Are you more likely to encounter people who think God is too compassionate or not compassionate enough?  It probably depends on the culture you’re in or your family background.  It seems as though most in the United States believe that the God of Judaism and Christianity is not compassionate enough.  How could He possibly torture so many people in hell for not believing Jesus? There are others who would think the opposite.  They stand horrified how this supposed holy being could possibly let someone like a Hitler or Ted Bundy off the hook because they profess allegiance to Jesus.  Furthermore they wonder how anybody would pledge allegiance to such a being.  I can sympathize with both arguments but the interesting thing is that God cannot win.  You have some who think God is too soft and others who think He’s too rigid.  That’s why we need to seek to understand God for who He is as described in scripture.  If God took our input for how He should be, He would be neither consistent nor attractive.  Who wants to worship a God who’s constantly changing?

The book of Jonah is a short but complex story.  It’s complex because you can never quite get a beat on whether or not Jonah really understands that the compassion Jonah doesn’t want God to show to the people of Nineveh, because the people of Nineveh were a very brutal and ruthless people, is the same compassion that God has been showing to Jonah all along.  It’s a theme that runs throughout the book.  From the beginning Jonah runs because he doesn’t want God to show compassion.  After Jonah spends time in the big fish, repents and is vomited out he goes to Nineveh to proclaim God’s message.  After the people repent, to some degree, and God relents, Jonah complains that God is exactly as compassionate as Jonah knew God was and Jonah is really ticked off by that.  That sounds odd doesn’t it?  Especially when you consider that Jonah was just as much an unworthy recipient of God’s compassion as the people of Nineveh.  Yet God remains consistent in His compassion towards all humanity.  He attempts to reason with Jonah at the end of chapter 4 by asking how He could not have compassion on people He created who didn’t know what they were doing with their lives.  Jonah was angry that his source of shade was destroyed.  He had more compassion on a plant than people.  God has more compassion on people than plants.

The kind of compassion that God reveals to us in Jonah and throughout the Old and New Testaments is different than the kind of compassion we experience.  It’s not that we don’t show compassion but it’s just that when you begin to explore the kind of compassion God shows and compare it to our compassion we’re a little lacking.  We rightly find ourselves moved to help people we can sympathize with because they’re in a difficult situation we once found ourselves in.  We’re moved to help children who suffer or elderly who cannot take care of themselves because they are helpless.  We might be moved to help a young Christian overcome a deep disturbing pattern or sin as we remember having similar problems in our walk.  In each of those cases we find that we’ve attached ourselves to people.  We feel for them.  We associate with them.  This seems pretty normal because we’re relational people and making attachments is pretty normal for us. Biblically speaking we were made in the image of God who is a triune God (one being and three persons).  We are one being and one person with an image of a three person God so we naturally long to attach ourselves to others.

This is where things are a little different for God.  He is self-sufficient.  Before this universe and all within it was ever created there was perfect unity and harmony between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  They didn’t experience an emptiness or need that required them to create (Isaiah 43:7; Acts 17:25).  Yet we find God attached.  We find Him telling the Israelites in Hosea 11:8, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? … My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender”, or in Matthew 23:37 when Jesus tell the people, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.”  This sounds pretty attached doesn’t it.  But why would a God attach Himself to people when He didn’t need to?  The answer is that He chose to.  He chose to attach Himself to us when He didn’t have to.  Jonah had an attachment for a plant and Jesus had an attachment for all of humanity.  Jonah wept because his shade was taken from him and Jesus wept because people were perishing without hope.  It’s quite amazing to wonder why God would choose to attachment Himself to us when He does not need us but we need Him and yet He did.

There’s one example from book of Jonah that I think points out the great gap between God’s compassion and our compassion.  There are 3 times in the book of Jonah (1:2; 3:2; 4:11) that God refers to Nineveh as a “great city”.  It was certainly a huge city (120,000) in comparison to average cities of the day (3,000) but the term “great city” carries with it the idea of it being very important.  You could certainly argue that it was important to God because cities provide an excellent place for a large number of people to be reached by a message.  This is very practical and we see in in the New Testament book of Acts where missionary trips run through larger cities in order to plant churches to gain a foothold for the gospel to spread.  Though there is something more concerning God’s description of Nineveh as a “great city”.

In a recent message I was listening to from Tim Keller he described a conversation he was having with a friend of his, Brian Crispin, who is an urban missionary.  Keller asked him why he continued to live in the city.  Crispin responded, “The country is a place where there are more plants than people and the city is a place where there is more people than plants and because God loves people more than plants God loves the city more than the country.”  I thought that was pretty interesting.  He pressed the point further by asking Keller where God’s image was more visible.  It’s hard to deny that since God’s image is stamped on people that the city and in Jonah’s case the “great city”, would be filled with image bearers. As fun as it was to hear that piece of logic it caused me to think deeply about the whether or not I share that same sentiment.  I live in the city but I want to live in the country.  I long for a house with 5 acres so I don’t have neighbors right next to me.  I thought back to the number of times, many of which I was joking but some of which I wasn’t, where I said, “if it wasn’t for people, life would be grand”.  People can be annoying and I’ll gladly put myself right up there with the most annoying.

While I thought about this, I think I had a better understanding of the gap in compassion and my need to develop a God kind of compassion in my own life.  A compassion that is consistent toward all people everywhere.  A compassion that is much less selfish then the compassion I seem most familiar and comfortable with.  A compassion that is happy to be around people because I’ll have a chance to impact other image bearers for eternity.

In any case, please continue reading if you’re one of the few people who requested these notes and if you’re not one of those who requested the notes, then it’s totally up to you. …

We’ve been spending a lot of time, maybe too much time, in Acts 17 and Paul’s visit to Athens and invitation to Mars Hill to speak but there is so much to learn from this passage of scripture that it’s hard not to spend time here.  My purpose this week was to explore some ideas about how Paul engaged the Athenians and how we ought to be engaging people.  Since we’ve been trying to look at what it looks like to live out our faith as sanctified believers in Christ we have to take a look at what our interaction with others look like.

We’ve been talking about the importance of witnessing to others and our need to just give the message without having the pressure of “closing the deal” and “complete the sale” but getting to the point of sharing this message isn’t always easy.  How do you get from “Hello my name is Bob…” to “Jesus died that you might live…”?

In Acts 17:17 Luke writes about Paul in Athens, “So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.”  I want to highlight that Paul “reasoned” with the Jews and those he came across in the market place “daily”.  Remember that Paul was killing time in Athens as he was sent their by the brethren until things cooled down a little bit (17:10) because Paul had once again caused a stir with his faithful preaching of the gospel.  Now in Athens, Paul is stirred up because of the idolatry in Athens (17:16) and this presents him with a strong desire to talk to people.  This led him to the synagogues and the market place daily.  He may have hit the synagogues to talk with believing Jews to impress upon them the need to preach the gospel to the idolatrous Athenians or he may have been talking with unbelieving Jews to explain Christ from the Old Testament as the promised Messiah or it could have been a little of both.  As for the market place, it’s clear Paul went there for one reason and once reason only.  To talk to people about what was preeminent in their lives and then tell them about Jesus.

It’s easy to think that there is a disconnect here between Paul and us.  Afterall, you might say, “I’m not a preacher!” or “I’m not an evangelist!”.  Remember however, our very life is to be a witness for Christ and His good news.  I’ll grant you that evangelists are specially gifted for the task but we all have the task of being witnesses and “doing” evangelism in our circles of influence and with those we meet daily.

With that in mind I thought I thought it would be good to think through some of the issues that Paul might have been an expert at while meeting with people on a daily basis while looking for an opportunity to share Jesus with them.

It’s worth spending a moment first to give some thought to a statement you may have heard before that goes something like, “you can’t argue somebody into the kingdom”.  It’s kind of a loaded question because when you hear, you automatically think of two people screaming at each other with red, snarled faces and spit flying.  The rejoinder to this statement would be something like, “you have to love people into kingdom”.  The idea is, even if you assume arguing is just a reasonable discussion, that you have to reach people emotionally rather than intellectually.  You love them and the Spirit of God will use that to draw them.  While that is most definitely true, it’s also true to say that God uses many things to draw people into His kingdom and Acts 17 is a definite example of Paul reasoning with people in order to convince them of the truthfulness of Jesus and His message.  In fact, the entire discussion before those at Mars Hill is a carefully crafted argument that Paul lays out, starting with God as the creator of all things and ending with the resurrection of Jesus.  I have no doubt that this is the same line of reasoning that Paul used in the market place daily and is a wonderful example of the importance of engaging those around us in dialog in the hopes of sharing Jesus with them.

Knows How to Listen – 1 Peter 3:15, Philippians 2:3

• Pay attention for “Gee I wonder…” statements
  • “How could that terrible disaster happen?”
  • “How could they have committed such a crime?”
  • “How could they get through life with that disability?”

• Be prepared with some dialog starters
  • “Do you ever think about spiritual things?”
  • “Do you ever wonder about life after death?”
  • “What do you think it means to be Christian?”

• Practice the following…
  • Be gentle & kind
  • We could be wrong on some points
  • Be understanding where possible and not inappropriately dogmatic
    • “That’s a good point”
    • “I’m sympathetic to that”

• Avoid the following…
  • One upping
  • belittling the person’s world view
  • Using too many words
  • Using too few words

In order to dialog with people for the purpose of talking about Jesus we must be good listeners.  1 Peter 3:15 states, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”  This implies a few things when you consider this verse in the context of a dialog.  One, is that somewhere in the course of the conversation the subject of Jesus comes up and that you’ve expressed a deep trust in Him.  Second, is that when they ask you about this hope, you must actually listen and have been listening so that you’ll know just what kind of answer to give.

We can be pretty bad at listening.  Sometimes we ask questions just so we can talk.  “So what’s new with you?  Nothing huh.  Well let me tell you about me!”  Or we listen but our response is equally as selfish because we listen with an ear of one upping the other person.  “Sinus infection huh?  Well, I was puking for days and had to go to the ER!”.  Listening is an art that requires a great deal of discipline.  Especially when you factor in the times where I’m just tired and aren’t interested in a long conversation or when I really don’t care.  Be on guard for selfish listening.  Philippians 2:3 states that we should “do nothing from selfishness…but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourself.”  That’s a good verse for me to keep in mind when I’m talking with others. J

Let’s assume however that you are a good listener.  A good listener and you’ve had a good night sleep and you’re feeling confident in your walk with Christ.  How do you just start talking to people about Jesus?  You could just ask people.  There’s nothing wrong with that but depending on the person that might not be the best starting point.  It’s probably worth mentioning at this point that when it comes to talking to people about Jesus, this is not a one size fits all approach.  You’re not me and I’m not you and people are not computers.  Approaches I’m comfortable with might not be comfortable for you and visa versa.  Some approaches might work with some people but not on others.  This is why it’s important to know what you believe, be humble in your approach and listen carefully with the intent of maneuvering the conversation in order to bring up Jesus. Also, when conversing be genuine.  Don’t forget that you’re dealing with real people who were made in the image of God.  Don’t pose questions in such a way that would appear like a gimmick.  They’ll know if you’re not being genuine.

For starters you can ask people a direct question.  You can ask them if they think about spiritual things or if they ever think about life after death.  There’s no end to the kinds of starter questions you could ask.  It’s wise though to have some kind of plan as to where to go after they respond with a simple “yes” otherwise you’ll have a very awkward silence. J  When we were volunteering at one of the Michigan football games this past Fall I was riding in a golf cart with a 19-year-old and asked him if he went to church anywhere.  Unfortunately I asked that question without having must have a plan of where to go from there.  He answered that he went from time to time at a church back home.  While he was answering, I was both listening and praying about a followup question.  Thankfully one came to mind.  So I asked him if he thought going to church was a waste of time or was it helpful.  He answered by telling my why he struggled believing in God and some of the things he’d experienced in life that caused him to struggle, etc.  From there I had lot’s of directions I could go but each one provided me an opportunity to talk to him about the nature of God and then ultimately the reason Jesus came.

Sometimes you may be in the midst of a conversation and someone say’s something rhetorical like, “how could they do that to them?” or “I would never do that to my husband” or “how could that happen?”.  You know the kind of question I’m talking about.  They’re questions that really do question fundamental realities in life.  These questions are really invitations for us to ask questions back in a gentle way.  The first question above supposes that people are not evil.  The second supposes that the person themselves are not capable of certain evils and the third supposes that God might not have been capable of preventing the disaster if he exists at all.

In the study, Morgan mentioned how someone she was inviting to church from where she works told her that she was pretty sure that the ceiling would fall down if she came to church.  So I asked what question she could’ve asked back to her if she had thought about it or had more time to engage the person.  She said should could’ve asked “why?” which is the correct question.  From the statement it’s pretty clear that the person she was talking to have a view of God that isn’t very attractive.  He’s the boy on the ant hill just waiting to get us for being a nuisance to him.  As you can see, there are literally thousands of opportunities for these kinds of conversations to either start or shift toward God and Jesus.  The only question is whether or not I’m paying enough attention to seize the opportunity.

It’s important to remember to remember to stay in the driver’s seat to some degree.  It’s usually not good when either we’re dominating the conversation or they are.  If we talk to much then we run the risk of overloading the other person with information.  From time to time we need to ask if what we’re saying makes sense.  If they talk to much then we’ll lose the opportunity to correct misunderstandings that they have and offer some biblical perspective.

Knows How to Answer a Fool – Proverbs 26:4-5

• It’s okay to push back a little when you sense the person is being disingenuous.
• Don’t be defensive – Be wise as serpents but gentle as doves

Sometimes, in the course of a conversation we’ll face some challenging people.  Some are like the fool of Proverbs 26:4 that we want to be careful to respond differently than.  If they’re being angry then we ought not to respond that way.  If they’re using childish arguments we must remain humble enough to keep from responding childishly even though the temptation is great.  If they use bad logic, we cannot otherwise we will be like him…a fool.

It should be pointed out though that pushing back from time to time is ok.  If you’re talking with someone who is being disingenuous it’s fair to call them out on it.  Let’s say you’re talking with someone who is a steam roller and is constantly saying “you Christians should stop telling people they’re wrong” and “you Christians should let people live their lives” etc and they persist.  It’s fair to be aggressive if needed to get their attention and ask, “so are you telling me I’m wrong?”.  If they’re not wise enough to see the trap they’ll answer yes.  At which point you can then ask them, “why are you telling me I shouldn’t tell other people they’re wrong but you can tell me that I’m wrong?”.

In the same manner you may face some people who are the very definition of rude.  They may be sarcastic and caustic in their attitude and speech or just unwilling to listen.  With these kind of people it’s ok to simply walk away.  Matthew 7:6-7 says that we should not give what is holy to the dogs and not to throw our pearls before swine or they will trample them under their feet and turn that tear you to pieces.  We have a message that is holy and while we must be willing to share it with all men there may come a point and time where we’ll be wasting our time and should simply walk away.

Second in this verse is the fool we must answer as his folly deserves.  These would be people who have wrong or distorted views of Christianity and the gospel and have believed them for such a long time that they assume those beliefs are true because they’ve not encountered anyone who can offer them corrections in their understanding.  They may be people who see football players praying before or after games and wonder why the God they’re praying to cares more about football games than starving children in India.  They may be people who hear the message of the cross and see it as torture to appease an unfair and angry God.  At the same time they’re people who are willing to listen to an alternate understanding.  That the football players are not praying for victory but for God’s glory or for humility or safety.  That the cross is God’s sacrafice of himself for sinful man who is born out of love for all of humanity.  To not offer an answer to this kind of fool would be to let them continue on their way thinking they’re wise in their own eyes.

Conversations with people are not easy.  Unfortunately there’s no class we’re required to take to help us communicate with one another.  We just kind of figure it out as we go.  Whatever principles and techniques we learn, whether good or bad, will also be carried with us into our life as Christians and our conversations with others.  We all must improve in this regard and it starts with remembering who we are a witness and ambassador for, what message we are delivering, the character we are to show while presenting the message and the wisdom we are to display while maneuvering through the conversation.

The Law of Human Nature is what we live our lives by, our morals—or governing concepts. He is also saying that we can choose to either obey or disobey these Laws.

 This is not a case as to where morals came from because as Christians we believe that our morality has come from the Lord who is holy and perfect. My question of the day is: If we [Christians] all share the same morals, and we are to live like the lord would, then why is it that we break the easiest of commands to follow? Are we choosing to do this? Or is the social aspect of being human causing us to fall into that paradoxical pattern of failure—the Adam and Eve complex.

                What is the Adam and Eve complex exactly? Think back to Genesis, Adam and Eve were walking around and here comes Satan. He tricks Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, she gave some to Adam all was well until it hit them—they made a mistake. This is usually the typical thing that happens in our social situations today. Everyone is gathered together, there are taboos that everyone knows about, one person makes a comment the rest follow suit, and before we all know it we have mayhem. [Okay, maybe not mayhem but we may not know what each other is struggling with] Hence, we have Adam and Eve complex: a social disorder affecting millions of Christians daily.

                How does this apply to morals? God gave us free will to choose His way or our way. More than often we choose our way, but he imprinted us with his guide book, his right and wrong manual. I know this can be distorted by sin, but there is a general code that even the lowliest know. If Christians are so much more in-tune with the Lord, walking with him (I hope you are) then why is it that when we gather together we put ourselves in a social complex and start making crude comments, and offense gestures that at the time seem okay, but in reality are not? Eve thought it was okay to eat the fruit, but really it wasn’t. We think it’s okay to make crude comments in mixed company, but it’s not.

                The point is, is that when in small groups we tend to catch our mistakes because we are looking more for them, but when in a slightly larger gathering we lose our bearings on what is acceptable for a Christian, and enough is enough. This Adam and Eve complex can easily be solved by caring what we say and how we act. It should no longer be an excuse that we were around “close friends” when we did something inappropriate we all struggle on a daily basis with different things, and we never know what comment might make someone fall. It should be our hearts desires to see our friends grow. This paradox of wanting to be the “cool-funny guy” should no longer have to be done the way it is. Sometimes it’s a little ridiculous at what happens when we are in a social gathering. We all act like idiots at some point, but enough is enough. We can have fun and joke without being crude and useless, so it’s time to put to rest our moral disability and pick up our mature game.

Impudence is Greek anaideia, which occurs only here in the NT. In all of its other known uses in ancient literature, the term means “lack of sensitivity to what is proper,” “impertinence,” “impudence”; it describes being without aidōs (“respect,” “modesty”). “Impudence,” then, would indicate that the friend is shamelessly and boldly awakening his neighbor, and of course the neighbor will give him whatever he needs. On this interpretation, Jesus’ point is that if even a human being will respond to his neighbor in that way, then Christians should go boldly before God with any need they face, for God is more gracious and caring than any human neighbor. Some other interpreters believe that anaideia means “persistence” here, even though there are no other known occurrences of that meaning. Such a reading does fit the context, however, for the very next verses emphasize that believers must keep seeking, asking, and knocking (vv. 9–10). This would make the parable similar to 18:1–8. Both ideas—a kind of shameless persistence—are possibly intended by this unusual term.

Matthew Henry writes: “We prevail with men by impudence because they are displeased with it, but with God because he is pleased with it.” What an incredible way to understand prayer! We truly are friends of God (John 15.15), and he takes joy in his friends’ impudence (note: this does not equate with irreverence, or pride).

We can come to God for all of our needs: our sustenance (daily bread), strength in weakness, freedom from sin, the power to overcome temptation, the presence of the Holy Spirit in us and with us (see v. 13), and as in this parable, blessings for us to pass on to others.

Prayer works! What are you praying for?


I am working on a post centered on the prayer of Elijah (What does prayer look like? & What are its results?). Also, a post on Psalm 37.4 (“Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”)

     Think that’s silly? Spiritually in the beginning, we are lost. A frosty decaying winter has settled on our hearts, and all the while everything seems okay. When the Son makes an appearance, he starts to melt the frost revealing all the treasures that there are. Just like in a physical winter, when the Sun starts to peak around, the snow melts. Then there is a re-birth. We are coming from death to life, just like the aching trees and relaxed grasses. Suddenly, in Christ we are alive. God did a nice job of showing us in the physical world what was going on in the spiritual world.

   What boggles me, is how we can be such a beautiful thing, a covert manifestation of Gods genius, and we can’t take care of it the way we do our lawns, flowers, bushes, fruit etc. Luke 6:45b: “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” I believe that God intended our hearts to be beautiful once he took possession. I think he expects us to manicure, polish, trim, cut, and build in our hearts so that we could reveal who he is more clearly.  Why is it possible for us to look at spring time, look at the flowers budding, trees swaying and life growing, and be awed by it, and miss the picture of our hearts? We have no problem going outside and trimming the bushes when they get out of hand. We have no problem ripping off the dead parts of plants so life can continue to grow. Why is it when it comes to taking care of Gods most important creation, we don’t want to do it?

    I think about Luke 6:45, and I think of my own actions. I think of all the things I say and do and where I am amiss, but I try to take a pair of shears to cut it away. It seems though for some of my comrades, they don’t want to do it. Their actions and words disappoint my heart, they make me worry and they make me sad. It is time to start taking care of the dead things we allow to go into our hearts. Shearing season is in.

  Thnk on this. All over the bible, in both old and new testament the people of God concern themselves with how their life smelled to God. It is said that it should smell like a sweet aroma. God himself mentions nature and what he made, do you think he does not know how sweet lilies smell, or roses? Just as he made spring the time for beautiful scents to rise, he demands a manicuring of our hearts, he wants them to bring a pleasing smell, a sweet aroma

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While preparing, I decided to use week one as an introductory week, a time to talk about what we can expect from an in-depth study of the gospel. For this reason, I returned to Eugene H. Peterson’s essay Saint Mark: The Basic Text for Christian Spirituality, the first chapter in his book Subversive Spirituality. (This essay, in my opinion, should be included in anyone’s reading of Mark, whether introductory, cursory, or comprehensive.) While Peterson does a fantastic job of covering the major themes in Mark within 15 pages, my favorite ideas (today) concern Mark 8.27-9.9, a passage which Peterson calls “the ‘spirituality’ of the text”, the convergence of every theme in Mark’s Gospel. The theme that stuck out most for me today is found in 9.34-38, which says:

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Peterson has this to say about the ascetic call of this passage:

Following Jesus means not following your impulses and appetites and whims and dreams, all of which are sufficiently damaged by sin to make them unreliable guides for getting any place worth going…Grammatically, the negative, our capacity to say No, is one of the most impressive features of our language. The negative is our access to freedom. Only humans can say No. Animals can’t say No. Animals do what instinct dictates. No is a freedom word. I don’t have to do what either my glands or my culture tell me to do. The judicious, well-placed No frees us from many a blind alley, many a rough detour, frees us from debilitating distractions and seductive sacrilege. The art of saying No sets us free to follow Jesus.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said this of the situation: “I think it’s unfortunate that a religious leader would choose Easter Sunday to make preposterous charges”. I agree with the White House here, as all it really feels like is an unfortunate rallying of support for the GOP. I personally don’t care about the birth-certificate turmoil, but if a highly visible evangelical leader wants to express concern regarding this issue, they ought to find the right time and place for these things.

Graham also questioned Obama’s legitimacy as a Christian, saying ”…he has told me that he is a Christian. But the debate comes, what is a Christian? For him, going to church means he’s a Christian. For me, the definition of a Christian is whether we have given our life to Christ and are following him in faith and we have trusted him as our lord and savior.”

Franklin Graham said this on August 19, 2010 about the President: “Now it’s obvious that the president has renounced the prophet Mohammed and he has renounced Islam and he has accepted Jesus Christ. That’s what he says he has done, I cannot say that he hasn’t. So I just have to believe that the president is what he has said.” While I feel that the Gospel is too often used as a political tool by politicians, I’m not sure why Graham feels he needs to pander to anybody in politics, but it definitely seems like that’s what he is doing lately. Jesus followers ought to focus more on the things of God than earthly politics which are all too petty in the perspective of the kingdom of Heaven.

Philosopher and Pastor John Piippo has a great post here concerning Obama’s faith.

This post originally appeared on my blog christopherbutson.blogspot.com.

The focal of this is not just that we are not listening, and shame on us. We Christians (myself included) are forgetting the main attractions (God’s Word) main concept. Love. BLAH BLAH BLAH. yes, we know what Gods love does. Changes our heart, minds, souls. Okay–textbook. Anyone can say that “I love God” but Jesus himself says to people in Matthew 7:21 that you call the name Lord, but if you do not put His will into practice, then He will turn away from us. So, how do we put this thing “love” into practice?  All we have to do is mimic Jesus’ already good example. And not just mimic, but truly have the need to do this.

First: Obviously we know that Jesus died for us. That is an act of love, and no–im not saying go die for someone, but Jesus did this because he loved us! He loved us sinners. He loved the Romans that beat and scourged him. He loved the people who talked bad about him. He loved the religious people. (Religious meaning rule abiding-showy pharisees.) Jesus loved the sick, dying, outcast fool. When it comes to having love for people, we do not have the OPTION. We do not ge to decide who to love. And if you think you do, take into consideration who you are. We are no better than our enemies. We are all in sin.

Second: Jesus’ existence lets us know that God cares for us no matter what we do. He wanted us to be saved, to be with HIM. We are his creation! We are his children! We are the lineage of Noah, whom GOD CHOSE! God cares that much regardless of when we make Him look bad, of when we crack “that’s what she said” jokes, of when we are rude, mean, foul, dirty etc. He still cares and loves on us. When we go astray, he comes to find us! Jesus is the Shepard, friends. He cares. Now, if we are commanded to a higher standard; to be reflections of God, why do we get to choose who we show his love to? If someone does something to hurt us, that we think is mean, rude, unruly, hurtful, unjust etc how much more, through our anger, tears and turmoil should we show them love? Yes! This is HARD. But in LOVE we do not get the OPTION of who receives it. Jesus could have chosen to turn away from the cross, to laugh at us and skip out. Did he? No. So if we are called to be like Him, then why do we get the choice?

In Summary:
If Gods Word is the main attraction, and the entire concept is LOVE, and GOD has no choice but to love–then why should we, who are so far from holy take God’s love and turn it into a inny, minny, miney mo game? Just my thoughts. We could all use some refresher courses in what Gods love is and how do practice it.

I got into a “Facebook argument” recently. This is something I tend to avoid (simply because social networking sites on the Internet are not the place to look for a decent intellectual discussion), however the person sent me a private message regarding their concern. The message was to say that they were worried about the things I show on my Facebook page. This is not what you might think; apparently they were concerned that I posted a link to an article by a Roman Catholic priest, and that I ‘liked’ the Pope and Mother Theresa of Calcutta. They were certainly gentle in the message, however they were simply unconvincing. This post, though, is not to serve the purpose of bashing this person at all, nor is it to prove that I’m “right” and they’re “wrong”. This is simply to discuss my viewpoint on the entire unfortunate “Protestant or Catholic” situation.

My response to the message can be summed up like this:

1) I have to discern truth and sound doctrine for myself (and even for those who look to me for guidance in the Word), however I have no place to say who’s “in” or who’s “out” in regards to the Church.

2) Your place in the Kingdom is not determined by how solid every last piece of your theology may be. Is there “false doctrine” in the Roman Catholic Church? Sure. But is there “false doctrine” lurking in every corner of my life? To borrow a phrase, “you betcha”. This is not to say that I don’t try to spend every single moment of my life chasing after and trying to understand God. But I’m not ready to attack another person’s theology and tell them they aren’t a part of God’s Kingdom because they’re wrong on some issue (even on some pretty important stuff).

3) So are Catholics and Protestants brothers and sisters in Christ? Yep. There definitely are those who fake their way through the Church for their own reasons, but that’s in every body of believers. Christ had this to say about the situation in Matthew 13:

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13.24-30 ESV)

Please know this: I am not arguing for Theological Agnosticism, Relativism, or Skepticism. There are absolute truths we can know about God, things we can learn first and foremost by reading the Scriptures. This is rather an argument against what is essentially Gnosticism, the idea that you are saved through having the right knowledge of God, knowing the right things.

The Christian life is about abiding in Christ. It is a life of love and grace, a life of knowing the Father through the Holy Spirit. We ought to read the Scriptures to abide in and to know God, not simply to be “right” about the things of God.

(One last thing: one of my favorite writers right now is Thomas Merton, who was a Catholic Trappist monk and became a priest in 1949. Merton unfortunately died in 1968, but his work will have a lasting impact on my life.)

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God has consistently been dragging me back to this scripture lately. It’s in Philippians 2:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! Philippians 2.5-8 NIV

I have been meditating lately on what Jesus Christ suffered in order to save us. He, who is the eternally-existent perfect Son of God, stepped from the highest position in the universe to the lowest position possible. He created everything and he has all authority over creation, but in obedience to the Father, he was born into the lowest station, and lived the life of a servant. He voluntarily put himself into our situation, taking on our weakness and frailty,in order to push us up out of our mess. He came and served to the point of giving his life for us. Here Paul, the writer of Philippians, makes the point that not only was Christ obedient to the point of death; he suffered death on a cross, the worst kind of death. In ancient Rome, this was a death that was reserved for the lowest of lows (it was really only used for slaves or enemies of the state) because it was the most shameful and disgraceful way to die. The condemned was beaten, stripped naked, ridiculed, and taken outside of the city to signify that he was unwanted garbage. It was so slow that the crucified sometimes took days to die. It was such a humiliating practice that many sought to have it banned. Cicero, the Roman philosopher, said “the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears”. He’s saying that crucifixion is so bad, even though it was hardly ever used for Roman citizens, a Roman should never have to see, hear, or even think about death on a cross. So Christ went from glory, not just to a life of servant-hood, but was put to shame, suffered such a humiliating, brutal death in order to save us while we were still enemies of God. His life of service and suffering, the birth, life, and death of Jesus, is what theologians call the humiliation of Christ.

But we always talk about these things, and I even find myself growing cold to these concepts sometimes. But this is something God keeps impressing on me. Paul, here in Philippians, is telling us to “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” in our relationships. This is the question that God has been pressing into me lately: how willing am I to be humiliated, like Christ was humiliated, to glorify God and to save others? I think about all the times I passed on helping somebody in need simply because it was awkward, uncomfortable, or inconvenient for me. As a follower of Jesus, I ought to have the same attitude, the same mindset as Christ. This means living a life centered on humility. One of the ways God has been showing this to me is in what Paul (again) says in Romans 12.15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn”. I ought to never see myself above taking on anybody’s situation. In a practical sense, this means I celebrate with that friend who got the job or promotion that I deserved, or I invite that neighbor of mine over for dinner even though I am 98% certain that it’s his dog that keeps pooping on my grass; it means I ought to weep with somebody else, taking on their grief; it means letting God break my heart for all of the poverty and injustice in our world, or sharing in the suffering of disaster victims and doing everything God enables me to help lift them out of their situation. It means speaking life into circumstances that bear nothing but death and despair. It means God wants me to live like Christ, who made himself nothing so that the Father would be glorified through our salvation.