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Posts tagged with: Jesus
Jan 19, 2012    |       3 comments

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #2”


RT@JesusChrist” #2
Matthew 13:33 (NIV)

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” 2

In the time of Moses when God commanded the Israelites to leave Egypt under the leadership of Moses, God commanded them to prepare bread for food on the long journey they were about to embark on. God told them not to use yeast in this bread because they wouldn’t have time for the bread to rise as they were going to have to leave Egypt in hurry.

Since that time, the Jewish people use unleavened bread in their times of worship and celebrations as a reminder of that great Exodus out of Egypt. Because God commanded the Israelites not to use Yeast in the bread’s preparation it became custom in the Jewish culture to refer to yeast as an example of evil and sin.

Jesus, in this tweet, turns the tables on the Jewish people. He is using yeast in a good way. Jesus was good at doing this kind of thing. He was good at catching the people’s attention when it came time for Him to teach. Many of the other teachings of Jesus recorded in the Bible demonstrate that Jesus had a knack for using the common to teach in an uncommon way. This uncommon form of teaching, done with his authority and cleverness, was part of the reason He had such large crowds pushing in to listen to Him teach. It also helped that He could raise the dead, heal the sick, blind, deaf, mute, etc. That will help draw in a crowd too! Too many people get upset at the mega churches for their marketing practices and they get blamed for being shallow because of the large crowds that they attract. I hope you and I are not that quick to judge because Jesus used marketing and drew in large crowds as well. Some might argue that Jesus’ miracles were out of His love for people, not marketing tactics. I would agree with them, but I can’t guarantee that it also wasn’t a marketing tactic of Jesus to help Him draw a crowd so He could teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. Don’t forget that Jesus is the one who commanded his followers to be “Sly as a snake and innocent as a dove.” Strategy and marketing are not sins, they are instruments of change.

So, as I am retweeting Jesus’ comments about the Kingdom of Heaven being like Yeast, I hope you are asking, “how is this relevant to you and me throughout today?” I think its good to understand Yeast first. Yeast is a living cell. It’s actually a Fungi. There are estimated to be potentially millions of different kinds of yeasts throughout the world. The experts say that we have only identified about 1% of all yeasts that exist. Yeast contributes to the creation of some of Jesus’ favorite things. Bread and Wine! Don’t forget that the religious wackos of Jesus’ time accused Jesus of being a Glutton and a Drunkard. We know that Jesus didn’t sin because we have the perfect Scriptures that verify this. But in Jesus’ time, the New Testament hadn’t been written and the Religious people of Jesus day who were very legalistic didn’t have the Bible to show them differently. They just saw Jesus hanging out with people who loved to party, drink, eat, etc.

Back to yeast. Yeast multiplies in different ways. One way is that it simply recreates itself. This process is called “budding.” It is like something we might see in an Alien movie today. All of a sudden there are two. If you can’t relate to Aliens, then how about Gremlins! Remember that movie? Don’t give them water or else. Yeast is like a Gremlin. Add a little water, flour and salt with some yeast and let the party begin. A little bit of yeast thrown into the mix and given a little time will cause the dough to expand and multiply way beyond the original mixture of dough.

So Yeast starts as just one. Give it the right stimuli and the next thing you know a bud develops off the single cell. Give it a little more time you have two. Give them a little time and the two will each have a bud develop. The next thing you know you have four. Give the four a little time and the four will develop a bud each. The next thing you know you have 8. 16. 32. 64. 128. 256. 512. 1,024, 2,048, 4,096, 8192, 16,384……!

You get the idea? In just 14 steps it went from 1 to 16,384 and it continues.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like Yeast! God the Father, started with one…John the Baptist. Then God grabs the hearts of Mary and Joseph. Next thing you know you’ve got a little “bud” growing inside of Mary. Now we have Jesus. Jesus decides to get some “buds.” Peter, James and John and then eventually 9 others that totaled 12. Next thing you know Jesus has started a Yeast-like movement. It multiplied so quickly and powerfully that even when Jesus was killed it was only days later when 3000 people were baptized. Talk about the ultimate “buddy system.” It all started with just one.

Today, it starts with you! You are but one. Yet, you are not alone. Jesus promised you that He would never leave you. He tells you that nothing can separate you from His love. This world changer named Jesus, actually lives in you…if you’ve given your life to Him. Just like Twitter. Have you chosen to be a “follower” of Jesus? If you don’t know how…just let me know on this blog page. There’s nothing to be afraid of or embarrassed about. I’d love to answer your questions about it all.

If you are a follower of Jesus, then its time to get your bud.

If you think about it, You are probably a follower of Jesus today because of a “bud.”

Someone invested in you. I haven’t met anyone yet who is a follower of Jesus Christ who did it all by themselves. Somebody made you their bud. What an honor for you to know that somebody made you their bud. They cared about you. If you are like me…then at one point in your life you were a real pain in the butt. Yet he made me his bud. The guy that got me is named Kevin. He made me his bud. Kevin brought me a little Heaven right here on earth. Who made you their bud?

So, here’s the deal. I don’t know if you remember the Lord’s prayer right now or not…but in that prayer Jesus prayed to His Father in Heaven… “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven…”

“”The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like YEAST that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

You are that yeast. Don’t be one that ends the multiplication with you. Do you have a bud? Who do you already know right now that is not in the Kingdom of Heaven yet? Do you care about them? Do you want them to know Jesus Christ like you do? Do you want them to taste forgiveness, and joy and purpose?

Then get your yeast on and start being their bud. Don’t try to change them…thats God’s job. Just be their bud. Listen to them. Be the friend to them that you would like to have for yourself. You know what to do. You just have to make the decision to do it. Be a bud.

Be the Kingdom of Heaven. People will notice.

Who’s your bud?

Jan 18, 2012    |      1 comment

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #1”

Quick Intro to this project.

I am presently sorting it out, but it seems that there are 14 truly self-standing complete sentences that Jesus said in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that are no more than 140 spaces…And not connected to any other statements He made. These are true Twitter-Like Phrases. Only 14 in the whole Bible. What does this mean? It means that if Twitter would have existed I’d like to think that Jesus would have tweeted these out for his followers to read. Some are deeply serious and some are a bit obscure. I hope you will read one a day with me as we retweet Jesus. This is not a theological thing…this is a devotion thing. When this is all said and done and you find a 140 space sentence that is completely self standing that I have missed…meaning not a part of another statement or paragraph that Jesus spoke then let me know. I’ll retweet it into this material and give you credit for the “find!” BTW…I’ll be using different Bible translations and I’ll pick the one I feel is easiest to understand. Also, I’d like to think this blog platform for this retweet Jesus project is the precursor to a pretty cool book for people to use to inspire them to focus more on Jesus’ way.


RT@JesusChrist” #1
Matthew 7:12 (NLT)

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” JC 9

Oh, what an easy thing to say, and seemingly impossible to follow through with. I don’t even think that Jesus had an easy time with this tweet. Think about it…there were times when Jesus called people(pharisees) names. i.e. “Sons of Vipers, brood of snakes, white washed tombs.” Another time He used a whip that He hand made and used to whip people out of the temple. He must have been okay with others doing the same to Him or He would not have done these to others. Strange to think about that. He was called names and also whipped. This makes me think about what Jesus said to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Peter…put your sword away…Those who use the sword will die by the sword.”

Do to others what you would like them to do to you.

I wonder if Jesus were living in this day and age of suicide bombers and self-mutilators if He might have worded this tweet a bit different? Because, after all, a Suicide Bomber that kills 40 innocent men, women and children actually did to others what he did to himself. A terrorist that did this brutal act of horror actually followed what we call the Golden Rule. Make sense?

Now as to whether or not Jesus would say it differently today…I don’t want to open the door of someone thinking that I think Jesus made a mistake here. That’s not my point. I am thinking that maybe Jesus…if He were living in today’s culture wouldn’t use the Golden Rule, as tweeted above, as much as He might have used what I would call “The Platinum” rule. I think the Platinum Rule, if spoken by Jesus, would read “Do to others what I have done and will do for you.”

Out of the mouth of Jesus that is a game changer. The Platinum rule seems to squelch all possible neglect and abuse from the speaker of the rule. For today, we would have to quote the Platinum Rule this way. “Do to others what Jesus did for you.”

The Platinum Rule makes the following comment from Jesus pop! “There is no greater love than this…He who lays down his life for another.” He commands us to give, share, reward, encourage, hold accountable, even die for each other. These would be things that Jesus did for all of us. These are things that fit the Golden Rule also. Do to others as you would have done to yourself.

If Jesus actually tweeted this to you today. “Do to others what you would like others to do to you.” And you knew it was directly from Jesus…how would you live your life today? Think about the free gifts that Jesus gave you. Hope, Joy, Forgiveness, Purpose, etc. Would you give these to others today? And then tomorrow as well? And then….

Spend a few moments and meditate on that. Think about what you should do today in regards to the Golden Rule.
Think about your day and what’s coming. Who do you know that you will encounter today? Make a decision right now to treat them like you would like to be treated. Be prepared. Don’t be caught off guard.

I hope as you live your day that you will dwell on this Golden Tweet. Do to others what you would like done to you. If that passage makes you feel guilty about selfish decisions in your past…ask God for forgiveness and the person you offended and then take care of today. Don’t let the past distract you from what you can do right now. Right now is more important. Today is more important than your past.

Its crazy to think that the Golden Rule sums up the Law and Prophets as the Tweet says. The law and prophets include way too many things to actually remember. 613 Old Laws from the Old Testament and then all the things the prophets said. Jesus gives us the cliffsnotes to the Law and Prophets! I like how Jesus thinks. “Do to others what I would like to have done to me.” Jesus had a way about Him in keeping things simple.

So, be like Jesus and keep it simple. When we start treating others the way we DON’T want to be treated…things get complicated.
So focus on this tweet today. “Do to others what you would like to have done to you.”

It will impact and change how you live each moment. How incredible would it be if you could remember this tweet all day every minute?

Practice makes permanent.
tr

Jan 18, 2012    |      Comments Off on GENERATION NEXT… The Crossroads

GENERATION NEXT… The Crossroads


What are you a leader of? You lead something.
I have found myself preparing to lead again. The time is close. I’m excited. I’ve had some extended time off from vocational ministry and have had a lot of time to think, read and study. I have enjoyed it. I have learned immensely about the next generation and have been able to compare them to the current old school generation. Here’s some thoughts about what I’ve learned in the last year.

The next generation(Millennials aged 11-33) naturally have a knack for leading like Jesus…they just don’t know that’s what its called! They don’t do this deliberately, they actually do it instinctively.

We are at a crossroads that America has never experienced before in her culture. From this point in American History there has been nothing but building from an Agrarian type culture to an Industrial assembly line culture where bigger and more is always better. This has happened even within the church. The next generation has realized that bigger and more isn’t always better. The Millennials don’t know what the Industrial Revolution is. They have been raised in the “Service Industry” where customer service is king. There is a movement towards personal service and small. Nobody wants a great big cell phone. A great big flash drive.” A great big iPad. A great big corporation. I’m not saying any of those are wrong…I’m just saying….they are “out.” I won’t go so far as to say that small is the new big. I used to incorrectly believe that “Small is the new big.” But through the school of hard knocks I learned differently. This really isn’t about Big vs. Small.

Q: So what is the new big? A: The natural tendency of the Millennials.

The New Big is to be able to work using your ability/strength and be appreciated for it by the people you surround yourself with…especially your supervisor/boss.

The New Big will be led by the Leader in your organization who knows your gifts and strengths and gives you the freedom to use them effectively towards the goals and values of the organization.

The New Big has a Leader in the organization that knows your best work mode hours and lets you use those hours to be effective for the organization, be it morning, noon or night. (It no longer is about 8:30 to 5)

The New Big is led by the Leader in your organization who knows how you do your best work for the organization and they free you to pursue the organizational goal in the way you are bent to achieve it.

The New Big is led by the Leader in your organization who knows you have a group that you relate really well with and he/she will give you the freedom to accomplish your goals for the organization using the people you choose to accomplish the goal with.

The Next Great Leaders know the Next Generation is inspired by a leader who will generate a list of things to be achieved for the success of the company and then give his/her staff the ability to choose what they want to tackle and pursue. Can you see the energy of this system? The group excitement?

The Next Big Leader that leads like this…is a leader that is like Jesus. The Leader that leads like this will take his/her company into the future successfully and with significance and joy.

A new generation of young people is rising up. They have a lot of friends and would do anything for those friends. They want to work through motivation and not get so caught up in compensation. They want to work for significance and they aren’t that concerned about the comparisons and competition. They want to live a life of peace and camaraderie and they want to do a lot of good for our world.

Some companies that have already grasped these facts are proving very successful. Some examples are…

Zappos
Apple
Rock Harbor Church
Facebook
Venture Church
Southwest
Northpoint Church
Google
Life Church
Virgin
Twitter
YouTube
Tom’s

The list is actually extensive.

We are at a Crossroads…in our American Society.
Here’s the great news…
The Millennial Generation has unbelievable potential. They are deeply technologically savvy. They want to live for significance. They are highly relational. I’m sure there is some maturing yet to be done in this generation before their true colors shine. But don’t we all still have some maturing to do.

The future looks bright!
tr

Jan 10, 2012    |      Comments Off on What Lies Beneath?

What Lies Beneath?

Do you remember the movie “What Lies Beneath” with Harrison Ford? Scary! Every one of us have something that lies beneath our surface. It is so important to understand what it is in your own life that motivates you. These things lying under our surface are our ultimate motivators. There are so many metaphors I could use. (Getting under the hood, the gas in your tank, what floats your boat) If you can think of others post them in the reply section!

I wrote out a quote several years ago. The quote is inspired by many different people that have impacted my life, for good and bad, and caused me to think deeper than just the obvious surface level.

The quote; “My dreams and goals are only the surface level of my deeper heart’s desire. I may find tragedy in the pursuit of my dreams or goals because that is how God gets us to submit to Him and allows us to expose the real motivations of our hearts desire.”

Think with me here for a minute. If you are a parent and you know what your teenage son’s grandest dream is…would you be doing anything good for your son if you just granted the dream for your child. No effort, no practice, no sweat equity. Just gave them the dream. You and I both know that it wouldn’t be good if we did. I suppose we can see it in the professional sports world. How many 20 something athletes do we see flounder when they were given a multi-million dollar contract?

I have personally seen it in “Church-World.” I have caused it in church world. I have personally given too much “power” to people because I hired them to be on my church staff when previously they had really done very little before. I can personally vouch that every time I did this…it backfired on me and them and the church.

Greatness is better earned.
Influence is better earned.
Wealth is better earned.

I’m getting off track here…To get to the point on this…I think we have to get back to the question of “WHY” is it you want what you want? WHY?

Why do you want to lose weight?
Why do you want to be the boss of your company?
Why won’t you ask for help in accomplishing that goal?
Why won’t you delegate some of your work?
Why won’t you give?
Why do you want to win first place in that competition?
Why do you want to use surgery to change your body?
Why do you want to speak badly about that person?
Why do you want to gain more friends this year?
Why do you want that tattoo?
Why do you want a different spouse?
Why do you want that house/car/motorcycle/etc?
Why?
It is the magic question.
Get to the magic answer…come to grips with it….then I think you will see God begin to help you achieve your desires.

God does want you to live a full life. God does want you to enjoy life. God can give you more than than you ever dreamed of.

God is waiting on you to be truthful with yourself as to WHY you want what you want.
I wonder how many people think that they are waiting on God for things to happen….when in reality….God is waiting on them to deal with what lies beneath.

What is your new goal?
Why?

Nov 21, 2011    |      Comments Off on Just another day? Really?

Just another day? Really?


This photo is riveting to me. Haunting. It evokes powerful emotions in me. It creates a squeeze inside of me that could only come from the part of my body that is called soul.

I am just one week from my return from Uganda Africa where I met thousands of people just like the child in this picture.

Every time I see this picture I swear I hear God saying to me all kinds of things. Here are a few things that I think God has spoken to me in the multiple times I have viewed this picture; “This world is not about you and your plans.” “You are back home with everything you need, she is still there praying for many things to happen in her life.” “She just wants to crawl up in your lap and be held.” “Its not stuff she wants…she wants to know if she matters.” “She is wondering if she’ll be thought about again.” “She is wondering if you’ll ever come back to see her again.” “I’m not the answer to her prayers, you are.”

So here’s my questions for you and me today…
“Can you lay your life down, so a stranger can live?”
“Can you take want you need and take less than you give?”

Here’s the deal with this little girl in Uganda Africa and the millions of other children around the world in circumstances like hers.

She didn’t choose to be born where she was born. You didn’t choose to be born where you were born. I sometimes wonder if I got the lucky sided flip of the coin that allowed me to be born in a place with ample food, clean water, education and conveniences; “Heads!” And the young girl,in the picture, got the unlucky side as the coin spun on the floor and came to its final rest. “Tails!”

The fact is that I know better. There is no coin toss in matters such as these. God chose me to be born where I was born and to have the things that I have. It doesn’t make me better or you better. It actually puts more pressure on you and me. “To whom much is given, much is required.” I will be held more accountable because of the material I’ve been given and will have to give an account for how I used God’s material that He loaned to me. Will I have used it all on my self? Will I take what I need and take less than I give?

During my life, I suppose that I want to give as much as this little girl gives. When I showed up, she smiled and waved and crawled up into my lap and gave of her love and friendship and affection, her trust. She gave me everything she had. It was a gift for Kings. I felt like a king in her presence. Accepting the presents of her self.

So…now…I’m back home. Her wave goodbye haunts me. I don’t know how you will respond and how you will give and what “sacrifices” you will make to contribute back to the life of this little girl and the millions like her that weren’t born here. All I can do is speak for myself.

I, until God makes it clear to stop, will spend the rest of my life being an advocate for these little ones and big ones who are just like this little girl. I will be asking for your help. Your gift. Your time. Your service. I will ask you to never stop thinking about these. The people Jesus calls, “the least of these.” The people that Jesus says if we invest in their lives we are actually and personally investing in Jesus’ life. “That which you do for the least of these, you do unto me.”

She’s waving at you. You hold the choice to make that wave a wave of Hello or Goodbye.
Stay tuned.
I will ask you someday to respond to the wave of this child. Respond with your money, your time, your talents, your prayers and your heart.

Trent

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