)
One of the most noticeable things about Jesus’ interactions with others is how people love to ask him questions. Crowds press in with questions; Jesus’ disciples call him aside for questions; and those who disagree with Jesus try to trap him with questions.
It’s easy to dislike this third group, and it often seems as though Jesus is wasting his time when talking with them. Doesn’t he know that their questions are just thinly veiled attempts to trick him into saying something they can use to accuse him? Yet he patiently listens to their questions, and he answers them one by one.
One day the questions are coming fast and furious. One group asks a question about paying taxes; another group launches into a series of questions about marriage. Jesus’ answers are brilliant and right to the heart, as always, but it seems that maybe it’s time to move on and talk to some who are more open to what he has to say.
Then a teacher from the edge of the crowd asks a question with a slightly different tone. There seems to be a genuineness to his question not heard from the others. He simply asks, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
In Jesus’ answer is the most important statement about relationships you’ll ever hear. As Jesus speaks, he leaves no doubt as to the value he places on relationships:
“The most important [commandment] … is this: … ‘Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is
this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (based on Mark 12:28-34).
Jesus’ simple, clear answer to this question has the power to take our breath away. By choosing these two commands as the most important of all of the Old Testament commands, Jesus tells us how deeply he values relationships. He values our relationship with God, and he values our relationships with each other.
Your relationships with God and others will last all the way into eternity. Jesus knows full well that the swirling wonder and pain of our relationships tempt us to move them down our priority list.
“Who needs this?” we say, and so reduce our lives to simple hobbies, tasks, and entertainments. That’s not the answer!
When I try to make less important that which is truly most important, it only causes more confusion. A life without relationships may well be a simpler life, but it is also an empty life.
The path to the greatest life possible and the greatest joy possible is found in the priority that Jesus taught us to keep at the top of the list: Place the highest value on relationships.
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)
One of the most noticeable things about Jesus’ interactions with others is how people love to ask him questions. Crowds press in with questions; Jesus’ disciples call him aside for questions; and those who disagree with Jesus try to trap him with questions.
It’s easy to dislike this third group, and it often seems as though Jesus is wasting his time when talking with them. Doesn’t he know that their questions are just thinly veiled attempts to trick him into saying something they can use to accuse him? Yet he patiently listens to their questions, and he answers them one by one.
One day the questions are coming fast and furious. One group asks a question about paying taxes; another group launches into a series of questions about marriage. Jesus’ answers are brilliant and right to the heart, as always, but it seems that maybe it’s time to move on and talk to some who are more open to what he has to say.
Then a teacher from the edge of the crowd asks a question with a slightly different tone. There seems to be a genuineness to his question not heard from the others. He simply asks, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
In Jesus’ answer is the most important statement about relationships you’ll ever hear. As Jesus speaks, he leaves no doubt as to the value he places on relationships:
“The most important [commandment] … is this: … ‘Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is
this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (based on Mark 12:28-34).
Jesus’ simple, clear answer to this question has the power to take our breath away. By choosing these two commands as the most important of all of the Old Testament commands, Jesus tells us how deeply he values relationships. He values our relationship with God, and he values our relationships with each other.
Your relationships with God and others will last all the way into eternity. Jesus knows full well that the swirling wonder and pain of our relationships tempt us to move them down our priority list.
“Who needs this?” we say, and so reduce our lives to simple hobbies, tasks, and entertainments. That’s not the answer!
When I try to make less important that which is truly most important, it only causes more confusion. A life without relationships may well be a simpler life, but it is also an empty life.
The path to the greatest life possible and the greatest joy possible is found in the priority that Jesus taught us to keep at the top of the list: Place the highest value on relationships.
Friday, January 23, 2009
My Starbucks Nose
by John Fischer
After much deliberation and some concern, I have finally come to believe that I have a Starbucks nose. This has nothing to do with my nose's olfactory function; it's something I wear on the outside of my nose.
My wife and I have been noticing a pale black mark on the tip of my nose on and off for the last few weeks. The on and off part is what made it so difficult. Sometimes there are even two spots, and then other times there is nothing. At my age, you learn to not pass off anything that might indicate abnormal or unusual cell growth.
Then one morning, when I was drinking my coffee, my nose pressed against the snap-on lid of my Starbucks mug that keeps it hot, it hit me. It's either a coffee stain from the inside of the lid that folds back, or some of the black plastic wearing off with age. So that's it. I have a Starbucks nose—evidence that my nose is deeply embedded in the daily consumption of dark-roasted fresh-brewed coffee.
Which makes me wonder what we would expect to see on a follower of Christ that is evidence of being with Jesus? A spot of love? A smudge of kindness? A mark of patience? Certainly you would expect one who has been around Jesus for a long time to have a special compassion for the poor and disenfranchised. They might even have a sort of bent out of shape nose when it comes to privilege, power and position.
For sure you would see an absence of condemnation and an abundance of mercy. Forgiveness would be a strong mark. There would certainly be humility present in a form that was not conscious of itself. All of this would manifest itself in character strength wrapped in gentleness.
It's there; you can see it. Drink in a lot of Jesus. Look for the marks.
After much deliberation and some concern, I have finally come to believe that I have a Starbucks nose. This has nothing to do with my nose's olfactory function; it's something I wear on the outside of my nose.
My wife and I have been noticing a pale black mark on the tip of my nose on and off for the last few weeks. The on and off part is what made it so difficult. Sometimes there are even two spots, and then other times there is nothing. At my age, you learn to not pass off anything that might indicate abnormal or unusual cell growth.
Then one morning, when I was drinking my coffee, my nose pressed against the snap-on lid of my Starbucks mug that keeps it hot, it hit me. It's either a coffee stain from the inside of the lid that folds back, or some of the black plastic wearing off with age. So that's it. I have a Starbucks nose—evidence that my nose is deeply embedded in the daily consumption of dark-roasted fresh-brewed coffee.
Which makes me wonder what we would expect to see on a follower of Christ that is evidence of being with Jesus? A spot of love? A smudge of kindness? A mark of patience? Certainly you would expect one who has been around Jesus for a long time to have a special compassion for the poor and disenfranchised. They might even have a sort of bent out of shape nose when it comes to privilege, power and position.
For sure you would see an absence of condemnation and an abundance of mercy. Forgiveness would be a strong mark. There would certainly be humility present in a form that was not conscious of itself. All of this would manifest itself in character strength wrapped in gentleness.
It's there; you can see it. Drink in a lot of Jesus. Look for the marks.
Monday, January 5, 2009
A Scary Kind of Love
by Gordon MacDonald
While hiking in Switzerland this past month, I came to a town in which one of my favorite hotels is located. It's a very Swiss hotel, not overly expensive, with a wonderful view of the mountains. I stay there at least one night every time I go to Switzerland. And last month I intended to stay there again.
But the man at the desk turned me away. "You have no reservation," he said, "and the hotel is full for the night."
I tried to coax him to find a way to let me in: "I come here every year … you've always had a room for me before … I only have this one night … this is my favorite hotel." Most New England inn keepers would have caved in to my efforts at charm, but not the man at the desk of the Swiss hotel.
When I realized his mind was made up, I was really piqued. But not so that he would have noticed. Christians, after all, act nice. But inside I felt rejected and disappointed. I really wanted to say as I went out the door, "I never liked your stupid hotel anyway. I only stay here because it's cheap." But the truth is that I did like it. Strange, the conflicted attitudes that breed like bacteria in the human heart when one feels rejected.
Then in my Bible reading a day or two later, I came across that story in which the disciples of Jesus sought accommodations for themselves and the Lord in a Samaritan village. They, like me, were turned away. But on this occasion, the issue was more than just a no-vacancy problem. The disciples were Jews, and the Samaritans held them in contempt. We're talking real animosity here.
As I brooded on the Bible story I remembered first that the Samaritans violated the principle of Middle Eastern hospitality: one never turns away someone in search of shelter and replenishment. I should have reminded my Swiss "friend" about that.
But returning to the story, I saw that the more important thing had to do with the disciples' handling of the matter. Their attitude was far uglier than my feelings at the Swiss hotel.
"Lord," they asked when they returned to him, "do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" How's that for going over the top? Thankfully, I did not say (or think) that when I was told there was no room for me at the Swiss hotel.
Fire from heaven? Three years with the Savior (give or take) and this is the best reaction the disciples can come up with? One might want to question the discipling ability of Jesus.
The feelings of the Twelve toward the Samaritans is just plain hateful. You want to ask them if they'd forgotten, among other things, that there were children in that village.
So what's in the human heart that generates such vindictiveness? What is it that causes us to feel justified to wish ill toward an adversary, to speak bitterly to (and about) those with whom we disagree, to support spokespersons who are capable of communicating in the meanest of ways?
The same day as I read the Bible story, I came across this comment from another source: devotion leads to hatred. Since I have tried to live a devoted life (to Jesus), I immediately rejected the comment. But when I remembered the story of the disciples and their attitude, I revisited the idea that devotion of a kind might indeed lead to hatred. And I became very uncomfortable.
I wanted to ask, "What kind of devotion are we talking about?" Can devotion actually go off the rails and become something else? Can we become blinded by devotion and end up being more like those we think of as the undevoted?
One day Jesus was asked about the great commandment. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with your soul and with all your mind," he answered. If he'd left it there, he would have enjoyed universal agreement from those who'd posed the question.
The fact is that these words, left alone, describe a popular, even naïve, kind of devotion which permits people to indulge in bias, arrogance, and even murder in the name of God … if they "love" him enough. The words themselves provide a terrible license to say, "I love God, and since you don't, you are nothing. And since you are nothing, I can speak of you, treat you, and scorn you in any way I choose."
But the Lord went on in his response to the question. "The second is like (the first) … meaning there are really two (not one!) great commandments, and they are like con-joined twins: they cannot be separated. "Love your neighbor as yourself." Everything, in the law and the prophets, he added, hangs on the connection of these two ideas, he said.
In that one paragraph, Jesus united all the teaching of Scripture, everything he came to do and say. Your love for God is evidenced and defined by your love for your neighbor. And we all know what Jesus meant by the word "neighbor."
For me this was a fresh burst of insight and renovation of spirit. Devotion to God without devotion to my neighbor can indeed lead to hatred because it is a devotion made up of words and self-centeredness. Devotion to God without the qualifying force of the second commandment does in fact lead to calling fire down from heaven. It permits a rather sophisticated, self-righteous perspective that leads to slander, scorn, gossip, hateful talk, and various behaviors that can lead to forms of violence. And I find the roots of all of these things deep within me.
All this thinking because a Swiss inn-keeper couldn't find me a room.
Oh, I found another hotel.
Gordon MacDonald is editor at large of Leadership and interim president of Denver Seminary
While hiking in Switzerland this past month, I came to a town in which one of my favorite hotels is located. It's a very Swiss hotel, not overly expensive, with a wonderful view of the mountains. I stay there at least one night every time I go to Switzerland. And last month I intended to stay there again.
But the man at the desk turned me away. "You have no reservation," he said, "and the hotel is full for the night."
I tried to coax him to find a way to let me in: "I come here every year … you've always had a room for me before … I only have this one night … this is my favorite hotel." Most New England inn keepers would have caved in to my efforts at charm, but not the man at the desk of the Swiss hotel.
When I realized his mind was made up, I was really piqued. But not so that he would have noticed. Christians, after all, act nice. But inside I felt rejected and disappointed. I really wanted to say as I went out the door, "I never liked your stupid hotel anyway. I only stay here because it's cheap." But the truth is that I did like it. Strange, the conflicted attitudes that breed like bacteria in the human heart when one feels rejected.
Then in my Bible reading a day or two later, I came across that story in which the disciples of Jesus sought accommodations for themselves and the Lord in a Samaritan village. They, like me, were turned away. But on this occasion, the issue was more than just a no-vacancy problem. The disciples were Jews, and the Samaritans held them in contempt. We're talking real animosity here.
As I brooded on the Bible story I remembered first that the Samaritans violated the principle of Middle Eastern hospitality: one never turns away someone in search of shelter and replenishment. I should have reminded my Swiss "friend" about that.
But returning to the story, I saw that the more important thing had to do with the disciples' handling of the matter. Their attitude was far uglier than my feelings at the Swiss hotel.
"Lord," they asked when they returned to him, "do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" How's that for going over the top? Thankfully, I did not say (or think) that when I was told there was no room for me at the Swiss hotel.
Fire from heaven? Three years with the Savior (give or take) and this is the best reaction the disciples can come up with? One might want to question the discipling ability of Jesus.
The feelings of the Twelve toward the Samaritans is just plain hateful. You want to ask them if they'd forgotten, among other things, that there were children in that village.
So what's in the human heart that generates such vindictiveness? What is it that causes us to feel justified to wish ill toward an adversary, to speak bitterly to (and about) those with whom we disagree, to support spokespersons who are capable of communicating in the meanest of ways?
The same day as I read the Bible story, I came across this comment from another source: devotion leads to hatred. Since I have tried to live a devoted life (to Jesus), I immediately rejected the comment. But when I remembered the story of the disciples and their attitude, I revisited the idea that devotion of a kind might indeed lead to hatred. And I became very uncomfortable.
I wanted to ask, "What kind of devotion are we talking about?" Can devotion actually go off the rails and become something else? Can we become blinded by devotion and end up being more like those we think of as the undevoted?
One day Jesus was asked about the great commandment. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with your soul and with all your mind," he answered. If he'd left it there, he would have enjoyed universal agreement from those who'd posed the question.
The fact is that these words, left alone, describe a popular, even naïve, kind of devotion which permits people to indulge in bias, arrogance, and even murder in the name of God … if they "love" him enough. The words themselves provide a terrible license to say, "I love God, and since you don't, you are nothing. And since you are nothing, I can speak of you, treat you, and scorn you in any way I choose."
But the Lord went on in his response to the question. "The second is like (the first) … meaning there are really two (not one!) great commandments, and they are like con-joined twins: they cannot be separated. "Love your neighbor as yourself." Everything, in the law and the prophets, he added, hangs on the connection of these two ideas, he said.
In that one paragraph, Jesus united all the teaching of Scripture, everything he came to do and say. Your love for God is evidenced and defined by your love for your neighbor. And we all know what Jesus meant by the word "neighbor."
For me this was a fresh burst of insight and renovation of spirit. Devotion to God without devotion to my neighbor can indeed lead to hatred because it is a devotion made up of words and self-centeredness. Devotion to God without the qualifying force of the second commandment does in fact lead to calling fire down from heaven. It permits a rather sophisticated, self-righteous perspective that leads to slander, scorn, gossip, hateful talk, and various behaviors that can lead to forms of violence. And I find the roots of all of these things deep within me.
All this thinking because a Swiss inn-keeper couldn't find me a room.
Oh, I found another hotel.
Gordon MacDonald is editor at large of Leadership and interim president of Denver Seminary
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Love Is An Action
by Rick Warren
Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. 1 John 3:18 (NLT)
*** *** *** ***
Love is something you do. Do you really love someone? Let’s see how you act toward that person. You show love by what you do, not just by what you feel.
Love is more than attraction and more than arousal. It’s also more than sentimentality, like so many of today’s songs suggest. By this standard, is love dead when the emotion is gone? No, not at all. Because love is an action; love is a behavior.
Over and over again, in the Bible, God commands us to love each other. And you can’t command an emotion. If I told you “Be sad!” right now, you couldn’t be sad on cue. Just like an actor, you can fake it, but you’re not wired for your emotions to change on command. Have you ever told a little kid, “Be happy!” I’m trying, daddy!
If love were just an emotion, then God couldn’t command it. But love is something you do. It can produce emotion, but love is an action.
The Bible says, “Let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions” (1 John 3:18 NLT). We can talk a good act: “I love people.” But do we really love them?
Do you really love them? Our love is revealed in how we act toward them.
Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. 1 John 3:18 (NLT)
*** *** *** ***
Love is something you do. Do you really love someone? Let’s see how you act toward that person. You show love by what you do, not just by what you feel.
Love is more than attraction and more than arousal. It’s also more than sentimentality, like so many of today’s songs suggest. By this standard, is love dead when the emotion is gone? No, not at all. Because love is an action; love is a behavior.
Over and over again, in the Bible, God commands us to love each other. And you can’t command an emotion. If I told you “Be sad!” right now, you couldn’t be sad on cue. Just like an actor, you can fake it, but you’re not wired for your emotions to change on command. Have you ever told a little kid, “Be happy!” I’m trying, daddy!
If love were just an emotion, then God couldn’t command it. But love is something you do. It can produce emotion, but love is an action.
The Bible says, “Let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions” (1 John 3:18 NLT). We can talk a good act: “I love people.” But do we really love them?
Do you really love them? Our love is revealed in how we act toward them.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
What's Worship?
By Joel and Victoria Olsten
“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name” (Hebrews 13:15, NLT).
Praise is more than just singing songs in church on Sunday. In fact, praise isn’t even about singing songs! Praise is a heart attitude. Praise in your heart prompts singing songs, but it can also be manifest in many different ways. Your words, your actions, your daily life are all ways you give Him praise. Like the verse says, when your actions or words declare your allegiance to His Name, that’s giving God praise.
How do your actions declare your allegiance to Him? By simply obeying His Word. When we continually follow His commands, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when we don’t feel like it, even when we are tired, that’s offering a sacrifice of praise to Him.
Remember, praise is a powerful weapon. Many times in the Old Testament, when God’s people would go into battle, they would send the worshipers out first. Praise precedes the victory. When you live a life that offers Him continual praise, you will see continual victory in every area of your life!
A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, I do offer You continual praise. I choose to follow Your Word so that You may be glorified through me. Let everything within me honor You in all that I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name” (Hebrews 13:15, NLT).
Praise is more than just singing songs in church on Sunday. In fact, praise isn’t even about singing songs! Praise is a heart attitude. Praise in your heart prompts singing songs, but it can also be manifest in many different ways. Your words, your actions, your daily life are all ways you give Him praise. Like the verse says, when your actions or words declare your allegiance to His Name, that’s giving God praise.
How do your actions declare your allegiance to Him? By simply obeying His Word. When we continually follow His commands, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when we don’t feel like it, even when we are tired, that’s offering a sacrifice of praise to Him.
Remember, praise is a powerful weapon. Many times in the Old Testament, when God’s people would go into battle, they would send the worshipers out first. Praise precedes the victory. When you live a life that offers Him continual praise, you will see continual victory in every area of your life!
A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, I do offer You continual praise. I choose to follow Your Word so that You may be glorified through me. Let everything within me honor You in all that I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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