What will you do with Jesus?

What will you do with Jesus?

Often when interacting with people who are uncertain about the existence of God or who have fully made up their mind that there is no such thing as God, I push back by asking the question – What will you do with Jesus? They give a puzzled look that asks the question: What are you talking about?

This gives me a great opportunity then to talk to them about Jesus. The dialogue between myself and another person might go something like this:
Me …
“You are not sure what you believe about the existence of God and I can understand that, but you still have to do something with Jesus.”

Them…
“What do you mean?”

Me …
“If God doesn’t exist how do you explain Jesus? He was born to a woman who claimed to be a virgin and lived the first 30 years of His life in a little village in the obscure northern region of Israel. He didn’t have any formal education and was not from the upper crust of society.

Yet … we know more about Jesus than almost anyone else from antiquity. There were letters written about Him and His followers within a few years of His death and there were accounts written within the lifetime of people who were close followers of Jesus.

This little band of believers quickly grew to be a significant percentage of the population around Jerusalem, and within a short time began to impact all of the Roman Empire which had existed for hundreds of years and that would continue for a few hundred years more.

The impact was so significant, that the movement continued to grow and expand and grow and expand until it was adopted as the official faith of the Roman Empire.

2000 years later there is no slowing down its growth and influence around the world. There is no other movement in human history that has even begun to scratch the surface of the impact on the world the way Jesus and his followers have.

How can that be explained in natural terms? What possible ‘human’ explanation is there?”

This doesn’t end the dialogue. Instead, the dialogue takes of in countless directions as people try and explain the unexplainable.

If you don’t believe … this might give you something to think about. If you do believe … this will give you a great conversation that can last for hours, days and weeks!

If this could become part of my fabric

I have been reading through the letter from the Apostle Paul to the Colossians. I have been reading it very slowly taking in as much as I can. There is so much rich ‘soul’ food in the letter. Over the last week, I have been reading again and again three verses. I thought so many times that if these truths could be woven into the fabric of my inner life it would have such a huge and lasting impact on the lives of those I come into contact with. Here’s what Paul wrote:

Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12-14 NLT)

God chose me to be a holy person that He loves … therefore I MUST clothe myself with mercy … and not just mercy but tenderhearted mercy… I MUST clothe myself with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience … that is not the normal way of the American male! I am to make allowance for each person’s faults that I come into contact with. Not just make allowance for my family or my friends or people who I can get something from … but for EACH person’s faults. Make allowance … don’t make a big deal out of it … let it go … and if someone intentionally offends me, I am to forgive!

I must keep in the forefront of my life … written on the windshield and on the rearview mirror … that the Lord forgave me and forgave me and forgave me and forgives me and will forgive me and because of that I MUST forgive others.

The inner layers of clothing are to be tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. My outer coat is to be LOVE … real love binds people together … their lives working and flowing together are like perfect harmony in the symphony of life that God is playing out through us.

Can you see how if this were flowing out of every part of me that those around me would be better off? Chewing and chewing on these verses is feeding my soul and making me more and more aware of what Jesus is trying to do in me, so that it comes out of me.

Maybe these thoughts will encourage you!

What's being written in your book?

Recently in some reading I was doing I came across a statement by J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan that caught my attention. He wrote: The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another.

That line got me thinking about the ‘book’ that I’m writing. Is it the ‘book’ that I want written or is the book just being written? There is no way that any of us can control every aspect of our life. As a matter of fact there are huge portions of life that are really out of our control. We can’t control those things but we can control the parts of life that we can control.

For instance, I can’t control the unexpected health conditions that might arise but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t aspects of my health that I can control and that I better control or else there will be many more unexpected health conditions. People can’t control everything about a job or work. They can be ‘let go’ in an instant because of something that was not in their control. There are many things about work though that is in person’s control. Are they the best possible employee? Are they responsible? Do they honor the people they work with?

This same idea is true regarding school. A student can’t control everything about school or everyone in a school environment but they can control themselves in the environment and the situation. An athlete can’t control everything about the sport or the team that they are a part of but they can control themselves as a team member and as an athlete.

Am I ‘writing’, by controlling and being responsible, the story that I want written or am I just letting life write the story? The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth about the believers in that gathering being a ‘letter of Christ’ that people read. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3 NLT)

What is written in the story of your life is not totally up to you but it is not up to chance either. What does the chapter about you as a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a student, an employee or a community member say about you? Is what you want to be written being written?

I Matter, You Matter, Relationships Matter

I have spent a lot of time this week thinking about the complexity of relationships and communication. There is so much at stake in relationships that we want to get them ‘right’, but they can be so complicated that things don’t always go ‘right’ but instead they go ‘left.’

There is a built-in complexity because each of us naturally assume, expect, have varying value systems, interpret differently, only partially hear and only partially communicate … just to name a few layers of complexity. To complicate the complexity, we each have a level of fear that is manifested in the various layers of complexity.

Added to the mix is a person’s depth of ‘really care’ or ‘don’t care.’ There is, in the gamut of relationships, the fact that every person has a continuum of depth of ‘care.’ On one end of the continuum is the response - I really care, this is so important. On the other end of the continuum is the response - I don’t really care. In each relationship there is always the possibility that two people are on the extreme opposite ends of the continuum. One person cares very deeply. The other person does not care at all.

Is it any wonder that relationships can create such joy and fulfillment? On the other hand, is it any wonder that relationships can create such heartburn and sleepless nights? There’s no wonder as to why one of Jesus’ loudest messages was about ‘forgiveness.’

I have come to some conclusions that I try and allow to serve as guardrails in relationships. Maybe the thoughts will help you. When I bump up against one guardrail, I’m often shot across the road to the other and ultimately bump up against the third thought.

I matter to God, you matter to God and relationships matter to God.

These thoughts serve as a sort of filter through which I try to evaluate my attitudes, words, actions and responses.

Maybe those three thoughts will help you as you navigate the complexities of your relationships.

Relationships matter to God.

Image Management and Humility

Over the last few weeks I’ve heard multiple references in the news, on websites, blogs and podcasts to the concept of ‘image management’. Most of the references have been about people managing their image so as to control or even manipulate what someone thinks about them. Image management is partially about teaching someone to put their best foot forward and helping them make a good ‘first impression’. So in many ways, image management is a good thing.

There are other ways though in which ‘image management’ is contrary to the teaching of the Word of God. The Old Testament writers and the early followers of Jesus had a fair amount to say about ‘image management’, though they didn’t use those exact words.

One of the highest valued traits in the Word of God is humility. It is so important that God says He detests pride.

Solomon wrote: There are six things the LORD hates—no, seven things He detests: haughty eyes …(Proverbs 6:16-17 NLT)

The Apostle Peter wrote about it this way: All of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the humble." (1 Peter 5:5 NLT)

Pride is often the root of ‘image management’. I want people to think ‘higher’ of me or ‘better’ of me than they actually should. So I put on a front. I put on a façade. I put on an ‘image’, because I don’t really want people to know the real me. If they knew the real me, they might not like me and they surely wouldn’t think as highly of me as I want them to.

Humility is actually the opposite of ‘image management’. One of the first definitions I heard of humility was ‘being known for who you are.’ To say it another way: humility is ‘being known as you really are.’

That doesn’t sound like ‘image management’. Humility is letting people see you – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Stick to being known for who you really are – then people are loving you and not an image that’s been managed.

Jesus own brother believed and was transformed!

One of the strongest evidences of Jesus being who He said He was is the transformation and testimony of His brother James. James, Jesus’ oldest stepbrother, like the rest of Jesus’ siblings, did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They knew that He was an effective teacher, that people were being healed, that crowds followed Him everywhere He went and even encouraged Him to leave Galilee and go to Judea where He could become ‘famous’, but ‘even His brothers didn’t believe in Him.’ (John 7:5)

Can you imagine being the stepbrother of Jesus? Jesus is healing people left and right. Jesus is teaching huge crowds of people. Jesus is feeding the multitudes. There are stories circulating about Jesus; calming storms, walking on water, casting demons into pigs and these are just the stories we know about. John, one of the Apostles and an eyewitness, writes that there were MANY things that Jesus did that were unable to be put to writing and that ‘the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.’ (John 21:25)

James’ stepbrother Jesus is the one doing all these things and yet James does not believe that His brother can be the chosen one, the Messiah, the Son of God. It is not until after the crucifixion, burial and then the resurrection of Jesus from the dead that James is transformed.

The Apostle Paul says that: “He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by more than 500 of His followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then He was seen by James and later by all the apostles.” (1 Corinthians 15:5-7 NLT)

Once James saw His brother, the one that He saw crucified, pierced in the side, confirmed dead by professional executors and then buried, alive from the dead…his life was changed. It was so radically changed that he spent the rest of his life as a leader among those who became part of the ever expanding spiritual organism called the ‘church.’

In AD 62, less than 30 years after the death, burial and resurrection of his brother Jesus, James was brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, (the supreme court of their nation), and was given the chance to recant his belief in his brother Jesus as the Messiah. Instead, standing on the top of the Temple, he declared that Jesus "Himself sits in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven." At this declaration the Jewish leaders pushed him off the temple and he hit the ground below where his death was finalized by stoning. His death was so impactful that it was written about by Josephus, Hegesippus, Clement and others.

The life, transformation and martyr of James, Jesus’ brother, is one of the great testimonies as to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah! The faith we live out is not based on myth or fairytales. It is based on real history!

Will the Real Jesus Please Stand-up?

Over the centuries men have sought to determine all that they could about Jesus, who he was, what he did and what he was ‘really’ like. This pursuit has not always led not to a better understanding of who Jesus was, what he did and what he was ‘really’ like. Instead it has often led to a more confusing and convoluted view.

The confusion has come about as men have studied the writings of various authors over the years. As more and more documents surface, more and more information has been added to the mix. The dilemma is that more information doesn’t necessarily sharpen the focus but it tends to dull the focus.

The first accounts of Jesus were not found in the ‘Gospels’ but in the writings of Paul, Peter, James and John. The ‘Gospel’ accounts were written a few decades later. Matthew was written from first hand memory of walking, talking, eating with Jesus. Mark was a disciple of Peter and wrote down the account of the life of Jesus as told by Peter. Luke, a physician, researched what had already been written and interviewed people who had walked, talked and ate with Jesus. Luke’s goal was to write an accurate and detailed account of the life of Jesus. John, the disciple who was given responsibility for Mary, the mother of Jesus wrote the last account. The accounts of these various men who had lived with Jesus give us an accurate, though limited, look at the who, what, where and how of Jesus.

As the years, decades and even centuries passed more and more people wrote about Jesus. Some of them were disciples of disciples of disciples of disciples who wrote what they had heard. The quandary is that those authors were years, decades and even centuries removed from walking, talking and eating with Jesus. They were not ‘eye witnesses.’ Their contribution didn’t focus the picture of Jesus - It made everything fuzzy.

Now ‘scholars’ argue about documents that were written five centuries after Jesus - not much help!
I want to help you see Jesus!

Spread the Gospel like the flu!

Twice in the past little while I’ve been hit with a bug. Once it was the chest, head, throat, fever etc. Just this last week, I got hit by the stomach bug. No need to describe what that looked or felt like. You already know!

It is interesting how bugs are spread. One person touches another person, who touches another person and so on. One person gets the bug and another person doesn’t. One person gets the bug badly and another person is only mildly affected by the bug. One person touches another person who doesn’t get sick at all, but who passes the bug on to someone else who gets sick. It passes over some people – what’s with that?

In my case, who knows who it was that passed the bug on to me. It could have been one of the ICA teachers. It could have been an ICA parent. I could have been an ICA student. It could have been a grandchild. It could have been a stranger. It could have been someone I do business with. It could have been YOU!

I was thinking of bugs, germs and contagions in regards to the message of Jesus. The spread of the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus’ forgiveness, new life, love, peace, hope and joy is not meant to happen via some formula. The spread of the Gospel is meant to happen much like the flu is spread.

The spread of the Gospel is meant to happen when one person touches another person, who touches another person ,who touches another person, and so on and so on. Every follower of Jesus is a ‘carrier.’ Every follower of Jesus is meant to infect other people.

When Jesus said to the disciples “Go into all the world and make disciples”, He was saying “Go into the world and infect others with the message of my love, grace, forgiveness, peace and joy.” Are you contagious? Are you infecting others?

We are so glad that you are here today to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead! Jesus resurrection is the linchpin of human history. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, we would not even know His name today. We know the names of others who lead insurrections and rebellions against the Roman Empire and were crucified, but only because they are remembered in comparison to Jesus.

We know the name Jesus because He wasn’t just another insurrectionist who garnered a following and then was executed for it. Though He had multitudes that followed Him, He was not an insurrectionist. What people saw and heard was only what was above the surface. There was so much more below the surface that was not apparent.

Much of what was under the surface did not become apparent until after His resurrection. His resurrection from the dead changed countless world realities of that day. The disciples who had abandoned their Rabbi and scattered were emboldened by the resurrection. The Roman officials were undecided on what had occurred, so in an attempt to keep control of the rumblings of Jesus being alive from the dead, they fabricated a story about what had happened to Jesus’ body. The Jewish leaders fabricated their own story as to what had happened to Jesus’ body.

Things were happening so fast that the events were described by the writers as having ‘turned the world upside down.’ What had been common for eons was changing at avalanche speeds. In just a few short months after Jesus resurrection from the dead, a significant population in and around Jerusalem had begun to gather to investigate, learn about and worship this one called Jesus Christ.

The speed at which people were becoming followers of Jesus worried the Jewish leaders and they began arresting, punishing and ultimately executing key followers. The Roman officials were more than happy to allow the Jewish leadership to do the dirty work. It wasn’t long though before the Roman officials got involved in attempting to squelch the growing movement.

One of the amazing changes that occurred was in the life of Jesus’ own brother, James. James had not been a follower. He had been a doubter, a skeptic. Once He saw his Brother, walked with and talked with his Brother, he would never be the same. What happened to James is one of the greatest transformations that occurred.

You know His name because He is alive!

Happy Easter.

Easter is about LIFE!

Easter is fast approaching. Easter is of course the celebration of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. It is also an incredible celebration of life.

At creation, God breathed the 'breath of life' into Adam and Eve. They were alive. Life was part of who they were and impacted everything they did. Not long after receiving the 'breath of life' they ate of the forbidden fruit and everything changed. Life had been replaced with death. Where life once was, there was death. Life, that had been a part of who they were and impacted everything, was supplanted by death. Death became the rule of the day.

After 33 years on the planet, Jesus died and when he rose from the dead, death received a fatal blow. Life that was once usurped by death was now overtaken by life. This new life doesn't happen in the afterlife. This life happens when a person surrenders control of their life to Jesus. At that moment, a person is 'born-again' by the Spirit. Just as the 'breath of life' was breathed into Adam and Eve, the 'breath of life' is breathed into the surrendered.

Life replaces death. Life might not replace physical death, but the physical is only temporary. Life replaces death in the inner person. Life is breathed in and once again everything changes. Those who continue to walk in life feel, see and experience life more closely to how God designed it.

This is Easter. The celebration of death being replaced by life.

Invite your family, friends, co-workers and fellow commuters to join you in celebrating life overtaking death through the resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter morning.