Yoke

One more new idea that came from Rob Bell this week was about the word "yoke."  A rabbi is a Jewish teacher who has disciples that follow and learn from him.  Now every rabbi looks at the scriptures and interprets them in the way that seems right to him.  He teaches his interpretation to his disciples and this is called his yoke.  

Now understanding this opens my eyes to a couple of other scriptures that use the word "yoke." Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mt. 11:28-30.

The rabbis of Jesus day were often reproved by Jesus for their interpretations of the scriptures.  He often said that they made people miserable and burdened them down.  And then Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy.  Now, I think living the way Jesus wants us to live is anything but easy; but compared to what others may burden us with, I know that Jesus' way is easy because it makes leads to peace and rest. 

So I gladly take His yoke upon me and learn of Him.  

More Dust

Another thing Rob Bell talks about in "Dust" is the story of Jesus walking on the water.  In the story Peter gets out of the boat to walk on the water.  Now when we reflect on what we know about what being a disciple means (see previous post) we have new insight into what Peter could have been thinking.  He sees his rabbi  walking on water and he wants to do what his rabbi can do.  So he jumps out of the boat.  Peter walks on the water but then starts to sink.  Jesus saves him and says, "Why did you doubt?"  

Who is Peter doubting?  Rob Bell says maybe he doubts himself.  He doubts that he can be like his rabbi.  We are supposed to believe in God, that's obvious, that's a given.  But thinking about this, that Jesus believes in me, makes me understand some other things Jesus says.  When he says, "You shall say to the mountain, 'Be moved,' and the mountain shall be moved," Jesus is telling us that in the Holy Spirit we DO have the power to do amazing things, miraculous things.  He has provided us with all we need to live this way.  He knows that the Holy Spirit gives us the power to take the gospel to the whole world, just like Jesus commanded. 

 And so how do I live and act in regard to this amazing thought...that Jesus believes in me?   I obey Him when He calls; I love others as He loves; and I pray in the power of His Holy Spirit.   

Dust

We had a full house today in Sunday School.  Some students are in from school because the semester is over.  It is good to have a full class and we had a good lesson today.  It was called Dust and gave so many good insights into the way the 1st century Christians and Jews would have understood some things that were happening.  I will try to share a few of them with you this week.

The first thing we learned was to think about Jesus being a Jewish rabbi and what it took to become a rabbi.  Boys received their education and it consisted of memorizing the first 5 books of the Bible.  They are called the Torah by the Jews and are the most important scriptures because they were written by Moses.  When this was finished, by the time a boy was 9 or 10, the best students were selected to further their education.  This phase required them to memorize all the rest of the Old Testament.  Pretty mind boggling, if you ask me.  Now when the boys were 14 or 15, most boys studied a trade and became an apprentice.  But the best students went to a rabbi and asked to be a disciple.  The rabbi evaluated the student to see if he had what it took to know what he knows, do what he does and BE LIKE HIM.

Now when we see Jesus call his disciples, we have greater insight into what was happening.  When he calls them he is choosing men who are not the brightest students.  They didn't make the cut and get selected to study under another rabbi.  And so this new rabbi shows up and says, "Come, follow me."  He's telling them he thinks they have what it takes to be his disciple.  He has evaluated them and is telling them they can know what he knows, do what he does, and BE LIKE HIM.

No wonder they dropped everything and followed him.  

More later.

I have neglected my blog the last couple of weeks and so, with Alyssa's prodding, here I go again.

Last Sunday we had a lesson called Luggage. It was all about what a burden it is to be seeking revenge against others when we have been wronged. When we fail to forgive and seek vengeance what we are saying to God is that we don't trust Him to do what needs to be done to that person. So we take over God's job, like we can do it better than He can.

As a part of the lesson I spoke a little about the steps we must take to forgive someone as outlined by Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life. However, in the course of talking about this I felt like I was having a hard time saying what I meant. I mean, words were coming out, but I felt a little like the girl in the clip at this youtube address:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww


So with that said, let me summarize here what Rick Warren had to say about the steps we should take when we have been wronged OR when we have wronged someone else.

1. Talk to God before talking to the person.
Tell God about your frustation or how the incident happened. Ventilate vertically.

2. Always take the initiative.
God always expects YOU to make the first move. See Matthew 5:23-24.
"Delay only deepens resentment and makes matters worse....Acting quickly also reduces the spiritual damage to you. The Bible says sin, including unresolved conflict, blocks our fellowship with God and keeps our prayers from being answered, besides making us miserable."

3. Sympathize with their feelings.
"Don't try to talk people out of how they feel at first. Just listen and let them unload emotionally without being defensive."

4. Confess your part of the conflict.
This requires humility in acknowledging that, whether intentional or not, most of the time we have had some part in causing this problem.

5. Attack the problem, not the person.
"Don't use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you." Eph. 4:29

6. Cooperate as much as possible.

7. Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.
"Reconciliation focuses on the relationship, while resolution focuses on the problem. When we focus on reconciliation, the problem loses significance and often becomes irrelevant."

What good thoughts! And how hard they are to put into practice. Let us all strive to live by these principles.

Romans 12:18 - "Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody."

Noise

I am sitting here on Thanksgiving morning in my silent house.  Everyone is still asleep and it is so quiet.  So unlike how it will be in an hour or so.  I have been up and read my Bible and some other things I am reading, and I am so thankful for this quiet time.

This week in Sunday School we listened to Rob Bell talk about noise in our lives.  We are surrounded by noise, both auditory and visual, 24/7.  It takes a profound and sustained effort to create quiet in our lives.  And it is in this quiet that God speaks.  Have you found your quiet spot?  What are you doing to get yourself in a position to hear God?  What small change can you make to begin a habit that will lead to quiet?

1 Kings 19

¹¹ The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." 

      Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.(Some translators say the idea here is "silence.") ¹³When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 
      Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

In this holiday time it is especially easy to get lost in the "noise."  Make finding some quiet time a priority during this season.

Sunday

On Sunday we had  a good group again...all regulars.  Always good to see them all out.  This week our DVD was called "Sunday."  Rob Bell said about church, "Is this really what God had in mind?"

When you think about church on Sunday, first of all, do you think about how the service is organized?  Why do we do the things we do?  Why do we do it the same every week?  Mostly we keep it the same because change makes people uncomfortable.  And we ALL like to be comfortable.  But we are all unique, and different things are meaningful to us.  In the book Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas identifies nine ways people draw near to God.  Naturalists are most inspired to love God out-of-doors, in natural settings.  Sensates love God with their senses and appreciate beautiful worship services that involve their sight, taste, smell, and touch, not just their ears.  Traditionalists draw closer to God through rituals, liturgies, symbols, and unchanging structures.  Ascetics prefer to love God in solitude and simplicity.  Activists love God through confronting evil, battling injustice, and working to make the world a better place.  Caregivers love God by loving others and meeting their needs.  Enthusiasts love God through celebration.  Contemplatives love God through adoration.  Intellectuals love God by studying with their minds. (Taken from Purpose Driven Life)

I see myself strongly in some of these descriptions and much less in others.  I'm sure that's true for everyone.  But I think we really need to make a greater effort to incorporate each of these into our services from time to time.  I know it will make the worship more meaningful and give us a variety that will speak to us in different ways.  And we need to get more comfortable with changes so that we can give others what they need.

Trees

This week in Sunday School we had 3 regulars and a new couple in our class.  We enjoyed to ideas they brought to the class and the discussion they engaged in.

This weeks DVD was called "Trees."  It talked about the tree in the Garden of Eden and then the tree from Revelation that will be in heaven.  Rob Bell said, "We live between two trees."  But the point was about how we live.  If all we are doing is waiting for a new life and all the good things we will experience in heaven, if our main goal is taking everyone we can with us to this new and wonderful place (worthy goal though it is), then we have put aside the wonder of living the abundant life now.  Too many people become Christians and act like the event of their salvation is the end when it is only the beginning.  It is the beginning of a journey the goal of which is to bring God's love for everyone and everything to life.  It is to live out "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."  And in doing so we bring abundant life to those around us and attract them to the God who loves them beyond their imagination. 

 

Flame

We had 4 in class today. One new student...a welcome addition. It is always helpful to have someone come who is willing to talk. It makes class much more interesting. Today's lesson was called Flame and was about relationships and sex. This is certainly not the easiest topic to address, but it is most assuredly a topic that they need to have a biblical understanding of in order to honor God in this area of their lives.

We talked about the three dimensions that a relationship is designed by God to have. The first is identified by the Hebrew word "raya". It pertains to being friends, soulmates; and we discussed how this is where a relationship needs to begin. The second Hebrew word is "ahava" and this word denotes a committment of the will in loving the other person. This is the "'til death do us part" part of the relationship. The third word is "dod" and identifies the sexual part of the marriage relationship. This is where many young people in our culture start their relationships and obviously this causes great problems.

We discussed how so many times we as humans mess this up by trying to get satisfaction from one of these areas(flames) without engaging the others. For example, adultery certainly involves "dod" but hardly ever includes "ahava" or "raya." But God intended for us to find in our marriage the great satisfaction of having the three flames combine into a beautiful fire that warms us and shines its light for others to follow.

Great thoughts on an important subject for these young people. They aren't going to hear these ideas in our culture if they don't hear them from us. The film ended with these words:

"May you honor the way God created you.
May you have a profound sense of respect for the fact that you are a deeply spiritual and mysterious being, and that love is ultimately a profoundly spiritual thing.
May you realize that the three flames are meant to burn together.
And may you discover the big flame."

Quote 2

"To  grasp the ironic brilliance of Jesus' response, it's helpful to know that the Jews of this time were deeply offended by currency that bore the image of the emperor.  They saw it  not only as egotistical on the part of the emperor but also as a direct violation of the commandment against making images (Ex.20:4; Lev. 26:1).  Only God can make an image of himself, and he did so when he made humans. (Gen. 1:26-27).

"Jesus ingeniously linked the issue of pagan egotism and idolatry with the issue of paying taxes.  with a tinge of sarcasm (I imagine Jesus with a wry smily giving this illustration), Jesus was in essence saying, "You of course believe this coin is an egotistical and idolatrous offense to God.  So why should we who are God's people fight with each other over how much of THIS we should keep or give back to the egotistical, idol-making offenders?"  The thing people should rather be concerned with, Jesus is saying, is whether or not they are giving to God what bears HIS image and what therefore belongs wholly to him--namely, their very lives.  Indeed, Jesus was ironically suggesting that  an inappropriate preoccupation with what we should do with Caesar's image may reflect a heart that is insufficiently preoccupied with what should be done with God's image.  Even if someone comes up with the 'correct' position on paying taxes (is there one?), what good does it do her if she loses her soul (Mark 8:36)."

Quote from a book I'm reading 1

"This kingdom love that Jesus speaks of always has a Calvary quality to it. While people in the kingdom of the world find it easy to love those who they think deserve it--that's part of the tit-for-tat nature of the world's kingdom--kingdom-of-God participants are called to love all people unconditionally, even their enemies, just as Christ did (Luke 6:27,35). We are even commanded to use our kingdom authority to pray sincerely for those who persecute us--again, just as Christ did (Matt. 5:43-44; Luke 6:28). (Remember, he's talking to people who before long would be beheaded, burned alive, or fed to lions!) While people in the kingdom of the world usually do good to those who do good to them, followers of Jesus are called to do good even to those who harm them (Luke 6:34-35). When struck on the cheek, we are to offer up the other (Luke 6:29). When asked by an oppressive Roman guard to carry his equipment one mile, we are to offer to carry it two (Matt. 5:41).
"Understood in their original contest, these teachings do not tell us to allow people to abuse us, as though we are to love our enemies but not ourselves. To the contrary, Jesus is giving us a way by which we can keep from being defined by those who act unjustly toward us. When we respond to violence with violence, whether it be physical, verbal, or attitudinal, we legitimize the violence of our enemy and sink to his level. When we instead respond unexpectedly--offering our other cheek and going a second mile--we reveal, even as we expose the injustice of his actions, that our nemesis doesn't have the power to define us by those actions. In this sense we serve our enemy, for manifesting God's love and exposing evil (the two always go hand in hand) open up the possibility that he will repent and be transformed."

Last Sunday our two girls showed up and we continued to talk about storms.  We had already said that it was necessary to rehearse ahead of time how we would respond to trials in our life and that brought to my mind the words to this song by Matt Redman:

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

 

Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

 

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

 

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

 

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name

 

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

We talked about another reason for trials:  to bring God glory.  This brings to mind the blind man in John 9.  Religious leaders ask Jesus, "Who sinned, this man or his parents?"  Jesus tells them that neither one sinned but that the blindness was to bring God glory.  And this happened when Jesus healed him.   We see it in so many other examples too:  Joseph, Daniel, the 3 Hebrews in the fiery furnace, Job and many others.  They had to go through the trial to get to the point that God received the glory.  Very few of us want the trials.  Even Jesus had His human side that thought about avoiding trials.  But look at what He says in John 12:27-28. "Right now I am storm-tossed.  And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'?  No, this is why I came in the first place.  I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.'"

Along these same lines, I love Psalm 46:1-3 (MSG).  "God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.  We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains."  What an attitude to aspire to!

Storms

We had a good class on Sunday.  We had 5 students, but Phil wasn't there because he had gone to take Kathryn back to the airport in Nashville.  We showed the Nooma film, Rain.  It did a wonderful job introducing the topic of how to respond to storms in our lives.

We identified some reasons we have storms.  Sometimes God uses our distress to just get our attention and to get us to seek Him.  At other times He uses our troubles to correct and discipline us.  He wants to purify us and get us to repent of sin.  Many times our storms are used to build our character.  They develop patience and perseverance and shape us to make us more like Christ.

Even though they didn't say a lot, I know that some of the students who were there are experiencing storms right now.  They need our prayers.  But we also talked about the fact that if we're not in a storm right now, we will be soon enough.  Storms come; it's a sure thing.  And we need to rehearse ahead of time what our response will be when they come.  God wants us to rejoice in these trials.  He wants us to recognize that He is at work and He is there with us in the storm.

There's more to say about storms but we'll save that for the next lesson.

Rain

The past two Sundays we have sung a song about rain.  It talks about asking Jesus to bring the rain, or storms of life, because it brings us closer to God and develops character in our lives that cannot come any other way.  This Sunday we will be talking more about this in our Sunday School class.  So I'm asking here for anyone who will to share their story of how God saw them through a storm.  I'd like to be able to share them with my class on Sunday.

To begin, I'll share one of my own.  Leaving Griffith Elementary School 8 years ago was a huge storm in my life.  I had taught with dear friends for many years and it was a difficult time.  I can look back now and see that I did some things right in that situation, like truly seeking what God was moving me to do next.  But I also look back and see things I should have done differently.  I wish I could have had different attitudes toward what was happening. 

God was with me all the way, even though it was very hard.  He was so gracious in letting me be with Will when he had to make the transition to middle school, which was very hard for him.  And from there he led me to the job I have today.  It is a job that is a perfect fit for me and gives me great satisfaction.  God has been so faithful to me in this storm and many others throughout my life.  God is good... all the time.

*******************************************************************************

Here are the lyrics to the song by Mercy Me:

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that 
I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings 
You glory And I know there'll 
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to 
praise You Jesus, bring the rain

I am yours regardless of the clouds that may 
loom above because you are much greater than 
my pain you who made a way for me suffering 
your destiny so tell me whats a little rain 

Embracing our story

We have been talking a little about who we are and what our story is. God tells us in His word that he formed us before we were born and planned all our days before one had come to be. What amazing thoughts!

I just read some of Andrew Peterson's blog and it seems appropriate here so I'll share it with you.

"You are living a life that is not just your own. Your story will be told, by someone, somewhere, in some age. Behind you trails a shimmering strand that weaves among the people in your life, and binds your story to theirs. Before you is the story of your fathers and mothers, and part of your toil is to cling to its light as it leads you down those old roads.
But some of us may look into the past and see darkness, or nothing at all. There may be little that is laudable about the choices of our ancestors; they may be dead branches on the family tree. We may be struck with fear that our choices will inexorably be theirs. That is a lie. Evil’s power is destruction, a weak and sloppy thing compared to the music of light and beauty. If you look into the past and see desolation, it falls to you to hover over those waters and sing a new song. The canvas is yours to fashion as you will. Step into the love of Christ, let him clothe you with mercy and equip you with his power. Then in strokes broad and bright, fill your canvas with love and truth–then even your worst choices will only brighten the picture. And that is a great mystery.
Look back. Look forward. Then walk with a sense of your place in time and space. Listen by faith for the great cloud of witnesses to cheer you on in the long defeat. In a hundred years, when your grandchildren’s children ask about you, the answer will drip with honey. May they taste and see that the Lord is good."

We had 2 students on Sunday. We are continuing to think about how we need to structure our class to better meet the needs of this interesting group of people. Please pray for us to be open to trying whatever it takes to be there for these young people.

Since we're using material from Rob Bell, I've been doing a lot of thinking about him and what he believes. I went back to his book, Velvet Elvis, to rethink some things. I read several passages and came to the epilogue. Let me share it with you here. A little lengthy but worth reading.

"One summer when I was in high school, my family and I were on vacation and decided to visit a church in the town where we were staying. At the end of the service, the pastor asked if anybody wanted to become a Christian. He said that people could repeat a prayer after him and become a Christian, right there at that moment in their seats. He said that if people repeated this prayer after him, they could be sure that when they died, they would go to heaven and not hell. He then asked everybody to bow their heads and close their eyes, and he said the prayer, leaving space after each sentence for those who wanted to repeat the prayer after him. When he finished, he told everybody to keep their eyes closed and heads bowed. He then asked for the people who had prayed the prayer to raise their hands wherever they were seated. This way he would know who they were so he could pray for them. He said that nobody but him would be looking.

"The pastor then said, 'I see that hand over there. Thank you. I see a hand in the back. I see some young women in the front...' And he proceeded to acknowledge the hands that were going up all around the room.

"During this entire time I had kept my eyes open and was watching the whole thing.

"I didn't see any hands go up.

"Several years ago my dad reminded me of that day. He told me he had his eyes open the whole time as well--only he was not watching for hands. He was watching me. He said that when he realized what was going on and that I was observing it all, he had this sick feeling that I would walk away from God and the church and faith forever. He said he kept thinking, I've lost Rob. I've lost Rob...

"I am like you. I have seen plenty done in the name of God that I'm sure God doesn't want anything to do with. I have lots of reasons for bailing on the whole thing.

"I am also like you because I have a choice. To become bitter, cynical, jaded, and hard. Anybody can do that. A lot have. Hatred is a powerful, unifying force. And there is a lot to be repulsed by.

"Or, like you, I can choose to reclaim my innocence. We can choose to reclaim our innocence together. We can insist that hope is real and that a group of people who love God and others really can change the world. We can reclaim our idealism and our belief and our confidence in the big ideas that stir us deep in our bones. We can commit all the more to being the kinds of people who are learning how to do what Jesus teaches us.

"I am not going to stop dreaming of a new kind of faith for the millions of us who need it. I am not going to stop dreaming of new kinds of communities that put the love of God and the brilliance of Jesus on display in honest, compelling ways. I am not going to stop dreaming of new ways to live lives of faith and creativity and meaning and significance.

"But I can't do it alone. I need you. We need you. We need you to rediscover wonder and awe. We need you to believe that it is really possible. We need you to join us.

"It's better that way. It's what Jesus had in mind."

Name

We had five students in class on Sunday.  One new student.  It was good to see all of them.  I continue to hope and pray that what we do and say is relevant to them.  

We showed the Rob Bell DVD called Name.  It was so good.  It talks about all the names and identities we go by in our life, but then it asks us to strip them all away and look at who we really are.  We are a unique creation of God, and our story, our history, is God's plan for making us who He intended us to be in Him.

So we are beginning to take a look at our story.  We want to recognize that God has been there all along, since before we were born, shaping our lives through people and circumstances and His word.  We are asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate our story by helping us to know and remember important factors in our spiritual development (John 14:26).  I told them it was like asking an artist or a musician to explain the inspiration behind a painting or song.  When you hear the story behind the piece, it takes on a whole new meaning to you.  That's what I want for their stories...greater understanding, illumination.

We're starting with their birth.  I asked them to find out circumstances surrounding their birth.  They might not realize what a miracle they are.  I told them about Kathryn's birth.  I had already had a miscarriage before I got pregnant with Kathryn.  And then early on I had trouble in the pregnancy and had to go to bed for some weeks.  I was worried that I might not be able to teach school when it started and we needed the money.  It was an anxious time, but God carried me through and Kathryn was born after a full term pregnancy.  I thought not too long ago about those days and how much I would have missed if I had not known Kathryn.  Though I don't dwell on it often I also thought about the two babies I lost.  What did I miss in not knowing them?  And I am thankful for the assurance that I will know them someday.  What an amazing thought!

Can't wait to see what they find out about their stories!  God is doing great things in our lives, and we need to acknowledge Him and give Him glory!

 

Anticipation

I've been getting ready for Sunday School tomorrow. I ordered the new material from Rob Bell and watched the DVD today. It is amazing. So thought provoking.

Will and Phil watched it with me tonight. Will said it gave him chills. Phil liked it too. Looking forward to what God is doing. More later.

Questions, questions, questions

I didn't post about this past Sunday's class because I've been dealing with lots of questions.  We had four students.  Wow, do I appreciate these four coming out!  When we got home Phil said, "We've got to come up with a better plan for our class.  What we're doing is not going to keep them interested for long." (or something to that affect).  So all week I've been thinking about that very thing.  How do we do a better job engaging these young people at such an important time in their life and really challenge them to think about what they believe and what their faith is supposed to look like in their everyday life?

We have to start with some different materials.  We've decided to try some of Rob Bell's Nooma films.  They are so well done and have discussion guides to go with them.  So maybe by the time October rolls around we'll be ready with that.  I am excited to give it a try.

See a sample by going to youtube and looking at the Nooma trailers.  We are beginning with the one called Name.  For some reason I could not get it to post here or on Facebook.

Last week our lesson was about difficulties we may face in following Christ.  One of these is rejection.  I know this is something that is always in my mind when I am talking to people.  Phil told about his experience.  As a teenager he spent some summers in Canada working at Camp of the Woods.  Once he and others went into town to witness to locals.  He met an indian coming out of a bar.  When Phil tried to talk to him, the man took the Bible out of Phil's hands, tore out some of the pages and threw it on the ground.  Now that's rejection!  Most of us never face anything like that, but God certainly doesn't want us to be quiet because we fear rejection.

Today I went to see an acquaintance who is very ill.  I don't know this family very well, so I didn't know what I should or shouldn't say.  That fear of rejection was very much on my mind. My fear was that if I brought up Jesus, the reaction might be anger that He had allowed this to happen.  I could totally understand those feelings.  So I was praying that the Spirit would lead me to say what was right...  Mostly I just listened. And I did tell them I was praying for them.  But was it enough?  I don't know.  I am planning on staying in touch.  This is a very sweet family that is in a very difficult situation.

Rejection is a powerful force.  It caused people in Jesus' hometown to miss out on blessings from His healing and teaching.  I want to have more of what Peter and John had..."fearless confidence."  But I have a long way to go in this department.

He confronted the religious

The third group of people Jesus came in contact with in Mark 2 were the religious. They were upset, as usual, because Jesus was doing things on the Sabbath that they thought were against the Law. I've often thought how great it would have been to live when Jesus was around and to have met Him. But lately I've been thinking that I might have been one of those religious people who thought Jesus was wrong. I can imagine myself saying,"He can't be the Messiah. The Messiah would not be breaking the Law." I admit it. I'm a goody-goody. I like following the rules, and I like it when other people do too. I'm guessing it's a teacher thing.

Of course, Jesus taught a new way to think. The Law is a good thing, a good tool. It was designed to give us a good life. The Sabbath was intended to be a blessing and give us rest. But if we let the Law, it will bind us, strangle us. And God didn't intend that.

Which is why Jesus was always so very upset and angry with the religious leaders of the time. They didn't get it.

I don't want to be like them. I'm thankful God continues to work on me. To change my thinking. To make me see that I need to be more loving and less judging. More flexible and less rigid.

He hung out with sinners

Yesterday I said that in Mark 2 there were three groups of people that Jesus related to. The first were those who were hurt and in need of healing. The second were sinners. Jesus hung out with tax collectors, prostitutes, and many other disreputable characters. He never shied away from people who wanted to be around Him.

My friend Bren summed up the principle here so well. "We are not to isolate ourselves from sinners, but we are not to adopt their lifestyle for our own." This is true, but it doesn't help with some of the decisions we make in this area. For instance, there is the whole area of Christian education. Some people choose Christian schools for their kids, others home-school and still others send their kids to public schools. Of course there is nothing wrong with any of those choices. We have to evaluate ourselves and our children and know them well enough to decide where they are able to be with others and yet not adopt a lifestyle that we know is contrary to God's Word. And that's different for everybody.

One of the choices I've made in the last few years is to cultivate some relationships with people who go to different types of churches, or who don't go to church at all. It is very easy to insulate myself and only have relationships with other Christians. By stepping out, I have been enriched by those friendships, and those friends continue to challenge me by asking me questions and making me define what I believe for them. The people I reached out to were people that I liked and "clicked" with, people who I enjoyed getting to know. But it takes time and committment, especially when they are outside your normal sphere of interactions.

The people Jesus knows

Even though we had but one student in class today, the lesson was very good and blessed my heart and mind.

The question we addressed was, "How did Jesus relate to the people He met?" In Mark 2, He showed how He related to three groups of people. The first one was those who are hurt and need healing. The story is one of the most familiar in the Gospels: the four friends carry the paralytic man to Jesus and have to let him down through the roof. Even though I have heard this story and told it over and over, I wondered about things we are not told. Whose idea was it to go to Jesus, the man or one of the friends? How hard was it to persuade the others to participate with them? Whoever's idea it was to go to Jesus, it was the faith of the four friends that lead them to persevere the many obstacles they faced once they got to the house where Jesus was. They could have told the man, "Hey, we're sorry, but this is as far as we can go. There's no way we can get past this crowd." The man himself was at their mercy.

Now think about these men faced with this great obstacle. They could have given up but instead they became creative. Hebrews 10:24 (The Message) says "Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out..." They had to press through the crowd to climb to the roof. Were there stairs? If not, I'd say there would be quite a few people who would think that carrying this man to the roof would not be a good idea. And then they had to wreck the roof. Who's going to pay for that? The man's faith might have gotten his friends to bring him, but it was their faith that overcame the obstacles. They were willing to face the crowd, endure criticism, and pay for the roof. That's why it says in verse 5 (The Message), Jesus was "impressed by their bold belief..." Wow! What would it be like to impress Jesus?

What are the implications of this story for you and me? I think about how little an obstacle it takes to deter me. I could have easily quit when I saw the impossibility of going any further. But I don't want to be that way; I don't want to give up easily. I just watched the movie, "Gran Torino," with Clint Eastwood. I can't recommend it because it has way too much profanity. I hate that. But there is a priest in the movie who tries to make friends with Clint's acerbic character. Now the first time Clint talked to me the way he talked to that priest, I would have been done. But this priest kept coming back and coming back. And in the end, he won Clint's respect and confidence. It was a good lesson for me to watch.

I hope that the next time I share my faith or try to meet another's need, I remember this lesson and press on. I want to be creative and inventive in looking at the situation. And I want to have the "impressed-with-their-bold-belief" kind of faith.

Our First Class

       Phil & I had our first class today.  We had 4 students.  We were so glad to see all of them.  God was gracious in sending them to us.  

        We jumped into the lesson which asked, "Who is the Real Jesus?"  We talked about how Jesus is the unique Son of God.  Jesus believed that about Himself and those around Him came to believe it too.  I think it's really important for young people to start understanding why we believe what we believe.  I know that when they go out into the world they will be faced with people who don't believe, and they will need to be prepared for what others may say.  

Growing up and living in the South, knowing and accepting things from the Bible is pretty natural.  We live in the Bible Belt, and it is part of our culture.  When you leave the South, however, people question your beliefs and say that you believe these things solely because you have been raised in that culture.  The Southern culture is also stereotyped as being less educated than other sectors of our country.  Young people may not have been exposed to any well-educated people who believe what they believe, and that could be a stumbling block for them at times.  We discussed that there are many scholars from all across the country and world who have made it their life work to explain why the claims of Christ are trustworthy.  

Our church library has the book, The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel.  Lee was an atheist whose wife accepted Christ.  His job was being an investigative reporter, so he applied his work to his objections to the Christ and interviewed scholars about all the problems he saw with believing in the Bible and what it had to say about Christ.  His intent was to prove to his wife that Christianity was foolishness.  In the end, he came to accept Christ, and his finding are published in this book.  It is a great resource and an easy read for anyone who wants to really dig into the truth of our beliefs.

          We are off to a good start.  How can you go wrong when you begin by affirming that Jesus is who He says He is?  It can only get better from here.

          

Beginnings are exciting!

Tomorrow Phil and I will begin to teach the college/career class at church. I am excited, but also a little bit nervous. It is entirely possible that no one will show up for this class. I am prepared for this possibility and have prayed that God will bring out those who He plans to be there. So I'm finished with that concern. I am also extremely focused on a desire to make this class relevant to where these young people are in their lives. That's why I'm creating this blog. My intent is to make the lessons we discuss accessible to them wherever they are. It also allows them access when it is a good time for them to give their attention and concentration.

I called the blog "Drinking From the Well" because God has really been speaking to me about having a greater desire for His word. I want it in my own life. I also want it in the life of my church and its members. So I want to be thirsty for the knowledge found in the Word and going regularly to the only Well that can satisfy my thirst.

So here we go. We're launching out on a new adventure. I'm anxious to see what God has planned.