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Monthly Archives: January 2012
Jan 26, 2012    |       3 comments

Retweeting Jesus “RTJesusChrist #8”

Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.
Luke 23:34(NLT)

If Jesus would have used Twitter to send this message to His followers it would have had to have been delivered by the hands of someone else. Jesus was hanging on the cross when He “sent” this message. His hands were nailed down. He had just been severely beaten. He would have been deeply dehydrated. As I write out the remaining messages that were short enough for Jesus to have actually tweeted back in His day…the remaining “tweets” are all His final phrases before He dies on the cross. The next 7 “tweets” are going to be intense and serious. Each message that Jesus sends out from this point forward is a message He sends in the final moments of His life.

I like to say that when a person knows they are dying and they only have a few moments left…what they say is of vital importance for they only focus on the moment and what is deeply in their heart.

Jesus says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”

As this message is going out, think about what was happening all around Him. Soldiers are gambling for His One Piece Undergarment. Bystanders are yelling at Him, spitting at Him, mocking Him, rolling their eyes, thinking He deserves every bit of what is happening to Him. He is literally bleeding out. He has two men, one on each side yelling at Him. He is being used as a warning to all Jews in the area. The warning is this…”Don’t mess with the Religious Leaders and Don’t mess with the Roman Empire.” Position and Power are dangerous things in our world. Jesus defied them and it got Him killed. Oh, He knew it was going to kill Him and even though He didn’t like the fact He was to die…He knew what would happen in a few days.

Imagine you are alive and well in Jerusalem at this moment in time. You are one of His followers and you actually receive this message in the form of a tweet. After reading it, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing,” what would you think or do? I think I would instantly recall things I had spoken about Him behind His back. I would have flashes of unholy behavior from recent times in my life and then think about how He walked around and healed that blind man, and how that woman stopped bleeding when she touched Him, and how Lazarus came out of his own tomb after being dead for like four days, and remember how He walked on the Sea of Galilee. I would remember him putting his hand on my shoulder and encouraging me to believe in myself even when important people in my life mistreated me and kept putting me down. I would think about that day He prevented a sinful woman from being stoned to death and how He stared into the eyes of her accusers and got them all to drop their stones and walk away embarrassed by their judgmental demeanor, knowing that their hypocrisy had been exposed.

What a tweet.

Even though you and I are guilty of all sorts of sins, and those sins actually separated us from our God…Jesus’ moments on the cross and His final breath, His shed blood, His sacrifice, took all of God’s anger towards us and our sinful actions and washed it away with our sins.

When Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing,”

Mankind’s very worst collided with God’s very best!

When the collision took place in that moment of history…who was stronger? God’s Best or Man’s Worst? God’s Best or Your Worst?

NO COMPETITION!

God wins. Yet in a crazy kind of way in this competition, we won too! You win. You are forgiven.

What’s your very worst? Can it even compete with God’s power, and love, and patience, and kindness? No way! Once again, No competition!

So if you are allowing your crap and your filth of your past and yesterday’s stupidity to hold you back and make you feel worthless…STOP IT!

If God can forgive it/you, why can’t you?

Here’s the deal…What Jesus says…Happens! How do I know that? Because Jesus said in the Great Commission noted in Matthew 28, “I have been given ALL AUTHORITY in Heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

If Jesus has been given all authority and He says, “Father Forgive them.” Then its done.

Be Free…Be Forgiven. And since you have been forgiven so much….make it a priority to forgive those who have hurt you. It’s worth it. Forgive. If I can help you work through forgiveness, just ask. I’ll do my best.

I challenge you to memorize this passage…”If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness.” Thats 1 John 1:9.

Always remember that GOD LOVES YOU!
When He looks down upon you from Heaven, He smiles WAY more than He frowns.
Believe it. Live it. Share it.
Amen?

Jan 25, 2012    |      Comments Off on Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #7”

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #7”

Pray that you will not give in to temptation. –JC
Luke 22:40(NLT)

What do you do to prepare yourself so you won’t give in to temptation when it presents itself? Jesus says you should pray. Have you tried this? Let’s play this out in our heads. You get up in the morning and you get on your knees and you clasp your hands together in the way people who pray do and you close your eyes… You say, “Dear God, help me today to not give in to temptation…In Jesus name…Amen.” You get up off your knees and you are prepared to fight temptation all day long. Porn, Violence, Greed, Selfish Ambition, Gluttony, pride, gossip, etc.

It won’t work will it? Why? My opinion is that we have the concept of prayer all messed up. In our western culture we have sub-consciencely made convenient what Prayer is.

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17… “Pray continually.” Some translations say, “Pray without ceasing.”

How is this possible!? If prayer is something you clasp your hands and close your eyes to do in the morning…then you CANNOT do it without ceasing or continually! You would kill somebody while driving. You would drown while swimming because your hands would be together. You would trip over the curb on your way to the grocery store. You would be considered rude greeting someone because you couldn’t shake hands. All because you were “praying” without ceasing. Ridiculous…I know. Since I’m being cynical, I want to put a few other things that drives me crazy about what people think Prayer is. NOTICE…I said things that drive me crazy. I didn’t say they were wrong. So if I offend you, please lighten up and relax and try to chuckle because you know I’m right. LOL
Why is it that in Church services we have to start playing some soft music in the background when the preacher starts praying? Prayer is conversation right? (Can you imagine having a conversation with your kids teacher, but before you started to talk, a musician positions himself behind you and begins to strum his guitar or play his piano as you “converse” with the teacher?) Another thing that drives me crazy about people who pray. I could have a conversation with somebody all day long and they never use big demonstrative words in their chat with me. But then we close the day with prayer and they begin to use words that I need to get a dictionary to define. Another one is when, throughout the prayer, they continually use the word “Father/God” over and over interspersed through the “conversation.” Can you imagine the conversation with your own dad on the phone and you used his title over and over. “Hey dad…how are you dad…Father Dad…I so appreciate you dad. You are the greatest dad….and dad, thanks for the gift you gave me dad.” Maddening isn’t’ it? How about one more and then I’ll knock off the attitude. It drives me crazy when a preacher prays and they preach a mini sermon in the “prayer.” I mean come on…prayer is supposed to be talking to God, right? God knows everything about himself and He is the one who wrote the Scriptures, so why does a person praying “remind” God about who He is and what He wrote in the Scriptures. It would be like you talking to your Mailman (I know that title is not PC) and saying to him/her, “Hey Mailman…you are the great mailman, you open the mailboxes with such eloquence and you place the mail in the box with such expertise that I am so inspired. I want to have your skills mailman. And Mailman, your policy states that you must deliver the mail and not open any of it as the mailman, Oh great mailman. You are to drive carefully when you go from Mailbox to Mailbox. Thank you for being a great mailman, in the United States Post Office Name I pray…Amen.” Did I go overboard on that?

So…what is prayer…that when you do it…it helps you NOT give in to temptation?

Prayer is focus. Prayer is attention. Prayer is conversation. Prayer is communication.
Example?
If your desire is to honor and love your earthly dad so much that you want to not give in to the temptations that would upset your dad. Not offend him. Not hurt him. Not let him down. Then what you would need to do is continually stay in the presence of your dad. Keep talking to him. Take him with you when you drive and play and sing, and work and relax. Take your dad with you to the coffee shop, the school, the ball fields, the trips, the vacations and hotel stays and business meetings. Get it?

If you took your dad with you to every life thing you do and you knew he was always in your presence…wouldn’t it help you minute by minute to make good decision so as not to hurt your dad? If your dad was always with you and you “talked” with him throughout your day…how much easier would it be to NOT give into temptation and hurt your dad? Its more than just minute by minute being with you dad, you also take the time through out the day to have longer conversations with him where you spend time listening undistracted (Bible Reading) to him. You learn more about what he likes and dislikes. Those conversations are special and planned and put on the calendar. AND you take him with you everywhere you go. It would be harder and harder to fall into to temptation and offend him, wouldn’t it?
It would make all the difference.

Pray so that you will not give in to temptation.

Continually.

Jan 24, 2012    |       2 comments

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #6”

But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice. –JC Luke 11:28(NLT)

Did you know that the word “Obey” is not in the Old Testament? You might find the words Obedience, Obedient, and Obey in our English translations, but there is no word ‘Obey’ in the Hebrew Old Testament original language and writing. We just translated it that way. Okay…okay…for you doubters, go ahead and get your study tools out and test what I am saying. The Bible does say “Test everything!” Go ahead and then come back. I highly recommend that you use a Hebrew Interlinear to discover this truth for yourself.

Crazy to think that in the Old Testament times they never would have heard the word “Obey” from anyone, not even from God.

There is a philosophy that exists that says this…if you have to say it, then you probably aren’t really doing a good job of it. Perry Noble, Pastor of New Spring Church in NC said recently on his blog… www.perrynoble.com

“Does Martha Stewart have to declare she is a good cook?
Does Drew Brees have to declare that he is a good quarterback?
Does Taylor Swift have to declare that she can sing?
Does Lebron James have to declare he can dunk a basketball?
Does B.B. King have to declare that he can play the blues?
Does John Grisham have to declare that he can write fiction really well?

Perry makes a good point in those questions above. It is my opinion that If you, your church, or your business are constantly declaring that you ARE something then I think its fair to say that you might be trying to convince your self. The reality is this, you aren’t who you are because of what you are declaring, but rather because of what you are doing. Anyone can declare that they can do something or be something. Jesus says in Matthew 11:19 that, “wisdom is shown to be right by its results.” I would translate that, “Talk is Cheap,” or “Action speaks louder than words.”

Ask yourself, “Am I doing a lot of talking in an area of my life, but in reality I have no proof that I’m actually doing what I’m continually saying?” I would encourage you to ask the people around you if you are saying a lot of something, but not actually doing it. Or, if you have the capability to actually measure the facts as to your success of what you are saying, then do the study and get the facts. I was recently a part of a group that said over and over that they were actually doing something and they even said publicly that they did it better than most. So I took the time to actually measure whether or not they were actually doing what they were saying. When the facts and the proof statistics came back to me. It was clear that my group was just saying this as a marketing tool, but actually weren’t doing very good at it at all. Are there areas in your life that the same thing is happening in your case? Are you saying something…a lot…but you’re really not putting it into practice or showing any results proving it?

“But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

This tweet from Jesus was in response to a person that shouted at him from the crowd. The person who shouted said, “God Bless your mother, the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!” LOL. What a strange shout out. I have had many people shout some funny, cool, and even mean stuff from the crowd when I was preaching. But never anything like this one! Can you imagine? Jesus’ reply was simple. “But even more blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice!”

Practice Makes Permanent!

So back to my point…Instead of the word “OBEY” God had them use the word “LISTEN.” For the people of the Old Testament to “Hear” WAS to “Obey.” In the Hebrew culture, to hear the word of God or to listen to a person in authority automatically obligated you to do what the person of authority was saying.
TO HEAR was to OBEY. They didn’t have to use the word obey. If they heard it they were obligated to do it…thus their is no need for the word obey, because I think God knows that talk can be cheap. Hear = Do. It puts a new spin on the frequent phrase in the Old Testament, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is one!” Do you understand? There is a lot of meaning now in the phrase, “HEAR O Israel!”

We actually understand this in our Western Culture. If you are a parent and you tell your children to do something but they don’t actually do it. What do you typically say to them when you noticed they didn’t do what you asked of them? I’ll speak for myself here, but I actually say to my kids, “Why are you not LISTENING to me?” Or, “Did you not HEAR me?” I am guessing when I ask this of my kids they think to themselves… “I HEARD you, I just didn’t DO what you asked of me.” It’s rare to actually hear a parent ask of their kids. “Why didn’t you Obey me.” We usually ask, Why did you not listen to me?”

Knowing this…how might it change you? Do you understand now the importance of not just reading the Bible, but doing what we “hear” from it?

Jesus said some things about this…

“Why do you call me Lord, when you don’t do what I say?” Luke 6:46
“Not everyone who SAYS to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father.” Matthew 7:21
James writes, “Do not merely listen to the Word of God and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:19

All Jesus and other spiritual authorities are saying here is “Talk is Cheap.”

I know this, you know this, and so does everybody else.

“But even more blessed are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.”

Keep “Listening!”

Is your gut telling you something right now that you have been saying, but need to start doing.

Just Do It.

Jan 23, 2012    |      1 comment

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #5”

Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God. — JC Luke 9:62(NLT)

Have you ever been on a farm? Driven a tractor and plow? I grew up on a farm in Kansas. This passage has very little to do with farming. Jesus was a carpenter, not a plow farmer. I’m guessing that Jesus might have known that the man who made him give this answer was a plow farmer. Jesus was good at knowing who people were, what they were thinking and He always had answers that really caught His audience off guard. (He did have an advantage…He is the Creator or all things) The Bible says that God knows our thoughts before we even think them! That’s Jesus! Wouldn’t that be an incredible advantage in a Presidential Debate. To know your opponents thoughts before he/she even thinks them? How fun! If you can’t relate to being in a presidential debate….then….can you imagine the advantage you would have if you knew your spouses thoughts before they even thought them? Now that would be even better! LOL.

So what did Jesus mean as He tweeted this statement for all his followers to think about?

I could give the simple answers. Simple answers are still good answers. The simple answers would be about how Jesus had other references recorded in the Scriptures where He says, “Don’t build a house unless you’ve counted the cost as to whether or not you can afford it.” Or, “What King would go to war without first counting the cost to determine his chances of actually winning.” (Not exact quotes, but close enough for this purpose.) Those statements from Jesus could be compared to putting a hand on the plow and looking back or not looking back.

Is this what Jesus was referring to with this guy as he refers to plowing and looking back? I don’t think so.

I think Jesus is making a major statement here about WHO He is. In Jesus’ day, He had to argue/talk/teach/debate with so many people. Most of these people would have had a very strong knowledge of the Old Testament times and people. What I am saying in making this point is this….I think the guy whom Jesus encountered, that made Him tweet the statement that I write this blog about, would have known many of the stories in the Old Testament. There is a story recorded in 1 Kings19:19-21 that is about plowing. My version of the story goes like this…

Elijah was getting old and was needing to prepare to retire. If Elijah needed to retire soon then he needed to find the man who would replace Him. God had already chosen this person…his name is Elisha. Yes…EliJAH was to be replaced by EliSHA. According to the Bible story in 1 Kings Elijah finally comes across Elisha. Elisha is out Plowing in a field. Elijah takes off his coat and places it over the shoulders of Elisha. This is a sign to Elisha that Elijah wants him to be his attendant and future successor. This is an important thing! Elijah would have been well known. I suppose it would be like your favorite celebrity walking up to you and asking you to be his/her successor when they die. Pretty cool right?

Well…Elisha…accepts the offer…but says he wants to go home and say goodbye to his mother and father first. Elijah says, “go-ahead.” Elisha knew that Elijah was important, but other pressing things needed to be done first…Elijah wasn’t SO important that everything else needed to be left behind to follow him. Its saying that Elijah is important, but not THAT important. We don’t get much more of the story or how Elisha said goodbye to his parents. We do know that Elisha did replace Elijah when he left this earth.

What I’m trying to say in this blog is this. When Jesus told the guy, “Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God,” He was making a very strong point about Himself.

Everybody in Jesus’ day knew who Elijah was! He was the great one. Elijah is so famous because according to the Scriptures, Elijah never died. He was so pleasing to God that God just took Him from the earth. The Bible records the story of how this happened. Its full of what we would call Science Fiction today. Flaming Chariot coming out of the Heavens…Elijah jumping on and being taken to Heaven. It would make a cool movie. I suppose in today’s time all the Alien lovers would call it an “Alien Abduction.” But it was just God taking care of business! (You can read this full story in the book of 2 Kings Chapter 2 in the Bible)

Back to what I’m trying to make a point about. I think this Plow Farmer knew the story of Elijah and how important of a Bible Prophet he was. Elijah was a great-great man of God yet Elisha didn’t follow him immediately but first went home to do a few things. In the story of Elisha being asked to follow Elijah….Elisha commits to follow (Put his hand to the plow)….BUT first he went home to take care of a little other business.(Looked back)

So….I think when Jesus says…”Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven, He is saying…Elijah was great…but not so great that Elisha dropped everything….sacrificed everything….to follow him. Jesus was saying….Elijah was great….but I AM the Son of God, the Savior of the World, the forgiver of all sins, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the final authority and Judge, I AM THE PLOW! If you say you are going to follow me….then NO LOOKING BACK! Step up and let’s go…NOW…there is nobody greater to follow…there is nothing that even compares to how important I am that you should first take care of before following me.”

Get it?

Maybe this is a better way to explain it. By Elisha committing to follow Elijah, BUT first running home to tell mommy and daddy…He had a “BUT” Moment.

Are you doing this with Jesus?

Are you saying to Jesus, “Yes Jesus, I am giving my life to you….BUT…do I really have to change that much?” OR “Yes Jesus….BUT…do you really want me to forgive that person who hurt me?” OR “Yes Jesus….BUT…do you really want me to tithe?” OR “Yes Jesus…BUT…I don’t need to commit to a church family right?” OR “Yes Jesus I accept the forgiveness of my sins…BUT…I just can’t really stop gossiping.” OR “Yes Jesus, I want to read the Bible everyday…BUT…” “I want to give up Porn….BUT.” “I want to stop being prideful….BUT.” “I want to be a better ______________ for Jesus …BUT.”

Do you see what I’m trying to say?

I’m saying….DON”T BE A “BUT!”

Don’t say you are a follower of Jesus and then have all these “BUT” arguments. Christianity has too many “BUTs” in it already. What Jesus wants is a faithful follower of His ways at all costs! No looking back.

Are you really a follower of Jesus Christ?
What has changed in your life since you chose to “put your hand to the plow?”
Do you have any”Buts?” What are they?

Write the “Buts” down and begin kicking them!

Be aware of the very last part of Jesus’ tweet. Jesus says, “Not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

That’s Heaven. To not be fit for the Kingdom of God means that you do not go to Heaven and you do go to Hell.
We’re talking eternity here! Don’t mess with this stuff. Is your “But” really that important to you?

So I ask you now…. ‘What is it that you “Can’t” do or give up for Jesus Christ?

You and I know what Jesus did for us. He gave His whole life.

If you and I say, “I can’t.” It really means we don’t want to.
You can!
It will be worth it.
If you’ve put “your hand to the plow,”…then plow on!
There is nothing in your life worth “looking back” on…or going back to.
Plow on.

How can I help you?

Jan 22, 2012    |       2 comments

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #4”

My Mother and My Brothers are all those who hear God’s Word and obey it. JC Luke 8:21 (NLT)

This Tweet of Jesus plays out like a movie in my head. Jesus is inside a house and He is spending some time with a crowd of people. He has just recently set out, going from town to town, teaching, and healing, and building His influence. In this scene He’s in a house. The Bible said that His mother and brothers show up and want to talk to Him but they couldn’t get to Him because the crowd was so big. How cool would it have been to be in the crowd? Someone runs into the house and said to Jesus, or maybe they shouted it over the top of the crowd. “Hey Jesus….your mother and brothers are outside and they want to talk to you.” I imagine Jesus taking a seat for a second, the crowd is silent waiting to see what He is going to say or do. He grabs His mobile phone and hits His Twitter App and tweets out to His followers, “My mother and brothers are all those who hear God’s Word and obey it.” –JC All throughout the room everybody’s mobile phones start beeping the tone that lets them know a new message has just arrived into their inbox. The women in the room grab their purses and begin to dig through them looking for their phone. The guys do a quick self “pat-down” trying to remember what pocket they stashed their new iPhones in. The rustling ends and everybody’s faces are aglow in the candle lit room as they are reading their message from their phones. At nearly the exact same time as the whole crowd finishes reading this obscure tweet…you can hear the crowd in nearly unison say, “huh?” The guy in the back who doesn’t have the new 4G phone sounds like an echo as he says, “huh?” about 24 seconds later.

It would be a strange tweet to receive wouldn’t it?

I can’t imagine how confusing this must have been to the crowd listening. Even more…imagine what Mary, Jesus mom, and His brothers might have thought when they heard His reply. I think James, Jesus’ younger brother might have pulled Mary aside and whispered to her that he thinks his older brother might be doing drugs. Or maybe James would have said…”Mom, you can’t let Him keep getting away with that kind of attitude.”

To be honest…I’m not really sure what to blog about this comment. It seems pretty clear.

Jesus is simply saying…My family members obey the Word of God.

I want to be in Jesus family. I want to obey the Word of God. What should I obey?

I think Matthew 25 gives us a “final exam” glimpse at what Jesus “Family” does while on earth.

Things like clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, visit the prisoner, care for the sick, love and care for orphans and widows, do kind and loving things for society’s “least of these.” The Bible is also loaded with great things that Family members of Jesus should WANT to do.

Who are the “Least of These” in your circles of influence. In our world today our Circles of Influence have expanded. You and I can get on an airplane and arrive in the middle of Africa in very little time. The Word of God tells us to love our neighbors. We have world-wide neighbors and we have neighbors living under our own roof tops and next door.

To Obey The Word Of God…is to GO into all the world and love all people. Love is action.

Are you really a family member of Jesus?
What action will you do today or this week that shows you are a family member of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the final judge, the savior of the world, King of Kings, the Messiah, the doorway to Heaven?
Now that’s a family member anybody can be proud have!

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