A MISSIONARY MAKER

6th July 2011

2011-07-06T05:42:00.001-07:00

Luke 1:1-4 – Introduction.

“Investigate!”
Luke introduces his story.
He writes to Theophilus. We do not know for sure if he was a real person or if Theophilus meaning ‘lover of God’ was a generic name given to all the saints who would read his letter.
At the beginning of this book, Luke tells us that many similar books have been written.
Yet only four made it into our Bible.
Why?
There are many reasons for this but sticking to this passage let me suggest one in particular.

“Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning”.
Those whose words stand the test of time are those do not accept things lightly. Luke it seemed [being a doctor] researched and checked out his facts.
The bigger the questions we have, the deeper we will dig. The deeper we dig the stronger the foundation of our faith.
This is the benefit of doubt that is driven by belief.
I wrote about this on June 13^th.
“In fact I think that [doubt] is its purpose; it is used to make us dig deeper and so discoverer truths we may have previously skipped over. At the end of the process, we can become more trusting than others who never had any doubt in the first place. But the process of doubt requires belief.”
If we want our words to matter – then we need to allow ourselves to ask the difficult questions. We must investigate our faith. We must probe, consider and explore.
It seems to me that those who act the most defensive of their faith are often those who seem the most insecure about their faith. They don’t like debate or conjecture. Maybe because they are worried about what they might find?
“Blessed is he who does not see but believes” is not a call to blind faith but an encouragement to those like Luke – those who had seen, believed but investigated for the sake of passing their faith on to others.
The digger the foundation, the bigger the building and the more people can be invited into it.
Praying today that God will put questions in my mind and the desire to investigate all His promises.

16th June 2011

2011-06-16T06:15:00.001-07:00

John 21:15-25 – Jesus Reinstates Peter.

“Jesus is the Mirror”
What a great story for John to end on.
Peter who as we saw last time, had gone backwards is reinstated.
Why did he need reinstating?
Because He had done something that no disciple should do – left his Rabbi.
A famous exchange of words take place where Jesus asks Peter; do agape me and Peter replies I philo you.
Agape meaning selfless love – “I love you because I am full of love”
Philo meaning friendship love – “I love you because we are good together”.
This could mean that Peter is admitting to Jesus that he realizes he has not demonstrated the kind of love Jesus is looking for. And that Jesus is showing Him that He will accept Peter’s phileo love because the third time Jesus asks; do you love me, He uses phileo.
Jesus is looking for genuine, real, authentic relationship.
Better pure phileo than pretend agape!
[Note however scholars disagree on the significance of the use of the Greek words here. Plus, were John and Jesus speaking Greek anyway?. No so we can never be sure.]
I think a more certain and interesting lesson comes from a different part of the story.
Jesus calls Peter to feed His sheep. He prophesies his death by crucifixion and then says again . . .”follow me”.
Before answering however; Peter points to another disciple and asks Jesus: what about him?”. Peter wants some assurances. Peter wants to know if everyone else is going to have to suffer the same fate as he will should they follow Jesus.
Jesus essentially replies by asking; “what on earth has that got to do with you?”
Jesus wants to connect us with each other not compare us with each other.
Peter has to decide based on Jesus’ request not on anything else.
What happens with other disciples of Jesus should not affect our choice to follow Him. It’s not about fairness, it’s not about comparisons, it’s not about hiding behind the faults of others.
We cannot stand before God and use other people’s actions as an excuse for our own. Jesus is leading us to compare our lives with His example not others.
Jesus is the mirror.
No one else.
You are called to sacrificial love no matter whether others live one or not.
John ends with a call to love God pure and simple.
He tells us that lots more could be said . . . but what’s the point.
Let’s stop looking for alternatives and accept the one way He presents to each of us . . .Jesus.

14th June 2011

2011-06-14T05:59:00.001-07:00

John 21:1-14 – Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish.

“Backsliding”
Why are the men fishing?
Peter encourages them to do so.
No wonder tomorrows passage is full of Jesus’ question; “Do you really love me”.
Peter and the disciples had either not understood or given up on the calling Jesus had given them. They had returned to something they should not have.
He had commissioned them both before His death and after His resurrection.
Suddenly He appears to them.
They are not doing what He has asked and they are catching no fish.
They had gone backwards. They know Jesus is resurrected but it has made no difference.
Which poses the question; is backsliding really just about losing your belief?
You can believe but go backwards just as yesterday we realize that you can doubt but move forwards.
I have done the same.
I ‘backslid’ for three years – I still believed but my disobedience was an act of the will. I wanted to do stuff that God did want me to do.
For most of us, the reality is that we move away from God in our hearts not because of a crisis of belief but as an act of will.
Things have not panned out the way we had hoped.
Maybe we did not get out of the experience what we had expected we would when we entered it.
This is why it is so important that we do our best to make sure people enter the Kingdom of God for the right reasons.
And that we do as well.
Maybe there is someone you know who is no longer serving God. Can I suggest that it’s not really a crisis of faith as they might say; it’s a crisis of expectations.
Knowing that may help you help them deal with the real issue.
After seeing and hearing Jesus, one of the disciples recognizes who He is and Peter grabs his outer cloak and jumps in the water.
At first, adding an extra jacket for a swim seems odd but it was inappropriate to have a formal meeting with a rabbi without being fully clothed.
Peter’s saving grace is his immediate desire to reconnect with Jesus, which of course, changes everything.
He still acknowledges Jesus as His master but as we will see tomorrow, reconnecting is just part of it. Jesus now needs to get at the very heart of why Peter wants to follow Him.
Maybe that is why things sometimes don’t pan out the way we had expected them to. Maybe it’s an opportunity for the Spirit of Jesus to have a heart to heart conversation with me about my motives?
Praying through my motives again today.

13th June 2011

2011-06-13T06:45:00.001-07:00

John 20:18-23 – Jesus Appears to Thomas.

“The good and the Bad of Doubting”
The story of ‘Doubting Thomas’ is for some scholars as close as the NT gets to explicitly stating that Jesus is God.
Interesting that a doubter is the one who appears to make the most convincing statement.
Sometimes doubt can do that.
In fact I think that is its purpose; it is used to make us dig deeper and so discoverer truths we may have previously skipped over. At the end of the process, we can become more trusting than others who never had any doubt in the first place.
But the process of doubt requires belief.
For the process to be successful we need to explore our doubts with faith. How we enter the question often determines how we exit it.
Jesus says;
“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
I can see why He would value belief without seeing so highly.
When I present Pais there are some who believe asnd invest because of its obvious intrinsic value and there are those who only partner after they see it proven elsewhere.
Experience teaches me that those who partner with us for the former reason are far more loyal and honest. They believe because its tru not for what they can benefit from its truth.
It leads to a different kind of partnership.
I think this is what God is looking for from me.
Relationship based on who I believe He is not what I get from Him.
I’m not sure He minds doubt when we use it to pursue Him at a deeper level.
I think it is doubt driven by “woe is me”, “how will I ever be blessed” stance that he struggles with.
How we enter doubt determines how we exit it.
Praying that I will believe in God’s love enough to pursue my doubts with a desire to find His truth and a faith to believe without having to see.

10th June 2011

2011-06-10T06:54:00.001-07:00

John 20:18-23 – Jesus Appears to His Disciples.

“Supernatural vs Spectacular”
Jesus missed a great opportunity here for a good joke.
He suddenly appears to the disciples who have locked themselves away for fear of those who had Jesus crucified.
He says to them “peace with you”
I’d have said ‘boo!’
Jesus, however, a bit more mature than me, combines the extra-ordinary with the ordinary.
Sometimes we love the spectacular but Jesus operated in the supernatural.
Jesus was mystical in many ways but never spooky.
God does move in mysterious ways and in Jesus’ case it was never to attract attention to Himself or put on a show as so many leaders often do.
He uses the most normal common greeting of the day to make an extraordinary event ordinary.
Why?
Because His emphasis was on what would happen next not on the event.
Similar to yesterday – he does not want people to hang onto the moment but to grasp the job in hand.
He then breathes on them and speaks one of the most contested sayings in scripture.
“If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
I was so disappointed today. None of my commentary books would comment on this difficult saying. In fact I took 13 books off my shelf and 12 of them refused to even acknowledge the statement!
It is as though Jesus had said “boo!” to them and they didn’t know what to do.
The only theologian who would take a pop at the subject is not a follower of Jesus and doesn’t have a grip on the Jewish context as well as he thinks.
But he did manage to link the phrase with binding and loosening. In other words with the job Jesus had been preparing His disciples for. The role of helping build and shape this new community of believers according to His teaching.
There are various ways of interpreting Jesus’ words. My drash would be that He is partly referring to their role of essentially taking over from the Sanhedrin and making halakhic decisions to help the new community mature and grow up into God’s promise for them.
But the main thing that today’s reading leaves me with is that Jesus is constantly moving us forward, He does not want us to get sucked in to the spectacular but to move forward in the supernatural.
He is not interested in shouting “Boo!”
He wants us to be naturally supernatural.
Hoping I can be that today!

9th June 2011

2011-06-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

John 20:10-18 – Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene.

“The First Profession”
Now it is Mary’s turn.
She hangs around just a little longer and when she peers into the tomb she sees two angels.
They ask her why she is crying. Seems odd. Why would you ask a person stood at a tomb why are they crying? Isn’t it obvious . . . someone they love died.
But in her culture a question always led somewhere. She just had to take the next step.
Then she sees the gardener.
But He is not the gardener, she only thinks He is.
There is an interesting contrast here. Some think Mary had been a prostitute which the media is constantly telling us is the oldest profession.
But it is not, gardening is. Adam was a gardener and Jesus is seen as one.
Then Jesus asks her the same question; “why are you crying?”
Both times this question is leading her to realize that she wants to find Him and hold on to Him.
When He says her name realizes who He is.
He tells her not to hold on to her and goes to the heart of the issue;
You cannot hold on to me because I have something I need to go and do.

'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'

You cannot hold on to me because you have something you need to go and do!

“Go instead to my brothers and tell them”

The first profession of our faith should be to family.
Before he commissions the disciples to tell the world He tells the first person to see Him resurrected, a woman who tradition says becomes a leader and visionary, to go to the family.
This reminds me of Moses’ encounter with God. He gets where we all want to be, onto ‘holy ground’ hearing God and as soon as he does, God says; “Go”.
The presence of Jesus is not something to be hung onto but to give us direction.

8th June 2011

2011-06-08T06:31:00.001-07:00

John 20:1-9 – The Empty Tomb.

“Running to catch up”
Mary approached Jesus’ tomb to find He is not there.
So she get’s two of the disciples and they run to the tomb to find our for themselves what has happened.
When they get there they begin to realize that Jesus has risen.
The Bible stated that the disciples did not understand from Scripture that Jesus would rise from the dead.
In one commentary it gives two particular scriptures from the Old Testament that it says prophecy Jesus will rise from the dead, almost as though the disciples should have realized.
Looking at them – I don’t think I would have realized either – they both seem pretty tenuous at best.
They are Isaiah 53:9-12 and Psalm 16:10.
The second one seems a little more obvious but even then it could mean a number of things..
The fact is this; we are always catching up to God.
He is always doing things to surprise us and to think that we can understand everything up front is a little foolish.
I love what Simeon Peter does.
Whilst the other disciple stands at the edge of the tomb, Peter explores.
We need more explorers.
The first disciple seems a little nervous, as though he is waiting for it to be deemed ‘safe’. So many are on the edge of God’s intentions. Waiting for things to someone else to declare it is safe rather than searching things out themselves.
I want to be an explorer and to do that I need to recognize that God is always going to have a few tricks up His sleeve and some shocking ideas.
I don’t want to stand on the edge – I want to be the first to go in and find out what He is up to.
Don’t you?

6th June 2011

2011-06-06T06:29:00.001-07:00

coin

So, how did David, a teenage boy with all the sticky labels that every adolescent struggles with, go from shepherd boy to the most famous king of all?

His secret lies within his coin.

According to Jewish tradition, when David grew in stature and became king, he commissioned the royal minters to produce a coin that would speak to God’s people.

Firstly, he commanded that the coin be weighted fairly; this allowed it to become credible beyond the nation of Israel.

Secondly, it was to be stamped on one side with a picture that displayed the majesty of a king God had honored; he chose the imprint to be the tower of David.

The third request, however, took his staff a little by surprise.

And on the other side—a shepherd's staff and shepherd's bag.

The people were thrilled with this decision because the great and mighty David was not ashamed of his humble origin. They said of him:

“He never forgets that God had taken him from his flocks of sheep and made him king. He has other flock to care for now, and he treats them as lovingly and as tenderly as he had treated his little lambs!”

The coin symbolized a characteristic of the God of David’s kingdom.

He is looking for those who can be entrusted with a lot because they do not misconceive the power of the little.

He is looking for a people who will do something.

1st June 2011

2011-06-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

John 19:38-42 – The Burial of Jesus.

“Too late to be Strategic?”
Two VIP’s come out of the woodwork as disciples of Jesus.
Both were members of the Sanhedrin the ruling Jewish authorities.
This old Sanhedrin was about to be replaced by Jesus Apostles, the ones He sent out in Luke 10.
These two men did a very brave thing here – they made an important an statement.
I’m wondering how much impact they would have had afterwards?
They were not included in the 72 as far as I know.
Does that mean we can be precious as follows of Jesus but not strategic to Him?
Should they have made their beliefs clear earlier?
I’m wondering if other leaders even today hide their true beliefs for political reasons.
I’m wondering if they also hold on to one position out of fear and in doing so lose the opportunity of a far greater opportunity to serve Jesus.
Just a thought.
I'm so impressed with those who step out of secure positions to pioneer something they truly believe in.
I must be careful not to be a secret believer who only states my true beliefs when it’s a little too late.

1st June 2011

2011-06-01T05:45:00.001-07:00

John 19:28:37 – The death of Jesus.

“All is revealed”
The Jews realized that some of the laws God had given them made absolutely no sense at all.
Yet, they had this deep down faith that He must have given them for a reason.
He is a loving God, they thought, so His rules must be based in love.
A pretty good angle to approach God’s Word – better than only basing our approach on our own rational thinking.
They even invented a name for these peculiar rules: “hukim”.
This passage helps us understand that god places things into our lives for a reason. And those reasons may only become apparent much later.
One of the “hukim,” was that the command to refrain from breaking the bones of the Passover Lamb.
This had been adhered to “blindly” for centuries.
Only now does it make sense. Jesus is crucified but unlike most victims of this particular torture . . . His bones are not broken as the traditional way of finally killing a crucified man, He is already dead.
A ritual commanded given many years previously suddenly gave significance to Jesus’ death. The whole weight of years and years of ritual behavior was now a sign once, hidden now disclosed.
Suddenly things they knew made sense - Psalm 34:19-20 – “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”
It leaves us the question: what hukim has God put in my life?
What commands has He given me that make no sense now but could unlock a future mystery?
What commands has He given me now that will help me identify His direction in the future?
What irrational commands has He given you and are your obeying them because you know He loves you or have you dismissed them?
What makes the difference?
The way we enter the Bible.
Enter it with the view to find the obvious life principles and we will miss Him.
Enter it with the filter that everything God asks us to do is driven by love and we will eventually see Him in it.

31st May 2011

2011-05-31T06:13:00.001-07:00

John 19:28:37 – The Crucifixion.

“Why did so few object to Jesus’ Crucifixion?’”
It always used to surprise me that so many shouted ‘crucify him’ and that Jesus suffered this death even though He still seemed to have maybe followers.
Until I realized the timing of all of this.
The evening during Jesus trial many would have been worse for wear from a hard day partying.
Traditional Passover involved a huge meal and four cups of wine.
It started at sunset and finished at midnight.
This is the reason Jesus’ disciples were so tired when He asked them to pray.
In fact the Rabbis said that a man could doze lightly and still be part of the Passover meal but someone who fell asleep could not.
When Jesus is on trial many are sleeping the night off.
According to Mark – Jesus’ sentence was passed around sunrise the next day.
The only people around when Jesus is presented to “the people” are the priests and Roman soldiers.
At the time of crucifixion, 9am , it was the first Temple Service of the day.
The first most knew was on their way to church and the trial had already happened, Jesus had received the forty lashes minus one, had a crown of thorns on His head and was in the first stages of the crucifixion procedure.
Evil always operates behind closed doors – even when things are seen to be done in the open air.
How alone must Jesus have felt?
All of this happened at night with no-one around.
For us to do His will, we will often find ourselves in the same position.
Alone.
Our greatest tests will come when those we rely on not around. They may not have turned our backs on us, they may be simply otherwise engaged.
It then comes down to Faith.
The faith to go through with it alone.
But we of course are never fully alone.
Which leads me to my final question.
Do I not only have Faith in Jesus but do I have Faith in the thing that Jesus had Faith in; a loving Father in Heaven?

26th May 2011

2011-05-26T05:29:00.000-07:00

John 19:1-16 – Jesus sentenced to be crucified

“Jesus’ secret to Peace”
In today’s scripture a panicky Pilate meets a peaceful Jesus. It’s hard to tell which was on trial.
Pilate had to prove himself. Jesus didn’t. Pilate often tried to win brownie points with the Romans. He did it by sucking up to the Emperor. Pontius Pilate is the only know Roman official in history to build a temple to a living emperor. Pilate was double-minded and people knew it. Jesus was not double minded! Imagine knowing what to do because you know who you are.
Pilate pulled others down. Jesus pulled others up. Pilate raised himself up by destroying & humiliating others. Jesus was never threatened by anyone else. Not worried I they were better looking, funnier, more talented, happier, faster, stronger etc. Imagine if you found gifted people an inspiration not a threat. Jesus said “You shall do even greater things than me”
Pilate feared decisions. Jesus pursued them. Pilate tried to palm Jesus off onto Herod Antipas but the problem came back to him - there was no running away. He tended to stay away from Jerusalem, he was accustomed to the pleasures of Rome and Jerusalem was a place of conflict. For him Jerusalem must have symbolized stress. He was in Jerusalem at this time because he had to be. It was Passover and he needed to be there to oversee that the people were kept in order Pilate was a personality put together by the opinions of others. Jesus forced Pilate into making a decision. Godliness means not being afraid to make tough decisions!
Where did Jesus get His confidence in who He was
Identity, like a triangle, has three corners.
John 13:3 - “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God”
The Father - Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. Pilate’s power, in his mind, came from His position, the people & Emperor
The Former - and that he had come from God. Pilate’s name “Pilate” from the Latin pileatus, i.e., “wearing the pileatus”, which was the “cap or badge of a manumitted [freed] slave,” as indicating that he was a “freedman,” or the descendant of one - Did he feel he had something to prove? Jesus had a working class background, a father who died early and was from Nazareth. Even his death was that of a criminal. Status determined banished to an island, thrown to wild animals or crucified for the lowest We all have two histories! Which history reacts?
The Future - and was returning to God
Pilate Panicked but Jesus had peace.
What is the secret to peace?
Jesus knew who He was from, where he was from and where He was going.
It’s not what you know, it’s that you know your identity.

25th May 2011

2011-05-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

John 18:28-40 – Jesus before Pilate

“Color blind to Red Flags”
The Jewish accusers of Jesus do a number of things that play into the hands of God’s plan here.
Firstly they take Jesus to the Romans.
They have no legal right under Roman law to execute anyone and so have to ask Pilate to do it.
This means that Jesus would not suffer a Jewish form of execution but one of Roman tradition.
Jesus would be hung on a tree.
This is important because it is more symbolic of what God wanted us to understand about His death.
Read this from Deuteronomy.
“If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” Deut 21:22-23
The people would recognize that Jesus was under God’s curse of Sin.
The Jewish leaders had no idea what they were doing, they were completely blind to the Word that they were teaching to others.
Jesus, however, is in full possession of the facts. He knew what was about to happen and He knew why.
Sometimes when we are intent on doing our own thing we are not open to hear the warnings of Scripture. There were many prophecies that Jesus life had fulfilled. His manner of death was about to fulfill many more.
You would have thought that the leaders would have recognized this.
But
When we see red we no longer see red flags!
I must avoid as a leader making hasty decisions and emotional reactions. I need to always create a little time in between what offends me and the action I take about it.
I would hate to ignore the perennial facts because of my personal feelings.
I would hate to be an instrument of evil instead of good.
Wouldn't you?

19th May 2011

2011-05-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

John 18:25-27 – Peter’s Second and Third Denials

“ The End is just the Beginning”
Peter is asked a second and then third time if he is a disciple of Jesus.
How depressed must he have felt when that rooster crowed!
It was not that he was caught out.
The relative of the man who’s ear was cut off did not know it was him for sure. The light in the garden was very dim and the same in the courtyard where there was a small fire that burned but never flamed. It was very dark and Peter in both places far too dark for the man to ever be certain.
But that is not the point – Peter would have been crushed to hear the animal’s cry.
He found out something bad about himself that he had never guessed – he could betray Jesus.
It must have felt like the end!
And yet sometimes the end is just the beginning.
In fact sometimes our real ministry and influence cannot start until something comes to an end. That something is usually something in us.
In Peter’s case; pride.
Wonder what it will be in my case?

18th May 2011

2011-05-18T05:45:00.001-07:00

John 18:19-24 – The High Priest Questions Jesus

“ The Testimony of the Transparent ”
Annas the High Priest who retained his title questions Jesus.
Jesus is not disrespectful but He is a little cheeky.
He asks His accusers to go and ask the general public about His actions.
In doing so he firstly shows that He is confident that He has nothing wrong and secondly He embarrasses them by pointing out the irregularity and secrecy of their mock trial.
I am encouraged by Jesus’ confidence in what He has done.
It makes me ask the question; how confident would I be if had to hand the final appraisal of my life over to those who had seen it rather than defend myself and my actions?
If everything I had done in public and in secret was seen by all – how relaxed would I be when I faced my accusers?
All of Jesus actions had been transparent [if not his motives and intention].
You could watch them, see then, touch the people He had touched.
Jesus was confident that He had done the right thing.
I want to live that kind of life . . . I went on trial today that I would be confident in the testimony of those who had seen my actions yesterday.
I wonder today what kind of testimony would my transparency lead to?

11th May 2011

2011-05-17T05:50:00.002-07:00

John 17:20-26 – Jesus Prays for All Believers

“ The Most Trusting Man in the World ”
It’s the first line that gets me;
“My prayer is not for them alone. My prayer is for those who will believe in me through their message,”
This is incredible.
Jesus’ trust in His disciples is awe inspiring.
The salvation of the whole world is in their hands.
He will die on the cross, atone for the world’s sin and show us the way to live.
But.
How can someone respond without hearing. And how can someone hear without someone telling them.
He is putting His trust in these few men and everything that He goes through may be pointless if they don’t step up to the plate.
This is not an isolated situation.
At the end Jesus prays something that He also tells His disciples: all men will know Him because of their love and unity for one another.
Again; He is trusting those who follow Him to be what He says they can be in order to bring the world to Him.
I am so challenged by Jesus trust in those he leads.
I get so frustrated and disheartened sometimes and I am sure He did as well – but He still trusted us!

12th May 2011

2011-05-17T05:50:00.001-07:00

John 18:1-11 – Jesus Arrested

“Opting Out”
I have never been arrested.
I have been chased by German officials for breaking an underground train in Berlin and I have been frisked by the police whilst spread eagled and up against a metal fence in Manchester.
But I have never been arrested.
God was though.
Jesus is arrested like a common criminal.
And He allowed it to happen. In fact verse 4 informs me that He already knew it was going to happen.
On several occasions and through several ways Jesus was given the temptation to opt out.
He had a supernatural opt out – angels could have rescued Him.
He had a human opt out – the disciple with the sword could have rescued Him.
He had an independent opt out – He could have recued Himself – when He said “I am” He associated Himself with God and the power knocked the soldiers to the ground.
But He did not succumb.
When we are tempted to opt out of our calling we have those three options presented to us . .
We have a “supernatural” B plan – we do something similar to what God wants – it still brings glory to Him but deep down we know it is not exactly what He asked us to do.
We have a Human B plan – we can always find people who will tell us its too hard and therefore cannot be God’s will – they even say ‘if you don’t have peace it cannot be God but mean if it’s not peaceful.
We can have an independent B plan – we can rescue ourselves.
We can save ourselves or we can fulfill our calling and allow God to save us.
Almost every Pais applicant has had one of the same three temptations before they were about to come on; a loved one falls seriously ill, a chance of job is offered they were not expecting or a relationship with a member of the opposite sex presents itself.
The Bible says there is no temptation that is not common to man.
We all face the same temptations – we are not unique.
In this matter it seems, neither ids God
What makes Him special is He stepped out in faith knowing for a fact that it would hurt.
We step out in faith only suspecting that it might.
Challenged by Jesus’ courage today. Praying He will give me some of that.

16th May 2011

2011-05-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

John 18:12-14 – Jesus taken to Annas

“ Think Fast ”
Jesus is bound and taken away.
The most powerful man on earth is powerless to choose where He goes.
Things change instantly.
One minute He is in the garden and able to do anything, call down angels or His disciples to protect Him – but instead His chooses God’s will.
Immediately He is bound.
I notice this because sometimes the minute we choose to do God’s will things change . . . sometimes for the worst.
At least it seems that way.
It is as though once we fully commit to God we sometimes get take on a path very quickly.
Sometimes we have to think fast.
Things are thrown at us quickly and we have to remember that it is not that things are getting out of control…
It is simply that God taking us seriously when we said “yes”.
In these times I have to think fast and remember it is God who is allowing me to be bound and powerless. Sometimes it is His will.
Sometimes God remembers what we so often forget.
He remembers when we said “yes” long after we prayed to prayer.
Thinking fast and quickly calling to mind those moments has helped me when things turn bad and allowed me to stay the course, because eventually they always turn very good again.
Today I will pray for a good memory.

17th May 2011

2011-05-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

John 18:15-18 – Peter’s First Denial

“ So Near but so Far ”
Whilst Jesus is on trial inside, Peter is on trial outside.
His faith is being tested.
Peter is moving through the temple courts trying to get as close as He can to Jesus and yet at the same time he is denying Him.
This is a challenge to me.
Am I trying to get as close to Jesus whilst still denying Him?
I may testify that I am a disciple but am I denying him in other ways?
Am I denying Him all of my heart of the opportunity to clean up certain aspects of my life.
If Peter had confessed he was a disciple would he have been taken to the High Priest along with Jesus? He would have faced the same consequences but He would have been right next to Him.
Another thought occurs to me;
Peter has no right to be as close to Jesus as He gets but a friend manages to sneek Him in. He has to lie in order to take up the opportunity.
Actually – it is His desire to get close to Jesus that highlights His sin.
The closer we get to Jesus the more our sins are shown to us..
I need to be aware of the fact that if I am determined to pursue Him then He will be determined to highlight more of my sins. Things that did not bother me years ago may bother me now.
But He only picks them out in order that I can ask for forgiveness and move on.
I just need to make sure that I do not think I can get closer to Jesus and still deny Him.
Instead, I need to get closer to Him and give Him whatever it is that He shows me He wants.
Tough choices today.

16th May 2011

2011-05-16T05:33:00.001-07:00

John 18:12-14 – Jesus taken to Annas

“ Think Fast ”
Jesus is bound and taken away.
The most powerful man on earth is powerless to choose where He goes.
Things change instantly.
One minute He is in the garden and able to do anything, call down angels or His disciples to protect Him – but instead His chooses God’s will.
Immediately He is bound.
I notice this because sometimes the minute we choose to do God’s will things change . . . sometimes for the worst.
At least it seems that way.
It is as though once we fully commit to God we sometimes get take on a path very quickly.
Sometimes we have to think fast.
Things are thrown at us quickly and we have to remember that it is not that things are getting out of control…
It is simply that God taking us seriously when we said “yes”.
In these times I have to think fast and remember it is God who is allowing me to be bound and powerless. Sometimes it is His will.
Sometimes God remembers what we so often forget.
He remembers when we said “yes” long after we prayed to prayer.
Thinking fast and quickly calling to mind those moments has helped me when things turn bad and allowed me to stay the course, because eventually they always turn very good again.
Today I will pray for a good memory.

10th May April 2011

2011-05-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

10^th May April 2011

John 17:9-19 – Jesus Prays for His Disciples

“ Repairing the World ”
Jesus turns from praying for Himself to praying for His friends . . . His disciples.
What strikes me most about this prayer is the sense of flow of everything going through Him.
The whole prayer speaks of Him being a conduit, a connector of things from the Father to His disciples;
They were given by the Father to Jesus who gives them back to Him.
The Father gave Jesus the Word and He has passed it onto them.
The world hated ne because of the word and know it hates them because He passed the Word onto them from the Father.
Jesus then begins to get specific. What He says in such a short prayer should catch my attention; whatever He prays must be a priority to Him.
He prays in line with ‘tikkun-ha’olam’: repairing the world.
His religion saw this as vital.
All Jews grow up with a sense that they are commissioned by God to repair the world.
It is interesting that only one 24th of 1% of the world’s population are Jews.
It is astounding therefore that 20%, a 5th of all Nobel prize winners in the last 100 years were Jewish!
Jesus prays a prayer about flow.
He asks the Father to protect and keep His disciples, not to remove them but to leave them in the world as salt and light to repair it.
We the as leaders, whether parents or pastors, must be challenged by this.
What is it exactly that we are to invest our time in challenging our disciples to do?
Not repair the church, repair a building, not repair an organization.
But repair the world!
Such a challenge today – what is the fruit of my leadership?

6th May April 2011

2011-05-06T05:37:00.000-07:00

John 17:1-5 – Jesus Prays for Himself

“ Eternal Life is . . . ”
For Jesus eternal life was more than living for eternity.
When He thanks the Father for being given authority to give us eternal life, He is speaking of something more than an extension of our existence.
We will ‘know’ eternal life.
In Hebrew ‘da’at’ is the Hebrew word for knowledge – it is a third part of wisdom along with Chokhmah and Binah.
To ‘know’ in this context is to experience two things;
Firstly; Intimacy. The Bible often talks about the sexual experience using this word in phrases like; “He lay down with her and knew her”.
Secondly; Application. The experience of applying its truth to your life.
Eternal life is not something we wait for, it is something we comprehend and then work into our lives know.
Ecclesiastes says that He has set eternity in the hearts of men.
Lots of Christian teaching encourages us to allow what is in our heads to drop several inches into our hearts but Jesus would pray for us that what is in our hearts should be lifted several inches into our heads.
Think about that.
To know something in this context is to receive insight, to then understand it and then to apply it and make it part of who you are. ‘Da’at’ is the third part of this process.
We should make eternity part of who we are in this life.
What decisions would you make with eternal life in mind?
What priorities would you set with eternity in mind?
These are the things I will meditate on today.

5th May April 2011

2011-05-05T06:12:00.001-07:00

John 16:1-16 – The Disciples Grief will turn to Joy

“ The Joy of Thripsis”
Jesus tells His disciples that for a while the non-believers will rejoice and they will mourn but that finally they will rejoice.
His death and resurrection will take them through this process.
During this passage the disciples begin to slowly understand and believe that Jesus was sent from God – whether they fully understand Who He was is another matter.
Just as they understood and begin to feel good about it Jesus explains that in this life there will be much trouble – the word used here is ‘thripsis’.
Thripsis means to "put a lot of pressure on that which is free and unfettered"
Imagine a clump of playdo or plasticine; different colors, shapes and sizes.
Now apply thripsis and you squeeze them into one mass.
Thripsis was a word often used when grapes were pressed in order to eventually produce wine used at celebrations.
Jesus does not promise a lack of trouble but peace within it and joy that comes from it.
For those who do not give up, for those who endure the pressure they will fine that thripsis will re-shape they and press them into God.
The Joy of thripsis is that we will become one in Him and He will be in us.
There will be much trouble in this life and I must put my hope in the process of thripsis.

4th May April 2011

2011-05-04T05:52:00.001-07:00

John 16:1-16 – The Work of the Holy Spirit

“ rooted revelation”
Jesus tells His disciples about the role of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit brings revelation; He teaches truth, guides, council, comforts, strengthens and reveals what is to come.
Those filled with the Holy Spirit can be full of wisdom, honest, counselors, conforters, those who empower others and prophets.
On the other hand …
often they are not.
Why?
“He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
The Holy Spirit and Jesus do not operate separately from the Father.
But we often do.
I have often seen Christians dissemble God like you might do a car engine or some other form of mechanical device.
Both the Father, Holy Spirit and Son are needed for us to grow and grow others. We cannot ignore one and embrace the other.
One of the first bits of great advice I ever received growing in my Pentecostal church as a new Christian was this; The Holy Spirit will never tell you to do something that contradicts God’s Word [meaning the Bible[.
It was good [if not quite complete] advice.
How many followers of Jesus and followers of His Spirit do we know who don’t study their Bible?
Is that you?
As much as we love Jesus, we will be like a sail boat that catches the wind but has no rudder.
Particularly in a society that influences our faith far more than we realize, we are susceptible to going with the Spirit but ignoring the laws and principles set in place by God.
A great, powerful, full life is evidence by consistent growth.
Rooted revelation will bring just that.
But dissemble God and we will be busy jumping from one spiritual project to another and God will be limited by what He can build into us.
Open your ears to His Spirit, your heart to His son and your mind to His Word.
Praying today that I will do the same!

2nd May April 2011

2011-05-02T05:43:00.000-07:00

John 15:18-27 – The World hates the Disciples

“ … without reason”
Jesus gives the disciples a reality check.
He prepares them for persecution and helps them understand that it will come because of their connection with Him.
He explains that no servant is above His master – in others words; what makes you think you will get away with things if I was unable to?
I wonder if the disciples needed to hear this in case they either a. thought that because they were persecuted they were doing something wrong or b. thought that if they taught people with enough reason then they would accept the message.
The problem is that Jesus’ message cannot be accepted without a heart that ultimately wants what God wants. No reason is enough.
Jesus tells them; They hated me without reason.
In doing so He yet again invokes remez by quoting from Psalm 35 and Psalm 69 which also prophecies certain details about the crucifixion.
Interestingly listen to what the Jews say about themselves: this is what the mishna/talmud says written after Jesus’ death . . .
Why was the second sanctuary [temple] destroyed, seeing that in its time they occupied themselves with studying Torah, obeying mitzvoth and practicing charity? Because in it prevailed hatred without a cause” Yoma 9b
We must not be surprised as leaders when no matter how much rational we use; people reject our words. It’s not always about reason. it is about heart.
And that is another challenge that education alone will not convince people. But giving people an experience of the Kingdom will help us and them know if they are leaning forward or not.
Also we must still do the work of Jesus no matter what reaction.
We have to do the right thing because it is the right thing.
Praying today that I do not go to church, read by Bible, practice charity and yet still reject God’s message to me.

29th April 2011

2011-04-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

A Survey

“A Survey
Today I am asking the following Question;
Did or do you as a family ever read the Bible and pray together?
They are 4 options.
Please go to my Facebook wall and click on one of them.
Please share the question with your FB friends.

28th April 2011

2011-04-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

John 15:1-17 – The Vine and the Branches

“Culture not Control”
Verse 2 completely took me by surprise!
I realized that I have completely misread it for years. Jesus is referring to himself.
I always saw this pruning as something Jesus was telling us the Father will do to us but no, He was saying that the Father prunes Him!
Which poses the question;
What did the Father have to prune/cut off/cut back/break off from Jesus???
Sin?
[Whenever I think of pruning I think of it in terms of purity]
No because Jesus was sinless. So if not sin then what was it referring to?
Again context helps us.
Jesus describes himself as the ‘true’ living vine. Why? Because he was contrasting Himself with the artificial golden vine that covered the four columns at the entrance of the temple. This vine was famous for its expense. Wealthy people would sometimes offer a sacrifice by purchasing a golden cluster of grapes of leaf and adding it to the vine, sometimes even having it inscribed with their name. [Reminds me of one of those ‘buy a brick’ building campaigns.]
The context is that He produces something a golden vine cannot . . . fruit.
What did the Father have to prune Jesus for?
Effectiveness.
He cut off anything that did not bear fruit in Jesus’ life – things like where He went and what He did etc and other choices. In doing so Jesus went about the Father’s business not His own.
He then prunes His disciples. He does this not by creating control but culture.
They will love Him – something a controlling leader can never create.
When they love Him they will do what He wants them to do and therefore produce fruit.
How does He get the to love Him? By giving them understanding.
Jesus does not want us to simply fall in love which Him because of what we get out of it. That would be both very shallow and controlling.
He wants us to love Him and the love the things He loves.
That only happens through culture, a culture of connection.
Jesus was pruned, He came to understand His Father’s business.
He does not want servants He controls but friends who share the same culture of understanding.
Leaders; do we want the same?
If so we will indeed be those “appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last”
A good challenge for me to think and pray about today.

27th April 2011

2011-04-27T05:51:00.001-07:00

John 14:14-31 – Jesus promises the Holy Spirit

“You cannot be a disciple of Jesus*
*technically
To be a Talmid you would go everywhere your rabbi went. If he went to a different region so would you.
You stuck to Him like glue. Or you would as the Jews taught; “cover your head with the dust of your rabbi” because you walked so closely to Him.
You would watch how He prayed, how he spoke, how he ate, even how he used the rest room!
A rabbi’s students wanted to know what the rabbi knew but a rabbi’s disciple wanted to be who the rabbi was – you could only do that by following him physically and watching and copying what He did.
So how can we possibly be disciples of Jesus?
We can’t because we cannot follow Him!
Or can we?
In this passage Jesus promises ‘another advocate/counselor”.
There are two words in Greek that are used for the word ‘another’.
allos – another of the same kind.
eteros – another of a different kind
The word used to describe Jesus’ promise in the Bible is allos.
The Holy Spirit is just like Jesus – He is Jesus – the Ruach HaKodesh.
We can be disciples of the Spirit of Jesus!
To do that we have to follow the Spirit in the same way that the 12v disciples followed Jesus’ body.
We go where He goes when He goes there. We watch what He does and how He acts.
and then we copy Him.
And we teach others what we see Him teaching.
Study how the disciples followed Jesus’ body and then follow His Spirit in the exact same way.
In this way we can be the disciples of Jesus and those who worship in Spirit and in truth.
Will spend some time praying for this today and anyone who asks for prayer for this on my facebook note.

24th April 2011

2011-04-25T05:44:00.001-07:00

John 14:3-13 – Jesus the way to the Father

“Where is our success?”
Very little really occurs to me today – I am just still staggered after all this time by what Jesus meant as an encouragement . . .
That we will do even greater things than He did.
I guess this ties into the thought, still in my mind from last week, of how according to Jesus His success could be seen in our hands.
He believed/s that people will know we are His disciples by or love for one another.
If they don’t believe we are His disciples then they will not listen to the teaching we pass on to them because He first passed it onto us.
I’m just amazed that Jesus would trust His disciples so much in order to leave the ‘fate’ of His message and teaching in their hands.
It could have disappeared within a couple of generations had they not loved one another.
The reality is that His disciples were are to do greater things;
They reach the Gentiles – Jesus did not.
They saw far more people follow Him than He did.
They did the miracles that only the Messiah was supposed to do.
Today I am reminded of something that Jesus obviously believed in;
Our Success is in our successors.

21st April 2011

2011-04-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

John 14:1-4 – Jesus comforts His Disciples

“Many Rooms”
In this passage Jesus comforts His disciples with the fact that where He is going there will be many rooms.
I think we often think of this in terms of a large mansion that each one of us will get. And this leads to us fixating on how cool the rewards of Heaven and the things we will get will be.
I don’t think that was the point of Jesus’ encouragement.
The Jews by Jesus time had adopted much of the dining arrangements of the Romans.
There are various clues in the NT of this.
In the Triclinium of the Romans, an oblong dining room had a table in the centre with three couches alongside three of its walls [hence the name]. The fourth wall was left free for entertainment.
You would lay on the couch with your head towards the table and your body angled away from it.
The historian Pliny writes about how one diner would lie in the bosom of another referring to the way that a person’s head would be at the torso of the person next to them who was in a superior position – we see this with John and Jesus [John 13:23].
The point?
The Tricilinium usually flitted nine dinners comfortably.
But at this meal there are at least thirteen people! Probably another couch was added and without doubt space was a real issue.
Jesus had a habit of only including certain people at certain times and here he comforts His disciples that where He is going they will all fit in. There is a place for everyone of them.
When Jesus encouraged His disciples about Heaven it was not about the reward of large mansions but that they would get to be with Him.
Nowadays too many preachers entice us with treasures in Heaven and of course there will be many. But when Jesus offers comfort the best reward He can offer is time with Him.
Is the best thing you can offer those you lead the things you can give then or time with you?
If you are worth following; it is time with you..

20th April 2011

2011-04-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

John 14:18-30 – Jesus predicts His Betrayal

“Love Wins””
Now I have your attention… this is not about the Rob Bell book which I have not read yet.
It is however about the fact that love not arguments will win others to God’s cause.
There were many god” in Jesus day.
When I was younger I often heard it preach that only Christians claimed that their God had been raised from the dead. This is totally untrue.
In Jesus’ day there were many “gods” and their disciples claimed such things as;
One was born in a cave to a virgin,
One was worshipped by shepherds
One had 12 followers and some believe he had something to do with death being conquered.
The faithful referred to one of them as "the Light of the World".
One was Born Dec 25th.
One was hung on some sort of tree. Several days later he was said to have rose from the dead.
Several were born of a virgin.
One died to crucifixion.
As a small child foreign kings were said to have brought one of them gifts.
Jesus knew however that the proof of who He was lay in the disciples ability to love each other with agape love.
At first this does not seem to be a new commandment as Leviticus 19:18 says something similar but it was new because Leviticus says love others as yourself. Jesus said love others as “I have agaped you”.
We are to love others not with human love but Godly love flowing through us – only this will be the convincing proof of Jesus’ claims.
Blows me away that Jesus left knowing that the only real proof of His words lay in the hands of others!
Challenged today to seek God’s love for others not mine.

19th April 2011

2011-04-19T05:59:00.001-07:00

John 13:18-30 – Jesus predicts His Betrayal

“Disappointment””
Jesus is troubled in His Spirit.
It’s not surprising as one of His closest followers is about to betray Him.
How bitter and hardened in your heart must you be to spend three years with a friend and then totally turn your back on Him? Judas does just that.
Sometimes when we have a vision and a purpose we can get very disappointed with those around us.
Last night I got on a flight from Vancouver to L.A..
I met a man who made Christian films and he described many of the people he works with as Liars, cheats and greedy. He shared how he wanted to make more honest films but ended up making ones that ticked the boxes that would make money.
Today’s passage got me thinking about how Jesus handled disappointment.
He let those who were doing wrong, do wrong, He was not distracted by them but instead pursued the good that He was supposed to do.
It’s a lesson for me – don’t fixate on the disappointment or those who do wrong. Don’t make pursuing my vindication my primary concern instead make it doing the right I believe I should do.
When I got off the plane I googled my new friend and it turns out he is an actor I often watch on TV – I just did not recognize him – he has been in lots of well known American series and is a very good actor [he’s received Emmy nominations etc.
I’m so glad I did not recognize him – I shared my faith and testimony and encouraged Him to pioneer.
Jesus was not influenced by who disappointed him, who they were or the power at their disposal.
He did the right thing just because it was the right thing and did not let the bad doing the bad things take up too much of His time.

“What you are about to do, do quickly”

Praying that I won’t be distracted by disappointment today.

8th April 2011

2011-04-11T06:46:00.001-07:00

John 13:1-17 – Jesus washes His Disciples Feet

“A trait of a great leader””
In this famous story Jesus serves His disciples with what is commonly thought to be an act that the lowest servant in the house would be required to do.
What caught my eye in my studies today was the translation of one commentary and is take on the first verse.
“He loved them to the end”
I like this because it is particularly helpful for leaders.
Great leaders are hurt but keep on loving.
Great parents are hurt but keep on loving.
It is a trait of a great leader.
After leading people for years it can sometimes take a toll on your heart and mind.
Our hearts can become a little hardened as we seek to protect them from another betrayal or disappointment.
Over familiarity can set in and those a leader leads can begin to take the relationship for granted.
We can spend all our resources on them and begin to withdraw them - yesterday I ripped the main sail of my Sailing Course leader in high winds - he didn't bat an eye!
This is true if all leadership form parenting to presidents.
Jesus loved His disciples till the very end.
He continued to be soft hearted and His greatest acts of love towards His disciples were at the end not the beginning.
He was hurt by them but kept on loving.
The grew in love!
Encouraging thought and challenge for me today.

8th April 2011

2011-04-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

John 12:37-50 – Belief and Unbelief among the Jews

“ASAP”
This passage contains one of the harder teachings of the New Testament for me.
“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”
This passage is also quoted in every one of the other Gospels in connection with the parable of the talents.
It is saying that God intentional has blinded people so they cannot believe.
A possible Hebrew idiom would normally make this easier to swallow – sometimes the Hebrew language expresses commentary as intention. In this case, if this was an isolated situation it could be that rather than God intending to “blind their eyes… etc” it is simply commentating on the fact that He has.
The problem with the Hebrew idiom version is that the idea of God blinding people also fits into the teaching that God hardens peoples hearts.
Why does God choose to harden some people’s hearts and not others?
There are forty-six references in the Bible to God intervening in this way. The fact is that God does actively, purposely, with forethought harden people’s hearts.
There is a three step process to the God induced “Hardening of a Heart” and we see a classic example of this with Pharaoh's situation.
Step 1: God says He will - We are first warned. When He tests us, it is not so that He can find out what is within us but so that He can reveal it to us and we can change. God knew Pharaoh’s heart. The King had displayed a persistent resisting of His will.
Step 2: Pharaoh Acts - Before God hardens a man’s heart, the man hardens it first. The word used here for calloused means: Fat as grease.
Step 3: God Acts by hardening their heart.
Why? The process of hardening our hearts leads to things going terribly wrong. He would rather we respond to His Spirit but if it means He has to take us to the pits of despair then He will do it. Because whilst down there we may finally repent.
Even if we do not, what happens sends a message to everyone else. Onlookers watch and learn. They learn from our mistake. Either way He is glorified.
It is not an event – it is a process.
We MUST be careful not to allow a root of bitterness as the Pharisees and Pharaoh did because eventually that foothold can become a stronghold in our lives.
If you feel yourself going down that route – repent ASAP.

7th April 2011

2011-04-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

John 12:20-36 – Jesus Predicts His Death

”It not just about Jesus”
This passage seems to be disconnected.
Verse 20-23 tells of some Greeks wanting to see Jesus.
Then immediately after Jesus appears to go some kind of rant about his death.
What’s the connection?
The Greeks are either Greek speaking Jews or the God-fearers; those who believe I God, follow the Jewish religion but do not convert to Judaism with some of its traditions and laws.
It seems the reason they are approaching Jesus is to offer him opportunities for ministry. They are likely to request that He goes to their part of the world to bring His message.
Jesus replies with what is essentially a no.
Remember – Jesus rarely gave a straight answer and instead was primarily concerned with passing on understanding.
He says instead:

“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

What He is saying is this – I am not enough!
If he goes with the Greeks it is just Him as a single human being travelling around.
If He dies however He will reproduce Himself.
Yes He will no longer be the one who gets to be the famous travelling speaker but the Kingdom of God will instead be advanced far more effectively!
It’s a challenge to all of us.
We think we are so important but actually it’s when we die to our understanding of personal effectiveness that we become far more useful to God.
Today I want to invest even more in others who will surpass me!

6th April 2011

2011-04-06T05:52:00.001-07:00

John 12:12-19 – Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

”Not just what you do but how you do it”
Jesus decides to specifically proclaim who He is.
He does this not simply with words but a symbolic act.
He chooses to ride in on a donkey; this moment is so crucial to His ministry that all four gospels record it.
Riding on a Donkey declared three things:

Riding on a horse, donkey etc declared He was a King. Zech 9:9.
Riding in to Jerusalem on a donkey invoked remez and hinted at the messianic prophecies. So He was not just declaring himself King of the Jews but also the Messiah. Isaiah 62:11.
Riding on a donkey and not a horse also sent a message. It talked about the kind of Kings He would be.

But perhaps lost amongst the first two more obvious meanings is a third;
Horses were often used to talk of war and pride – yet here Jesus alludes to the type of Kingship He will bring. It is humble. Deuteronomy 17:16; Psalm 20:6-9;
Similar to the ”Is God Sentimental?” devotional, this speaks to me as a leader that it is not simply about who I am but how I am. God is important not simply that He has called us to lead but that we lead in His nature.
He did not do the things He could have done to convince people to believe and force His God-given Lordship.
Rather they don’t follow me that me lead the wrong way.
A good reminder for me today.

5th April 2011

2011-04-05T05:39:00.001-07:00

John 12:1-11 – Jesus Anointed at Bethany

”How to make History”
Jesus is anointed at the home of Lazarus.
On this night it was customary to give the poor gifts and yet Jesus commended Mary for doing this.
If we cross reference this with the story in Matthew we realize there two keys things:
Mary “did what she could’ – as reference to Hasidut, a concept by which pious Jews would ask God the question; “what is the thing I could do to please you most” or put another way “what more can I do to please you” not in the sense of extra time but effectiveness.
Also in the other version Jesus tells them that ‘the poor will always be with you”.
There is a lesson here for leaders.
The issues will always be with you.
The bigger our responsibility grows and the issues just change; but they are always with us.
Better not to concentrate on trying to get a life or ministry free of issues but to concentrate on what pleases God most – what most impacts the Kingdom of God.
Mary sends a message into the future – by preparing him for burial he now has an aroma and when He stands in front of those who accuse Him the aroma lets them know that He knows that they mock trials are just pretence.
It also speaks of the fact that the reason He will die is in God’s hands and not there’s.
Those who deal with issues do not make history.
Those who ask “what more can I do to please you?” do.
Praying for this wisdom today.

4th April 2011

2011-04-04T05:26:00.001-07:00

John 11:45-57 – The Plot to Kill Jesus

”Is God Sentimental?”
An emergency, special [illegal] meeting is held by the Jewish leaders.
Jesus has just performed a miracle that only the messiah could and now things are getting very serious.
So the Jews are concerned that if Jesus grows in popularity that their ministry and nation will be taken from them.
In their minds, this cannot be right because God appointed priests and God chose the Israelite nation.
Can we make the same mistake?
Can we as leaders thing that because we know God commissioned us or has had some hand in the setting up of our nation therefore think it is so important to Him?
What is important to God is the Kingdom.
He sets things apart for the sake of the Kingdom. When they no longer serve the Kingdom’s sake then He is fine with them disappearing.
God is not sentimental in that regard.
Even though the Temple was designed by God and was the most important church structure on the planet – God was fine about it being destroyed a few years later.
And when it was destroyed so was the Sanhedrin. a leadership team that helped for many years the people govern themselves under God’s rule.
Can we fall into the trap of thinking our ministries are important to God, our organizations or our church?
How prideful we can be.
If God can happily allow the Temple be destroyed what makes me think He will think twice about my ministry, Pais or church disappearing if it no longer serves the purposes of the Kingdom?
God is perhaps sentimental when it comes to people and relationship but definitely not to ministries.
We must not make the mistake that because God was once involved that He always will be. Or because what we once did was important it always will be.
I must always make sure I am not looking back as a way of estimating but of comparing it to Jesus.
Something sobering to think about today.

28th Mar 2011

2011-03-28T05:47:00.001-07:00

John 11:38-44 – Jesus Raises Lazarus from the dead.

”Performance”
Jesus performs a miracle.
‘Performing’ a miracle seems like an odd phrase. After all it’s not about the performance is it?
Well actually yes it is.
In this particular Jesus emphasizes two aspects of the case the sign and wonder.

He prays in order that people understand that He is sent from God and purposely prays it out loud so people around will hear.
He tells them they will see God’s glory because He has left it so late.

Miracles were not simply performed to help people on the surface level; they had a deeper meaning.
Signs and wonders were literally that; they were a sign of Heaven on earth.
They were object lessons!
They were metaphors of Heaven for those who had not seen Heaven yet.
Importantly therefore Jesus rarely performed them the same way because there were different facets of the Kingdom of God that He was trying to teach.
He particularly wanted them to understand the miracle rather than just want one either to

receive an earthly blessing or
in some cases to see something spectacular.

What about you and I?
Are we looking for God to do something in our lives for those two reasons or are we also hoping to understand something more about the Kingdom by the way in which God does it?
Jesus performs a miracle as an object lesson. There are two parts; the object and the lesson. The second part is even more important than the other.
Hoping to learn my lesson today because every new day is a sign and wonder.

25th Mar 2011

2011-03-25T05:47:00.000-07:00

John 11:1-17-37 – Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

”Understanding beyond doubt”
Jesus waits for four days.
This is significant.
The Pharisees taught and many Jews believed that the spirit hovered over a dead body for three days. It was believed that a person could be ‘resuscitated’ within that time.
The Jews had a custom that for Shiv’ah [seven] the mourners would mourn very heavily for the first three days, then heavily for the next four and then lightly for the rest of the month. So these first three days were intense.
Jesus had raised people from the dead before and so had other biblical heroes, but there is no historical evidence that anyone has been raised from the dead after four days.
Even today there are often medical reports of people ‘dying’ for minutes on a surgeons table but then coming back to life.
Jesus delayed in order to heal after the forth day – why? To create understanding of who He is.
Sometime Jesus delays His answer to our prayers because what is more important than an answer is understanding the answer.
Yes, He could have returned have returned immediately and raised Lazarus from the dead but waiting four days meant it hurt Him to see the family in pain but it was better for them in the long run.
This connects with a question and answer vI got on Facebook yesterday..
Question: Hey Paul, just thought I'd give you a question I've always been wondering about. Here we go:How come, God waited so long to send Jesus to die for our sins? Why was it 2000 years ago and not earlier? If he had planned all the time to save us through him, then why wait?
My Answer: that is a great question that has been asked many times in history. To be honest I cannot give you a definite answer apart from the obvious which is it will have something to do with timing... specifically... preparation. Remember Jesus is very interested is passing on understanding not just knowledge or actions. Something significant happened in the period between the OT and the NT - I don;t have time to write about that know but I unpack it in my next book. The significance effected HOW people received His teaching... one of the problems we have as well is that we think Jesus just came to die on a cross but He came for much more than that. If that is all He came to do He could have done it on day one after the fall. So my one word answer would be... 'understanding'.
As I said – I’m not completely sure of all the answer but what I am understanding is that Jesus is aiming that we would understand Him beyond doubt. And delaying His response can allow this to happen.
Praying for patience.

24th Mar 2011

2011-03-24T05:47:00.001-07:00

John 11:1-16 – The Death of Lazarus

”daylight”
Jesus hears the news of the death of Lazarus and decides to return.
Returning is a risky business
Jesus ministered in various parts of Israel but essentially the north was safer. In fact at times people there wanted to make Him king.
When His disciples warned Him, Jesus gave a fairly cryptic answer.
He obviously felt that everything would be fine... but why?
He had some sense of the Spirit’s leading. He not only decided to act but He was led in how to act. This gave Him both confidence and security.
In fact rather than making a quick under cover dash back in order to get out again; Jesus for reasons I’ll explain tomorrow, takes His time.
I’m pretty sure his enemies would have known about Lazarus’ death, and time allowed them to set a trap. But Jesus still waits.
Thomas on the other hand goes back but without faith.
Even though Jesus expressly points out that things will be ok; he doubts.
Faith is not simply the action, it is the attitude we have when doing the action.
Being afraid is one thing but doubting God whilst we do it is another.
Jesus and Thomas do the same thing but Jesus injects faith into the team and Thomas injects pessimism.
Jesus security overflows, Thomas’s insecurity overflows.
Jesus was walking by daylight, Thomas was walking by night.
They were both going in the same direction but their experience was very different.
Praying today that my walk with God is in daylight because I give Him time to guide me and that I inject faith in others.

23rd Mar 2011

2011-03-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

John 10:22-42 – Further Conflicts over Jesus; Claim

”Stones or Flowers?”
Here Jesus clearly associates Himself with God.
It infuriates the religious leaders hearing him and they pick up stones to kill them as their law dictated.
Jesus in His defense invokes two forms of argument;
Remez and Kal v’chomer
Remez is one of the four levels of understanding that we use on Pais HD; is means to hint at something and invoke the full meaning of what you hint at. It gives context.
In this case Jesus invokes to memory Psalm 82:6 and therefore hints at the whole context of Psalm 82. This Psalm talks about how God will judge the ‘gods’ of the day [the judges, leaders and perhaps angels] and even though He has made them great He says of them such things such as;

“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness.

Jesus is hinting that his accusers are those Psalm 82 is talking about.
Kal v’chomer is a form of arguing religious law and concepts. Made popular especially through Hillel, Jesus often adopts this method of ‘light and heavy’.
Basically if something has been established to be true then something else may be compared to it as even truer or even more true.
Essentially; in this case; Jesus is playing with words – if God calls those He created but are so flawed; ‘gods’ – then how much more is He God! He points to the evidence to prove it.
What I love about Jesus here is that don’t think He is purpoisely trying to wind the religious leaders up – He is still at these last moments while they have stones in their hands through dangerous language, trying to give them understanding.
He has not given up on them.
In fact, He does not give up on those who crucify Him even whilst on the cross.
No matter who it is; if they are asking Him questions, He is willing and keen to impart understanding!
When people with stones in their hands ask… don’t give up on them!
Better a man asking a question with stones in his hands than a man with no questions holding a flower.
Thanking Jesus for yet more wisdom that He teaches.

22nd Mar 2011

2011-03-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

An unedited excerpt from my new book.

Thought I would blog small portions of my book from time to time as I am writing it.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Carrots

Knights realize that each quest determines the next.

At the end of Jesus’ imaginary tale, he leaves us pondering the following kingdom principle.

For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. (NIV)

For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. (KJV)

To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away. (NLT)[i]

If ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’ is the formulative principle, then this is the focal principle.

It focuses us on what we have and do now.

The command is to be faithful with whatever God has given you, however great or small that may be. The consequence is that if we do so, He will entrust us with more of the same, but not only that, He will give us other talents, opportunities and quests as well.

God does not use a carrot on a stick.

He does not present us with promises that we will never be able to nibble at. He does not want us to be motivated by what we might get if we serve Him. He instead wants us to recognize that we have already been given so much and realize that we have been given it to serve others… not ourselves.

When it comes to serving God, line-dwellers are motivated be their application;

Give me a great thing to work with and then I will do a great thing.

If you prove this will work God, then I will prove myself.

Cloud-dwellers, however, are provoked by His application;

I need the little you think you have so that I can bless others.

I will increase what you have not what you want.

Line dwellers are caught calculating a sliding scale between two extremes. On one end they see effort and the other opportunity. They look for a balance. They wait for what they have to be worth the endeavor.

Cloud-dwellers do not have a vision of vision; they have a vision of God.

They do not throw away the water they are carrying because they see a mirage.

They do not deal in fantasy but they do take hold of their reality.

[i] Matthew 25:29

21st Mar 2011

2011-03-21T05:46:00.001-07:00

John 10:1-21 – The good Shepherd and His sheep

”Steeping Stones”
Jesus declares that He is the Good Shepherd but there are many who would be shepherds: politicians, musicians, false prophets etc.
I think of Psalm 23…
He leads me - Jesus does not push us, nor does He drag us! But He leads us where He is going.
He uses His rod and staff
A rod was an instrument of authority
They were used for counting - to Jesus each sheep is significant!
Used for guiding.
Used for protecting.
Used for recuing.
Perhaps this is the biggest difference between poor leaders and godly leaders.
Poor leaders use a flock. But Godly leaders love their flock. They are not just using it for their own purposes.
I must not be like a ‘hired hand’. Which is hard in our Christian leadership culture that has become more and more businesslike.
People are sheep they are not stepping stones to something else.
It’s good for sheep to remember that leaders are not stepping stones either.
Praying for that agape love to put people first.

18th Mar 2011

2011-03-18T06:12:00.001-07:00

John 9:34-41 – Spiritual Blindness

“… and the believing is easy”
Jesus connects again with the man who he had healed.
The man had been thrown out and Jesus asks him if he believes in the Son of Man. The man is totally open to believe; so much so that he chooses before he knows all the facts.
The man reminds me of the good soil that Jesus talks about in the parable of the four hearers/sower.
As a leader, Jesus has impacted this man’s life in such a real way that he made believing easy.
This is a great challenge for me. As a leader I should be living in a way that makes believing for those who want to see easy and for those who don’t want to see … hard.
Jesus then teaches the Pharisees a valuable lesson; the main reason we miss God and His move in our lives is not because we don’t know what He looks like but because we have decided in advance what He looks like.
The blind man first saw the miracle that was Jesus and then saw the miracles of Jesus.

17th Mar 2011

2011-03-17T06:38:00.001-07:00

John 9:13-34 – The Pharisees investigate the Healing

“humanity before hedges”
I’m in danger of repeating myself but what happens in this passage is very typical of Jesus’ ministry.
The Jews had created hedges around sin. Adding additional commands to act as buffers so that the Jews did not get even close to breaking a commandment. In doing so they veered on the side of caution when determining what work was. So God had commanded that the Sabbath was holy and Jesus had appeared to have broken their additional commands and hedges in three ways;

Kneading – he had kneaded the mud when healing the blind man.
Building – clay was a building material – building was one of the 39 types of work prohibited in the mishna.
Healing as an action.

Jesus does something that is very rare -0 healed a man born blind – some said that only the messiah would do this.
The Pharisees had a problem. The man people were believing might be the Messiah was breaking their rules. They considered themselves the guru’s of right and wrong interpretation and were given huge kudos in their Jewish world for doing this.
If the Messiah did not do things the way they said He would then of course their whole status would be completely undermined.
I am sure that most Pharisees started off as godly men who wanted to serve God’s people but eventually their status and pride had deceived many of them.
Now even when facing the facts they struggled to believe they could be wrong.
In doing so they threatened the blind man’s family with excommunication.
There were three types of excommunication all uncommon in Judaism today;

n’zifah – light – lasted 7 days and could be invoked by one person.
niddui – rejection – lasted 30 days and people had to stay 6 ft away.
cherem – the most severe – lasted indefinitely and people considered dead.

For a family as poor as the blind man’s being cast out of the synagogue and therefore society and many of its social safety nets – it would be disastrous.
But the leaders were obsessed with being right and so…

They put their hedges before humanity
They put their status before sense.
They put their pride before His purposes.

I must not!

16th Mar 2011

2011-03-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

John 9:1-12 – Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

“when logic goes wrong and pre-birth sin”
The first verse opens up a huge discussion.
Jesus’ disciples believed that the fact that the man was born blind meant there must be sin somewhere in his life.
Specifically they were asking for commentary on the Pharisees view of this. The Pharisees believed that a man born blind from birth was inflicted because of one of two reasons;

1. Either their parents sin.

2. Or more bizarrely; because the person had sinned before birth.

As strange as these theories were, they were based on logic. But their logic was based on a false premise left over from the times of the Old Testament.
Judaism has gone through phases; modern Judaism is different in many ways from that of Jesus’ time which is very different again from that of the Old Testament.
In the OT – everything was black and white – they believed in compensatory ethics – if you sinned something bad would happen to you, if you did good something good would happen to you. So when they saw sin they automatically believed someone must have sinned. If a man was born blind therefore; he must have sinned in the womb or his parents must have.
During the Second Temple Period however the ‘New Sensitivity in Judaism’ was asking some very serious questions about this thinking and when Jesus came He began to answer those questions.
Jesus’ thinking turned everything upside down. He replaced logic with understanding.
And His ideas were revolutionary – I don’t have time to write about them now.
I write about this in depth in my new book ‘The Cloud and the Line’
But three things this passage teaches me;

Fundamentals are important. If we get them wrong they screw up our logic. It is worth investing time in understanding the roots of our faith.
My misunderstanding can lead me to mis-judge people harshly. Imagine the stigma the man and his parents had carried since His birth!
Jesus was as interested in raising up the blind man’s self esteem as He was in healing him. The explanation seemed to be His primary concern.

Praying today that my understanding of the fundamentals will lead me to be as concerned about people’s self esteem as my desire to do something remarkable.

15th Mar 2011

2011-03-15T05:57:00.001-07:00

John 8:48-58 – Jesus Claims about Himself

“Unfortunate Fame”
The argument really heats up to the point of Jesus’ accusers attempting to stone Him to death.
Very simply Jesus declares that “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing”
I thinking this is danger for all leaders.
If we try to push ourselves too much as someone special in the eyes of others. If we try to prove ourselves too much to ourselves then we can end up in a lot of problems.
My enemy will always seek to destroy role models and pull people down.
If it is God glorifying me then He will help protect my reputation.
Jesus knew this, even when He was being threatened He was secure in knowing that it was not yet His time to die.
But how must it feel to be in that vulnerable position when it is me not God who has put me there?
People seek fame and fortune but sometimes fame can be very unfortunate.
There was little about Jesus in Himself that could glorify Him.
The Bible tells us that there was nothing particularly distinguishing about His looks – that could have been actually quite a kind way of saying He was not much to look at. In this passage they say He is “not yet fifty” – some scholars say they were guessing His approximate age and that Jesus probably looked older than He actually was.
[Fifty was often seen as an age of maturity but the context makes it is unlikely that this is what they were referring to].
Jesus could only be glorified by God.
When God glorifies us it lasts forever.
Praying today I will not exalt myself but allow God to do it if He needs to.

14th Mar 2011

2011-03-14T06:07:00.001-07:00

John 8:31-57 – The Children of Abraham

“Theology is not Anthropology”
After some of the Jews challenge Jesus’ testimony He now challenges their spiritual well-being.
Jesus measurement is obedience.
If we obey Him and take Him at His word we are His disciples and will be set free.
His accusers offer three defenses;

Denial of their position – “we are not slaves”. Technically they may not have been as they did not accept the rulership of the Roman’s over them but in reality they were. Plus they were ignoring the nations that had ruled over them in the past; Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Syria.
Religion – “We are Abraham’s Children”. The root word in latin of Religion has been linked to ligament – connection. They thought their connection with God’s servant would be enough.
Accusation – “We are not illegitimate” – inferring that Jesus was. They were purposely missing the point and perverting the discussion to one of ancestors. They were accusing Jesus of being a bastard and that instead they had a much better lineage.

We cannot fight God by our rules.
This still happens; sometimes I hear a theological discussion and yet the Word of God is never quoted. Essentially we tried to avoid Jesus’ challenges by using anthropology rather than theology. We make our case thinking that God should behave like a good human being.
But He is not a good Human being… He is God.
We must study God therefore [theology] and not man [anthropology].
We cannot avoid His challenges by thinking He plays by our rules.
Praying today not to allow my human emotions, thoughts and ideas to trump God’s Word.

11th Mar 2011

2011-03-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

John 8:12-30 – The Validity of Jesus Testimony

“Holiness is Holistic”
Previously in the feast Jesus had used the water drawing and water pouring ceremonies to encourage people to come and drink from Him.
Here now Jesus uses a festival full of light to declare himself “the light of the world”.

He is in the temple treasury in the court of women.
He is surrounded by 16 lit bowls of oil.
According to the misha there was “there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that was not lit up by the light of the festivities [sukkah 5:2-4]

After declaring this, his accusers take Him to task asking Him for the other witnesses He must have to validate His teaching.
Jesus essentially points to The Father as the only witness He needs as He being God counts as one as well.
He uses remez to hint that He is God by using the phrase “I am” the phrase God of courses uses to describe Himself in the Old Testament.
He also, in verse 18, speaking midrashically explains that He and His Father have two independent wills.
And so using theology, logic, sights and sounds, Jesus gets His point across.
And because the conversation sounds very confusing at times, the result surprised me:

“Even as He spoke, many put their faith in Him.” v30

This teaches me a simple lesson, that as a leader there is no one thing that will validate my position. A title on its own or a talent such as speaking or the ability to research and teach is not enough on their own
Validation comes holistically.
I have to be the whole package, gifts, character, commitment etc.
Praying that today – I don’t try to force people to follow but I help them realize I am worth following.

22nd Feb 2011

2011-02-22T04:23:00.001-08:00

Please note I will not me updated this blog for two weeks whilst I am away in Europe.

17th Feb 2011

2011-02-17T06:06:00.000-08:00

John 8:1-11 – Jesus at the Mount of Olives.

“Darkness and Light – a warning to leaders! part 2”
We can learn a similar lesson today to that of yesterdays.
Jesus’ enemies try to trap him.
They bring a woman caught in adultery and essentially give Jesus two options.
First; agree with the law that she should be stoned. This would get him in trouble with the Roman authorizes because they did not allow the Jews to carry out the death sentence.
Secondly; disagree that she should be stoned and thereby appear to be breaking God’s law.
Jesus, as per usual points to a third way.
But the lesson I learn from today is that not only can we as leaders lie by hiding the full truth in order to promote our particular angle on things and do it in the guise of protecting the flock [see yesterdays blog] but…
We can lie by hiding the full facts of a situation we are presiding over.
The law actually stated that stoning was only commissioned if the woman was a betrothed virgin and both parties had to be stoned – the man and the woman.
For some reason the man and therefore his story were not presented.
When dealing with sensitive issues there are of course times when we should not share all the facts at it might damage people for no reason and restrict restoration.
BUT
Sometimes we do it for political reasons. We are tempted to hide the fullness of what we did or they did in order to present our case.
Again – faith in Jesus means we should become more transparent in our actions.
As we are candid we allow God to deal with us more fully.
A simple reminder today that God is a God of light not darkness.
Praying I will allow God to shine a light on my life and truth Him with the consequences of that.

16th Feb 2011

2011-02-16T05:45:00.001-08:00

John 7:45-53 – Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders.

“Warts and all – a warning to leaders!”
The Temple guards return but not with Jesus.
This angers the Pharisees who sent them out for that express reason.
On their return they chide the guards and their pride leads them to point out two things. One is certainly false and both are possibly untrue.
Firstly, in the form of a question they infer than none of them [the religious leaders of Israel] had put their faith in Jesus. As well as being a prideful statement it was possibly untrue; Nicodemus had at least put enough Faith in Jesus wisdom to pursue him at night. Had he done more than that?
Secondly and more importantly; they seem to lie to the guards about the fact that no prophet had come out of Galilee.
That was not true; Jonah was from Galilee.
Even the Talmud, the Jewish set of rabbinical teachings agrees that this is untrue;

“There was not a tribe in Israel that did not produce ptrophets”. Recorded statement by Rabbi Eli’ezer in Sukkah 72b.
The greek text means that they could have been saying that no prophet will in the future come out of Galilee – but this seems unlikely as it is a mute point. Not all prophets were prophesied about.

The Leaders were falling into a trap that Christian leaders must always avoid!
They were lying by hiding the full truth.
And they were doing it to promote there particular point of view.
But in the guise of protecting their flock from heresy.
It happens more often that we like to admit.
If we have faith in the word of God we should not need to do this.
Transparency allows the Bible to work its magic rather than us to work our manipulation.
Teaching truth is not the only important thing… teaching truth truthfully is!
The Bible is full of difficulties, problems, questions, conflicts, paradox and our translations have human interpretation all over them.
My old Pastor; Harry Letson used to say that the great thing about the Bible is it comes ‘warts and all’ – referring to an old historic character who, when he had his portrait commissioned, told the painter not to effectively airbrush him but to include all his odd characteristics….”warts and all”.
I’ve sat under Harry’s preaching and many others. Not all have been as honest as he was and so I still thank God for Harry – he made a point of pointing out other perspectives. Something that I hope I can learn from.
Thanking God today for Harry.

15th Feb 2011

2011-02-15T05:54:00.001-08:00

John 7:25-44 – Jesus goes to the festival of tabernacles.

“Easy Answers? – a Challenge”
Today I will change the way I write my journal for a day. I get lots of interaction with others on my devotionals and so I will make the most of it.
In today’s passage Jesus stands up and essential says I am the answer to everything that is going on right now!
I want to challenge those reading this to answer why?
Can you see any of at least 10 things Jesus is fulfilling at this moment?
Any of the 10 or so prophesies or symbols that are being celebrated that point to him?
Please put your answers in the Facebook Comment under this post?
As the discussion goes on I will add my thoughts.
Looking for easy answers or would you rather participate in the answer?

14th Feb 2011

2011-02-14T05:57:00.001-08:00

John 7:14-24 – Jesus teaches at the festival.

“The Key to Understanding”
Today I discovered that what I had surmised was correct.
Jesus explicitly says something that I have always believed He inferred many times.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was once asked to summarize Christianity in one word. Her answer…
“Choice”.
She may have been an unusual person to ask and her answer may seem odd but I totally agree with her.
After the last two passages being all about people who failed to understand Jesus message, Jesus tells us the key to understanding;

Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

You can only understand Jesus if you enter the conversation with a heart that chooses to do His will.
This is why the Pharisees and many of the wider circle of disciples could not understand Him. They were not listening to find out how best to suit God’s will but to find out how God’s will could best suit them.
The key to multiplication according to Jesus in His parable of the sower or the four soils is; understanding.
But how do we know if our hearts are choosing to do God’s will?
Jesus goes on to present a din-torah, a legal ruling.
One of the issues that often came up in religious law [and still does] is which of God’s laws should I choose when one conflicts with another?
I have covered this before – but here is a specific situation.
The Jews had made a halakhic decision between two laws; Do not work on the Sabbath; circumcise a child on their 8^th day of their life.
Circumcision was done by professionals with special tools and therefore this was considered work.
The Jews of Jesus’ day had decided that circumcision trumped Shabbat.
Jesus uses their ruling to do two things;

First he defends His working of miracle. He refers to a ruling in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat in doing so. He uses the argument technique of Kal v’chomer [light and heavy] made popular by Hillel – usually expressed in the phrase “how much more then”. His din-torah influenced Rabbinic teaching and was later copied by Rabbi El’azar who lived a couple of generations later. [Yoma 85b]
Secondly and more key to today’s point; He uses it to confront them on the real issue… the issue of the choice of their hearts.

Jesus was always going straight for the heart of the matter.
He often ignored the pretense of the religious leaders and knew what they were thinking.
He always pointed to the elephant that was given room in their hearts.
The Pharisees had chosen in their hearts that appearances and their religion were more important than Gods work. Appearances and religion suited them.
But to understand Jesus we need to choose to stop judging by appearances that make us look good and instead judge correctly by searching for God’s heart on the matter.
Praying for a heart that can gain me understanding.

10th Feb 2011

2011-02-10T05:33:00.000-08:00

John 7:1-13 – Jesus goes to the festival of tabernacles.

“Does perfection take advise?”
I’m a bit frustrated by this passage today.
There is apparently a textual question where it reports that Jesus says; “I am not going up”.
The preferred reading is ouk – I am not going up
Some manuscripts have oupo – I am not going yet
Another says that the tense of the word ouk can mean – I am not going at present
The main problem that has led to this questioning of Jesus’ meaning is because shortly after saying He would not go… He did.
My personal belief after reading the arguments is that the first word is correct. The main word used ouk meaning “I am not going”.
The reason is because of the context and what happens in tomorrows passage.
I think Jesus perhaps initially intended to stay away but after advice decided to go.
I really could be wrong here though.
I just struggle with my initial denial of this. I could not believe that Jesus was swayed by his brothers.
But then I am wondering; can Jesus not take advice? Does being without sin mean you know exactly what to do every moment. The Holy Spirit led Jesus biut sometimes he needed to go and pray before making major decisions. Maybe He also needed to take advise from time to time?
Like I say – I could be wrong.
But for me at least – a leader who never takes advice is actually less than perfect.
Anyway… something to think about for me today.

9th Feb 2011

2011-02-09T07:43:00.001-08:00

John 6:60-70 – Many Disciples Desert Jesus.

“Multiculturalism… an Oxymoron?”
Late night CNN ran a story about David Cameron, the Prime Minister of England.
He apparently declared that ‘State Multiculturalism’ was a failure.
I think Jesus might have told him that.
In our passage today we realize that Jesus is not collecting hangers on or even followers. It goes beyond that. He is creating a new kind of person who will make up and advance His Kingdom.
In order to get a group of people who were “once not a people” into a movement that will change the world, you have to create a culture in which that movement can grow.
Culture not control.
Control stifles growth but culture provides its nutrients.
But there is an element of control that goes into building culture. Certain things are required. Laws do not create a culture but common values do. Such as;

o A common language

o A common purpose

o A common dream

o A common ethos

On Pais we hope to have all of these. You can tell someone who has been on Pais for a while because we all start using the same language. I can say one word in a Pais environment and many things are communicated because we all understand what that concept means. An outsider will just hear the word and often not understand its meaning.
Culture is always exclusive in that you have to choose to be part of it.
Jesus in this passage is sifting out those who want to bring their own agenda into His. But in Jesus’ culture there can be no other culture than a Kingdom culture.
Fortunately Kingdom culture can be adopted by anybody of any gender, race or age. We can bring into it our skills and background, our national identity and our accent.

But we cannot say with our lips He is Lord and then gossip.
We cannot seek first the Kingdom… second.
We cannot sit at his right hand without drinking from the cup He drank from.
We cannot take the communion of grace but drink it in an unworthy manner.

Cameron maybe right, Jesus certain is; “Kingdom Multiculturalism” has failed.
It’s an oxymoron.
Praying today for hope.

8th Feb 2011

2011-02-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

John 6:25-59 – Jesus the Bread of Life.

“Why not doing a miracle brings the greatest faith ”
As this is connected to tomorrow’s passage I will say only a little here.
What is odd here is Jesus’ unwillingness to help certain members of his audience understand; especially when it seems His teaching was all about encouraging insight.
The more they could not understand the more their discomfort grew with what He said.

grumbling v42
disputing v52
refusal v60
rejection v66

I wonder if it was that He did not want them to understand because of the conclusion they would still come to?
Their demand for a greater miracle than the one they had just seen Him do and their incorrect praise of Moses as the miracle worker reminds me of children who play one parent off against another to try and get a better present.
It is as though they are asking Jesus to impress them and if He does better than Moses they will believe him.
There is no point passing on understanding if our hearts are bad.
In fact for understanding to take root it is planted in our minds but has to take root in our hearts.
Instead it seems Jesus decides to allow their discontent to grow because what comes next teaches us an even greater lesson.
The Bible teaches that God hardens people hearts in various places in the Bible. Doing so leads to either their near destruction and therefore a desperation to turn to him or it leads to others learning from their mistake.
Either way it glorifies Him.
In other words; sometimes not doing a miracle brings the greater glory to God.
Playing for a good heart.

7h Feb 2011

2011-02-07T06:04:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 13:7 - Love
“Egypt”
Wanted to take a quick break from the passages today to reflect of the whole crisis in Egypt.
I tweeted and Facebooked the following last night;

“Christians in #Egypt protect Muslims while they pray. Christians in the West protest Muslims building a place to pray. Which will win the heart of Muslims?”

It was a thought inspired by the constant retweets of those interacting with the young people who were tweeting yesterday from Tahir Square.
The original tweet that was retweeted was this: “Christians in Egypt protect Muslims while they pray. Christians in the USA protest Muslims building a place to pray.”
One person really struggled with this idea – believing that Muslims are our enemies because their religion tells them they have to be. And that if they are our enemies they cannot be saved by our actions only by God.
I disagree with both of those thoughts.
But rather than answering in my own words I want to quote other people’s thoughts that were posted later on my FB status.

Love always hopes, always perseveres, always wins, doesn't know how to give up or when it is beaten, simply put LOVE NEVER FAILS, no weapon that is formed against love will prevail.
Jesus was once asked "Who is my neighbor?" Then Jesus told the story of the Good Pakistani...sorry Samaritan! :)
Do good unto them...pray for them that....bless them that curse you. Love your enemies. Let me know if you need more. Love will conquer our fear.

One of the many questions that this discussion poses it this; do we see Muslims as our enemies or are they people to show God’s love to.
Another question is; when the Muslim people were crying out to God for help… did God hear them?
And if He does hear them, does He want to respond using His people?
And if He wants to respond using His people, then what would How exactly would He go about that?
Praying today that I will not battle against flesh and blood but spiritual principalities and powers.

7th Feb 2011

2011-02-07T05:46:00.001-08:00

New Book Video

2011-02-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

For More Details go to www.facebook.com/thecloudandtheline

4th Feb 2011

2011-02-04T06:08:00.001-08:00

John 6:16-24 – Jesus walks on water..

“Funny what you miss”
Oddly – I have very little that occurs to me about this passage.
The thing I most noticed is what I have previously missed.
There are two miracles it seems in this passage.
Jesus walks on water.
Then the boat immediately arrives at its destination.
I had never noticed this second thing until today.
I suppose there is even a simply lesson here.
Sometimes God’s miracles outshine the others so we don’t even notice them.
We notice the miracle that frightened the disciples but the one that actually helped them and kept them safe we don’t notice.
It’s a bit like the difference between these two scenarios.

A Plane loses two engines, the pilot tells the passengers. They panic, pray, scream and when he lands the plane safely heap all kinds of praise on him.
A Plane loses two engines, the pilot does not tell the passengers. So no-one panics, no-one prays, no-one screams and no-one says anything as they get off the plane.

The passengers were in equal danger and yet their praise and admiration for their pilot was completely affected by what they did or did not notice.

Funny what I miss.
I expect I only see the very dramatic and only thank God for the recues from the dangers I see myself in. I wonder how often he rescues me and I never notice.
Something for me to think about today.

3rd Feb 2011

2011-02-03T07:19:00.001-08:00

John 6:1-15 – Jesus feeds the Five Thousand.

“So near yet so far”
The size of the crowds in this story are particularly amazing when you consider where he was.
The North Eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee puts the crowds near Bethsaida.
The Orthodox Triangle of Bethsaida, Korazin and Capernaum probably had significantly less than ten thousand people between them and so for five thousand to be gathered here shows Jesus’ popularity in that region and their expectation that He was The Prophet.
Jesus turns to Peter because Peter was from Bethsaida. There’s almost a sense of Jesus communicating to the disciples that they have a responsibility not just to teach and attract a crowd but to show them common hospitality.
Again Jesus shows His normal practice of honoring the customs and beliefs of the people by demanding that the food be gathered up.
Halakha commanded that no left over food be destroyed.
The Mishna [b'rakhot 52b] states the religious guideline that no piece of food larger than an olive be left but should be gathered up.
Jesus it seemed in many ways fulfilled the peoples hopes of being the Messiah,

He could attract the crowds
He did miracles
He honored their customs.

Yet at the end of today’s passage He withdrew from their attempts to crown Him their King.
So near yet so far!
Many others were to be similarly disappointed.
Here’s an unedited except from my first book;

The Zealots hoped for a militaristic leader to set up a new world order by first over throwing the Romans...but were disappointed by a Jesus who taught His disciples to carry their enemy’s backpack an extra mile.
The Sadducees would have loved a Rabbi who preached the extra mile sermon and would not rock the boat...but were threatened by a man who preached a new kind of kingdom.
The Essenes’ philosophy of sharing and community, plus their commitment to a less materialistic life style, had obviously influenced Jesus…but they were confused by a Messiah who engaged a city that they rejected.
The Pharisees thought they had hit the jackpot when Jesus told his Talmidin to do what they taught…, but were forever disgruntled when He forbid them to do as they did.

It is not good enough simply to be a leader, we have to be a leader the ways God has designed us to lead.
This relates to yesterdays passage; God’s leader seek God’s ordination not mans.
Praying that I will be a Godly leader.

2nd Feb 2011

2011-02-02T06:33:00.001-08:00

John 5:16-30 – Testimonies about Jesus.

“Holy Scriptures”
Jesus speaks to those who diligently study scriptures but cannot believe in Him.
There is a problem for some of us.
God is three in one.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Not
Father, Son and Holy Scriptures.
I love the Bible but the Bible is not God. You can study the Bible until you are blue in the face but it does not guarantee you will discover God.
Jesus gives three reasons why some study but do not find.

They study but do not seek – they seek instead the praise of men, in fact that is probably why they study. Preferring the praise of men to the praise of God will always create a spiritual blindfold within us. It automatically makes it much harder for us to see Him. It is interesting how the most insecure people on the planet – performers – tend to have a great deal of award ceremonies. They need that constant affirmation.
They study but it does not stay – the Jewish New Testament compiled by believers translate “dwell” as stay. This fits into the third part of the thinking process in the Jewish mind “daat”. This is where what is understood stays within us and becomes part of us. It is where we do certain things to help what we have understood become part of who we are. We act upon what we understand, we meditate upon it etc.
They study but do not love – I believe to truly find God we have to be prepared to love what He loves. Just loving Him for what He does for us I at least believe again limits our view of Him. I think Jesus sees this in them. They will only love based on what they get from God and so His love is hidden from them.

The Bible testifies about Jesus. All the way through it the Word points to Him. But we need to pray for the right heart to hear it, understand it and allow it to stay in our hearts.
Praying for that today.

1st Feb 2011

2011-02-01T06:31:00.000-08:00

John 5:16-30 - The Authority of the Son.
“My Father”
Lots of different doctrinal and theological issues that I could look at here from the interesting Jewish concept of six millennia being work days and the seventh being a millennia of Sabbath to salvation itself.
But I’ll stick to the main theme of authority.
Jesus’ authority comes from His relationship to the father.
The Jews were open to call God ‘Our’ Father but what creates the huge issue is the term ‘My’ Father. With this Jesus equates Himself to God.
It is Jesus’ position that gives Him authority here; He is in submission to the Father and this gives Him authority on earth.
The idea that Jesus is not God but just a good man would make Him far more palatable to far more people but as CS Lewis points out; He was Mad, Bad or God. Take your pick but because of what He said about Himself He does not allow us the flexibility to just call Him good.
What gave Jesus His sense of authority to heal, forgive, judge and going against the grain was His sense of place. He knew Who He was, where He was going and Who He was in relationship to the Father.
Many people have become independent spokesman for Jesus. There's no such thing.
They just do the ministry that they like to do but have opted out from the equation.
It always has a limited impact and often ends in disaster.
But in the Kingdom of God submission gives us authority.
Satan took himself out of the equation. He was a leader and angels followed him. But he grasped the opportunity.
I don’t want to be a leader like the devil.
I want to be a leader in God’s equation.

28th Jan 2011

2011-01-28T06:06:00.001-08:00

John 5:1-15 – The Healing at the Pool.

“Being There”
As I have often pointed out, Jesus very rarely initiated any healing. He healed and did miracles almost always in response to a request of one sort or another.
Today’s story is one of the very few incidents [around five] that is the exception to the rule.
Or is it?
I would still list this with the four other incidents of Jesus initiating healing but I think there is an argument that says Jesus was still responding to a request.
Most requests came from someone reaching out to touch His clothes, or ripping open a roof or simply approaching him and verbally asking His assistance.
This one came from simply being there.
Archeology teaches us that this pool was a common place for people to go to ask their god to heal them. Not just Jews but Romans as well.
Jesus… God.. turns up and knows that the man is already requesting His assistance simply by being in that place.
If you’ve ever gone to church you will know that sitting in the first few rows gives you a very different experience that sitting at the back.
When I sit on the back row I tend to observe, when I sit on the front row I tend to participate.
My physical position is a signal to God. It is a request.
I’ve sometimes advised people who feel far away from God to simply move forward a few places in church. I know this is in one sense a very shallow piece of advice but in one sense it is not.
Our position is a hint.
It is a request of sorts.
Where we go can be just as much as request as the things we say. I think God may not need to read body language but I think He does read the language of placement.
Who, where and when we place ourselves in different places tells God [and if we will take the time, ourselves], just what our attitude is towards Him.
Sometimes we just have to commit to being there and waiting for Jesus to turn up as it were.
Praying for faithfulness today to just be in the right spot and not rush around from place to place to find a miracle.

27th Jan 2011

2011-01-27T05:47:00.001-08:00

John 4:43-54 – Jesus Heals an Officials Son.

“Get in the Field!”
The passage supports a key belief to the philosophy of Pais.
Discipleship does not happen behind a desk.
Discipleship does not happen behind a pulpit.
Discipleship does not happen in a church.
Discipleship does not happen via Skype.
Discipleship is not simply education.
Jesus was in Galilee and had declared that a prophet had no honor in his hometown. Without honor there was no faith to believe. Without faith to believe there were no miracles.
So what was changing?
The key is in this sentence:

They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

The believed because they saw Him in the field in action.
Discipleship is not from top to bottom passing on old experiences and education. That is only a slither of it.
Discipleship is modeling and answering questions about what people see you do.
We need more leaders who get out into the field, get their hands dirty and model whatever it is that they are trying to pass on to others.
I love hearing from people like Pete, one of the Pais National Directors as he demonstrates to his teams what it is to recruit people to the cause and Mawunyo another leader in Africa as she spends whole nights praying for her teams.
Examples that can be seen to play their part.
As much as I would love to just write and chill out at home I have to get up and get out of my comfort zone.
As the followers of Jesus began to see what He was able to do away from home – they were able to believe His words.
Praying I will not be confined by my comfort zone.

26th Jan 2011

2011-01-26T06:01:00.001-08:00

John 4:39-42 – Many Samaritans Believe

“It’s not Who you expect or How you expect”
As was His Modus operandi, Jesus goes into the village because He is pursued.
He stays for two days and speaks to the people.
They tell Him that they first believed because of the words of the Samaritan woman but now know because of their own experience of Him.
What is interesting to me in this passage is the line;

And because of His words many more became believers”

This is interesting to me.
There is no mention of miracles.
There is no mention of Him performing any signs.
Where in Jerusalem that is exactly what the religious leaders said they needed in order to believe; here with the very people the religious elite looked down upon, they were not necessary.
Firstly this reminds me that it is not who you expect who will respond.

I have expected certain people to follow, join, give, support and encourage.
But often I have been disappointed by them only to be surprised by just who has followed, joined, given, supported and encouraged me.
So the mistake we make is investing our time because of assumptions. Jesus it seemed waited to see who really was pursuing Him. Who was willing to pay a price [in this case the price of hospitality]. Not only was it perhaps surprising that it was the Samaritans but it was courageous because of the enmity between the two groups.

Secondly, maybe there was a sign.

Maybe the sign was that Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi would go into that town.
Maybe that courage and compassion was all they needed.
It gave more credibility to His words that a miracle or supernatural stunt.
As a leader I need to remember that.

It may not be who I expect to respond and they may not respond for the reasons I expect.
I need to be open-minded and open-hearted.

25th Jan 2011

2011-01-25T05:40:00.001-08:00

John 4:27-38 – The Disciples rejoin Jesus

“All in a Row”
On their return, the disciples rejoin Jesus and are surprised to see Him talking to the woman but not enough to ask questions.
The issues they tackle are physical ones such as Jesus’ food requirements and Jesus uses this to teach them another principle.
It is almost as though in this vase they are not inquisitive enough and so Jesus gets them thinking.
He teaches them a couple of lessons and one of them in particular is good for all leaders to remember.
We are reaping where others have sown.
When I first approached schools in Manchester in the late 80’s, a group of churches had already plied them with free books that the schools had need for.
There were also other people who went into schools as part of their evangelistic efforts.
I came next and began to open more schools up and then recruit teams and link the students to churches.
Other Pais people have built on top of that.
We are all in a row.
Nothing starts or stops with us.
We are part of an organic chain of events and process.
It is good to be reminded of this.
If we take ourselves out of the picture it affects all those following us. It will not stop the process but it will perhaps delay things.
Nothing stops or starts with me and that is very good to remember.
I am not critical to God’s plans but I can be a catalyst.
I need to keep praying for humility.

24th Jan 2011

2011-01-24T05:54:00.001-08:00

John 4:1-26 – Jesus Talks with the Samaritan Woman

“Why Here and not There?”
Jesus rejects some of the normal Jewish behavior here by taking a more direct route to his destination through Samaria.
The geographical area was normally avoided in order to avoid its inhabitants – the Samaritans.
The Samaritans were like the spiritual poor cousins of the Jews. They were the descendants of Jews who had intermarried with the pagans and the Jews had come to detest them.
They lived a kind of Judaist half-life.
They did not believe that Jerusalem was the center of worship to God but Mount Gerizim, the called themselves the ‘Keepers of the Law and only saw the Pentateuch as authority and rejected the rest of the Old Testament.
Not only does Jesus mix with a Samaritan, talk to them and even ask them for something but the Samaritan in question is a woman.
All of this is not that terribly surprising when we understand that Jesus was a lover of all people and saw them all as equal. It is not surprising because we know He was not a coward, he did not bow to the peer pressure of His followers in order to keep them happy.
But…
There is one puzzle.
Jesus is called to the lost sheep of Israel. We usually see this as simply the Jews.
And yet the only time he explicitly tells anyone that he is the Messiah is to a Samaritan.

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Why?
Why here in Samaria and not there in Jerusalem?
Probably because the Samaritans view of the Messiah had far less political or militaristic overtones as it did in Jerusalem.
Jesus was therefore able to speak freely and clearly here because people would not add to His words their own extra baggage and interpretation to fit their needs.
Could this be the case in our lives?
Could that be why God has to sometimes take us to different places to speak clearly to us?
Different geographical places, or emotional places or circumstantial places?
Would He have to do that in my life if I attached less personal baggage and self-centered interpretation to the things He says?
Even here what He is fully saying is missed.
Jesus uses the phrase ‘”I am” the phrase God uses to reveal Himself in the Pentateuch. Invoking Remez here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel His full meaning is still missed.
He directly reveals Himself as the Messiah and indirectly reveals Himself as God.
But the Samaritan woman in her underdeveloped faith does not see it.
Praying I will.

20th Jan 2011

2011-01-20T05:45:00.001-08:00

John 3:22-36 – John Testifies again about Jesus

“The ‘Paranymph Principle”
John is approached by his disciples whom seem to be defending his honor or at least his ministry before another Jew.
It is often the second in commands that are less able to see the big picture but are tied in more to the actual leader. The primary leader [John in this case] has his eyes on Jesus and yet the secondary leaders [the talmidim] have their eyes fixed on John.
Perhaps they are struggling with the reality that their status and even identity is tied in to John’s and if his ministry diminishes they feel their will?
John however has true vision and clarity. He is selfless and most passionate not about his own comfort or ministry but what will most impact the Kingdom of God.
He loves the Kingdom more than ministry.
In Johns mind He was the paranymph (friend of the bridegroom - Christ), similar to the best man at an English wedding. [Manners & Customs of the Bible by Freeman]
The Paranymph was responsible for introducing the bride to the bridegroom.
He made the initial contact, and often in Jesus’ day was charged with preparing her for her meeting with the groom. Giving her advice about the grooms likes and dislikes etc.
At the wedding ceremony the groom and the bride would converse and the paranymphs greatest joy would be the words of the bridegroom who would then turn and share his delight with him. Telling him he had done a good job.
It was a short role - one of introduction.
I wonder how many paranymphs fell in love with the bride themselves as they spent time together?
I wonder how many struggled handing her over to a third party?
John did not.
He loved the groom more than he loved the bride.
Do I?
Do you?
Praying today for a greater love for the groom than I have for His bride.

19th Jan 2011

2011-01-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

John 3:1-21 – Jesus teaches Nicodemus

“The ‘Born Again’ Head Fake”
Nicodemus approaches Jesus at night.
This is another passage that challenges the simplistic idea that Jesus hated the religious leaders but loved the sinners., The fact is that Jesus invested in whoever pursued Him with the right intentions; and in many cases these were those who knew they were lost without Him.
In the this passage Jesus invokes the famous ‘Born Again’ phrase. Since the 1970’s that sentence has been used to define at least a generation or two of Jesus followers.
Many think that Jesus invested the phrase ‘Born Again’ and that the phrase is the key to what He was teaching Nicodemus.
But he did not and He was not.
The phrase ‘Born Again’ or its variations already existed in Jesus’ day.
In fact there were six major uses of it.
You were born again when:

You converted to Judaism and came out of the waters.
You got married.
You were crowned King of Israel.
You were numbered with the believers of Israel and became a son of the commandments [bar-mitzvah].
You were ordained as a Rabbi.
You became leader of a Rabbinic school.

All of these were major life changes and none of them were something that Nicodemus was likely to do due to his age. Although some of them would of already happened to him.
Imagine Nicodemus’ shock. What did Jesus mean? What else was left open to him… to re-enter his mother’s womb?
So what was Jesus emphasizing? What was His message?

Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

And Spirit.
All the above were rituals of some sort. Jesus was emphasizing that a ceremony would not save you.
A ceremony such as marriage, ordination, coronation….
Or putting your hand up after an alter call.
It is a heart and Spirit thing that Jesus was emphasizing.
Yesterday I pointed out that verse 23 of chapter 2 shows us that many believed in His name but few believed in Him.
Are we in danger of simply adding number 7 onto the list?
Creating people who think they are born again because they went through a modern, protestant, evangelical ceremony?
Leaders beware… what you sow into people... you will reap.
The key to salvation is responding to an invitation to participate in His Kingdom not a personal ceremony.
Praying I sow into others the right thing because in this case number seven is not a lucky number.

18th Jan 2011

2011-01-18T06:09:00.000-08:00

John 2:13-25 – Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

“Trust issues”
After the first miracle at Cana, thins seem to pick up pace.
Jesus enters the Temple and His zeal for His father kicks in.
The Temple courts had become a place of business for bother merchants in livestock because pilgrims would buy their sacrifice worthy animals there plus the money changers because the Temple would not accept Roman coin and so they changed it into Tyrian.
The Jews wanted to know on what authority He did this.
Trust lesson number 1

Jesus always spoke obliquely to those He knew had little faith.
Oddly, He only spoke plainly to those He knew had enough trust to understand.
It’s as though He is trying to build the faith of those who have too little to believe by getting them to wrestle and do some spiritual gym.

Trust lesson number 2

The disciples believed in the Tanakh’s words [the Jewish word for the Old Testament].
Trusting in Jesus has to be holistic. We have to trust not just in Jesus Himself but in what He trusted in.
Verse 23 shows us that many believed in His name but few believed in Him. It is believing in Him that saves us and trusting in Him means trusting in what He trusts in.
We cannot cut and paste Jesus in and out of Scripture.

Trust lesson number 3

Jesus did not entrust himself to men.
As leaders we should never do that either. They are far too fickle.
Winston Churchill was asked if it thrilled him when so many people came out to hear him speak. He replied “not really because I am aware that if it was my hanging there would be twice as many people in the crowd”.

Trusting in God is complex and yet simple.
Embracing all of Jesus means we have less space to trust in things that exclude Him.
Praying my trust will be less narrow.

11th Jan 2011

2011-01-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

John 2:1-12 – Jesus turns water into wine

“Ten to one – a challenge for us all”
This passage contains the best advise that anybody gave anyone at any time in history.
The wine runs out and Mary the mother of Jesus immediately puts two and two together and gets five. She has received prophecies about her son, she has watched him grow and receive gifts from very important people and she knows that one day future generations will call her blessed.
What is going through her mind is fairly obvious… this is her moment!
Here and now at a big occasion in front of all her family and relatives would be the moment that Jesus did her proud.
It was time to receive ‘naches’ a Yiddish word that means “The kind of Joy a mother feels”
Jesus however reacts to this – he sees it within her and politely but firmly using a Hebrew idiom [although translated] puts a little distance between them. Basically he is very gently challenging her motives. He is also helping her to see Him as Lord not as a child.
She responds perfectly; she lets it go and then with simplicity turns and gives the others the best advise they would ever hear; “do whatever he tells you to do”.
Now contrast Jesus with Mary.
As a leader He does not use His gifting for party tricks or to impress his family or His disciples. Again as with 99% of Jesus’ miracles He does not initiate anything; He is asked for help.
Only when asked does Jesus responds and a wonderful miracle takes place.
But what I personally get from this is the principle of ten for one.
Jesus says ‘it is not yet my time’. He was conscious of His preparation. Thirty years of preparation for three years of world changing impact!
Billy Graham said that if he could go back and change anything he would prepare more and preach a little less.
Jesus valued the process!
Do I?
Jesus protected the process!
Do I?
Jesus did not rush the process!
Do I?

7th Jan 2011

2011-01-07T05:49:00.000-08:00

John 1:43-51 – Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael

“A Master class in Recruitment Jesus”
Even Jesus could not fulfill His calling alone; he needed help.
The phrase ‘A Pioneer’ is an oxymoron – one person can change the world but they can never do it on their own.
From the end of yesterdays reading to the end of todays, Jesus gives us a master class in recruiting people to His dream. Something we as leaders either as parents or as ministers can learn from.

Recruit with a BIG dream - John 1:35-51
Make your dream really clear - John 1:41
Be prepared to make sacrifices – John 1:43 & Matthew 20:22
Be the personal embodiment of the vision – John 1:46 & John 14:5
Empower those you recruit - John 1:42
Recruit their vision – John 1:41,45 & Matthew 4:19
Recruit the right people - John1:47

I use this passage in more detail to unpack some of those principles in seminars I teach.
Jesus was the greatest leader of all time and He is the person we must look at before all others as our best example.

6th Jan 2011

2011-01-06T05:23:00.001-08:00

John 1:53-42 – John’s Disciples follow Jesus

“Equipping Jesus”
Tomorrow Jesus gives us a master class in recruiting people to your vision.
Today we look at the other side.
For people to truly follow Jesus, we as leaders must not simply releases them but send them.
That is what John did. Disciples acted in many ways like slaves as we saw a couple of days ago. There are many things that John received from those who followed him;

admiration, respect, service, honor, legacy etc
the list could go on.

When he gives them away, he gives his life away.
In fact he does not simply give away, he goes the extra mile; he sends away.
Who do you need to send away for them to truly follow Jesus?
It may not be geographical; it might be an emotional or spiritual release.
When you release how do you do it? Begrudgingly and with warnings or are you a cheerful giver?
The role of a leader is to first introduce people to Jesus and then release them to Him.
One is much easier than the other.
But both are required for Jesus to be truly equipped with the people he needs.
Praying today that I will equip Jesus.
Bet you never prayed that prayer before did you?

5th Jan 2011

2011-01-05T05:53:00.001-08:00

John 1:29-34 – John testifies about Jesus

“When the time is right”
I’m going to keep it very simply today.
It’s not about me or my ministry.
In this passage John refers back to his profound revelation that I unpacked a little in my blog two days ago.
Rather than me repeating myself I will ask you to re-read that.
Here the manifestation of that revelation is his understanding that his ministry is nothing more than a means to an end. His ministry is not that important – its only importance comes in its role in the bigger picture.
I wish more leaders could understand that.
God is not that sentimental.
If he could destroy the temple – the most holy significant of all church buildings with all its history and emotional investment on God’s part…
Then He will not think twice about ending our ministries when the time is right.
The time is right when they no longer fulfill His purposes and start to fulfill ours.
That could be said of everything that we hold onto to dearly.
Again this is connected to the “first things first” blog from two days ago.
Praying today for a deeper understanding of this so God does have to teach me the hard way.

4th Jan 2011

2011-01-04T06:39:00.001-08:00

John 1:19-29 – John the Baptist denies being the Christ

“Tongue Tied Humility”
A group is sent from the Sanhedrin to check out this unauthorized teacher as they see him in their eyes.
This was a customary practice when someone was drawing a following and/or doing miracles. The Sanhedrin were in some simplistic way the religious police.
John the Baptist speaks the language of courage that only true humility can give you. His status is not important only Jesus’ is. And therefore he gains great courage from this.
He applies to himself a Biblical description that was being used heavily by another group from that time:

I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’.

The other group was the Essenes. Their way of doing this was to reject the rest of the Jews and live in a holy huddle by the hills. They spoke harshly of the other Jews believing that only were the true sons of light. They moved out of Jerusalem believing that those living there were beyond redemption.
I believe John was invoking Remez here. He was quoting one part of a passage of scripture to invoke the whole passage to people’s minds in this case the earlier part of Isaiah 40.
In that passage were these words:

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.

The Essenes pride led them to dismiss Jerusalem but John’s humility allowed him to minister to them.
He then goes on to make this statement about Jesus:

He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie

John is referring here to the religious tradition of the day that in this case referred to discipleship.
A lot was expected from a disciple, in fact they were specifically told to be to a rabbi everything a slave was to be to their master… but with one difference:

“All acts a slave performs for his master, a disciple performs for his rabbi, except untying the sandal” Babylonian Talmud ketubot

Jesus by the way, shares this belief of the master/slave relationship. He uses a Hebrew idiom of pushing His point by repeating the same truth but with different comparative words:

“A student is not above His teacher, nor a servant above His master” Matthew 10:24

John in humility says he is not even worthy of doing what is considered too demeaning for anyone to do.
There is a paradox in all of this. Jesus eventually said to His disciples that he no longer called them servants but friends because He had revealed to them His father’s business.
And so here is the paradox: The more humble we are; the more we are included in the Father’s business. The more we are included in the fathers business, the less we are seen as servants of God and the more we are raised up to the status of friends of God.
But we cannot even see God’s true business on the planet without humility.
Praying today for a servant’s heart and therefore a friend’s relationship.