There are some very strange stories in the Bible. The passage I have been reading lately is found in 1 Kings 21. This story has four main characters: (1) Naboth, (2) Ahab, (3) Jezebel, and (4) Elijah. At first glance, this seems like a ridiculous story, hardly worth mentioning in the Bible in the first place. What lies within it though are important keys to ministry. The story basically goes something like this:

King Ahab wants to take possession of a vegetable garden owned by a respectable Jewish man named Naboth. Ahab offers Naboth another vineyard for the garden or states that he will pay a great price for it. Naboth says, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” Naboth basically says, “I am not interested – thanks but no thanks.” King Ahab, being a “sore loser,” marches home, goes upstairs to his room, slams the door and pouts like a 2-year-old child. When his wife, Jezebel goes to see him, she opens the door and sees Ahab, the King of Jezreel crying. When she asks why he is acting this way, he tells her that Naboth wouldn’t give him his garden.

Jezebel, seeing that Ahab is in a vulnerable position, says that she will get the garden for the King. She then takes the King’s seal, writes several letters and states that Naboth should be stoned. When she receives a letter that Naboth has been stoned and is dead, she tells the King to go and get his land. With that, he goes and possesses the land that was owned by Naboth.

What is interesting to me is that Ahab was the King of Jezreel pouted like a baby when things did not go his way. He then allowed his wicked wife to take the reigns and ultimately kill a man who was only minding his own business in taking care of the land he was given to take care of. I wonder how many men allow their wives to take the reigns when it comes to situations like that. I am not in full-time ministry at this point of my life, but I am not surprised when I talk to some of my friends who are pastors, that there are men who allow their wives to dictate their thoughts when things are not going their way. They cannot take the role of leadership for themselves and speak boldly given any situation. I had a pastor friend tell me that there was a time when he was talking to some guy on the phone about a specific issue and he could actually hear the guy’s wife telling him what to say. My friend wanted so badly to tell the guy to put his wife on the phone since he was not able to stand up and speak bolding to him about whatever the issue was at the time. This is a big issue in our churches today. We have a lot of men who are afraid to speak. This definitely needs to change.

The other thought I have rests of the faith and obedience of Naboth. Naboth was only doing what was commanded of him in Leviticus to not sell his land to another tribe but to pass it on to his children as it was passed on to him. He worked hard to produce a great crop in that garden. As I sit and think about Naboth, Why did Naboth have to die? If he was being obedient to the Word of God, why did Naboth have to lose his life? Wasn’t God looking after Naboth? There are, in fact, many stories that seem to happen this way. As many may know, my friend Michael and his fiancée Trish was killed by a drunk driver almost seven years ago this upcoming July. Michael was a talented artist and a great friend. Trish was a young girl who had fallen in love with a godly man. Their plans included marriage, children, and the nice how with the picket fence and a dog. It seemed as though life had dealt them a great hand to play. Unfortunately, after worshipping God on a Wednesday night, they got in their car, began to make a left turn to go home, and were struck by a guy who had just been released from jail the day before for drinking. As I sit and ponder those events, which still run through my mind, I can only shake my head and wonder why God would allow two amazing people to go so soon. You see, ministry is hard, and confusing, and awkward, and strange, and hurts sometimes. It is not all “fun in the sun – life is good” stuff. There are great pains in ministry, which we all need to work through sometimes. And, though I do not have the answers I am looking for still, I know that God is faithful, He loves, and He is just. And, if that is all I knew about God, in this circumstance, that would be enough to place my trust in His hands. His perfect love and grace exceeds our own. That never makes ministry easy though. Naboth was a mere man who tended a garden near the palace of a King and honored God. In the mist of this story, he is now dead and King Ahab has taken possession of the garden Naboth owned.

It is then that we find out that God speaks to Elijah and tell him to go and talk to Ahab about this event. You can almost hear Elijah’s response as he hears the words of God. You see Elijah had been a true friend to King Ahab. He has given firm advice, helped Ahab win a few battles, and has never lied to him. For a period of almost ten years, Elijah has pleaded with Ahab to check his motives and to turn to God. For ten years Elijah has poured his life into Ahab. So, when Ahab sees Elijah, you would think his response would be positive. You would think his response would be something like, “Hey there, old friend. What are you doing in the neighborhood? Would you be interested in some cookies?” Unfortunately, we are told that the response of Ahab was not what we would have expected. Instead of saying several kind words to Elijah, Ahab says, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” What in the world is this about? One of the things I have been continually told concerning the ministry is that there will be people who love you and there will be people who hate you. No matter how much you invest in someone, his or her response could be something like Ahab’s response to Elijah. No matter what response we receive, we must still pursue the command and obedience of God. Elijah gave the Word of the Lord to Ahab and the word Elijah gave – that Ahab and his wife Jezebel would die – happened.

There are definite parts of ministry that are joyful and memorable. There are also parts of ministry that are difficult, hard, confusing, and hurtful, and just plain agonizing. No matter what the circumstance though, we must always be ready to give the Word of God boldly and without delay. God’s goodness and glory shows up when we are obedient to His calling for us. When we place our trust in God to lead us in the calling that He has for each one of us, we can be assured that He is with us. And, despite the lows of ministry, there are also many highs that we can and will experience when we listen and obey Christ and His Word.

According to Kiplinger’s Magazine, “Our country consumes almost one-forth of all oil produced, or 24.5 barrels per person annually.” If we were to compare that with other countries like China or India, we would notice a stunning difference. China consumes an average of 1.8 barrels of oil per person per year while India uses a single barrel of oil per person per year. What if these other countries began to demand more barrels of oil per person per year? What if the oil fields we have been drilling from cease to produce more oil? These are two questions we must seriously ask.

I bring this up because I believe we need to take a hard look at how much oil we use. I am not suggesting that we toss out our cars and walk everywhere (though we probably would not be as fat as we are today). What I am suggesting is that we need to be better stewards of the raw materials we have in order that we can use them more efficiently. I myself am a great consumer of gas. On average, I drive somewhere between 13,000 – 16,000 miles a year. When I have the opportunity to drive with other people, I usually would rather drive by myself. The more I think about that, I realize that I am wasting gas that can be saved by driving with other people. What if we all took the opportunities to drive with other people?  What if, instead of driving by ourselves all the time, we drove with other people? How much gas would we really save? What if we used other forms of transportation when and if we are able? What if we used the train or the bus to go places? What if we took the time to care about saving our gas by using different forms of getting from point ‘A” to point “B”? I wonder what that would look like.

In conclusion, I would just like to say that I am at the forefront of this challenge. I wish I had a quick-fix answer to our gas usage. And, even though we are taking steps to move away from the need of oil, we must look at our situation now. Do we really need to drive by ourselves? Can we use other modes of transportation like a bus, a motorcycle, or a train instead of using our cars all the time?  I did not get into the issue of the types of cars we drive here – but what if, instead of driving cars that only get 11 miles to the gallon, we choose to drive cars with better fuel emissions?  There are a lot of things we can do to make the issue of oil issues less of an issue. We need to think creatively about how we can save our gas - at least for now.

Matthew 6:24 states, “No one is able to be a slave to two lords. For he will either hate the one and the other one he will love or he will adhere to and the other one he will despise. You are not able to be a slave to God and mammon (property, possessions, the things that one owns).” As I have already mentioned Jesus leaves no room for a gray area. These are the words in which I am responsible to have translated and thought through with respects to what is meant and how we can apply these words fully and consistently with regards to the whole Word of God. No pressure at all.

The first word that we find in this passage is the word “no one.” It literally means “no one.” There is not a whole listing of possible interpretations for this word in which we can selectively choose from in order to press a different agenda or meaning with regards to the text. What this also means then is that this is all-inclusive. As Michael Jackson states in one of his songs, “It doesn’t matter if you are black or white.” It also doesn’t matter if you are poor or rich, young or old, male or female, Jew or Gentile. Everyone is on the same level as everyone. That might seem like a small note to mention but it is an important one to remember.

The next short phrase of this passage is “is able.” This word ultimately carries with its meaning a reference to “impossible” or “not strong enough.” What we can gather than from these first three words is that anyone who has a heartbeat and breaths air has a dilemma in which they are unable or not strong enough to do. This greatly contradicts what I have always believed since I was a young kid. I thought, and sometimes still think, that I am able to do everything and anything. As a maturing Christ, I am learning that there are many things I am unable to do though in my own strength and/or efforts. What Jesus is telling us here is that there is yet another thing in which we are unable to do something.

The phrase that follows states that no one is able “to be a slave to two masters.” The word, “slave” carries with its meaning a reference to being a bond slave. A bond slave is an individual who would make a decision to serve his master for the rest of his life. When an individual would make this decision, the master would take the individual to the side of a door post, stretch out his ear, and puncture a hole into the slave’s ear so that it would be known not only to the master and the slave, but to anyone that saw him, that he had made a decision to become a bond slave to his master. This is truly significant. Jesus is saying that it is impossible for anyone to be a bond slave to two masters or lords. When I visually think about the ramifications of what this would look like, I visualize a bond slave with two holes in the same ear right next to one another. No only would this be ridiculous but it would not be accepted. Any Jewish landowner would understand this statement and most likely, despite the messages Jesus usually taught to the crowds, probably stood and listened, nodding their heads in agreement. It wouldn’t be right on either account to accept a duel bond slave. One bond slave to one mater – there is no room for a gray area.

Jesus then uses descriptive words that enforce His previous statement. Love and hate do not need any explanation. Neither do the words “hold onto” or “despise.” Again, these are words any good Jewish landowner would have understood. This is not a rocket science experiment. This is a very simple and basic understanding in which everyone agreed.

It is the final statement of Jesus’ words I would like to reflect on more fully. Jesus states, “You are unable to be a slave to God and mammon.” We know who God is (at least we should). The Jewish people hearing this message certainly did as well. It is this strange word that we struggle with the most – mammon. In most Bibles, the word has been translated as “possessions, property, wealth, money, or belongings.” Though we are not 100 percent sure in what Jesus meant when using this term, we do now that it was contrary to God. Based on what we already know about this passage, no one can serve two masters. If mammon was or is a god of sorts, we have come to understand the implications of what this means more. I believe the reason why it is difficult to translate this word is because it means a lot more than we are willing to suggest. Many people would rather try and reduce its meaning in order to convey a certain thought or belief. To me, it seems pretty obvious that Jesus is saying, “You either serve God or you don’t serve God.” To put it another way, Jesus is basically saying, “You have two options: Serve God or serve yourself. This is what you must determine. Do you want to be a bond slave to God or not? Once I puncture your ear, you cannot change your mind. What is your choice?” This is also a possibility that there is a play on of words that are happening here. Mammon, in the Hebrew is very close to the word “amen.” There are a couple of places in the Old Testament in which God is call “The Great Amen.” This is quite unique in its design.

In conclusion, Jesus’ words are simple in its writing but hard in its application. Once an individual decides to become a bond slave they are marked forever. It is no different in God’s eyes in how we are to respond as bond slaves of Him. God is calling us to make a decision to be marked as an obedient response to His goodness. That challenges what we in America have been taught to believe and speak. Can we really “pledge allegiance to flag of the United States of America” even though we are bond slaves to God? How are we supposed to understand this? In short, we can never allow any situation or event or thing take the place of God. Abraham was called to sacrifice his son so that God could see that He was more important then Abraham’s son; The rich, young, ruler was called to give everything he had and follow Jesus. I don’t know what Jesus might be calling you to give up. My only question is: “What is it that takes the place of God? What is the mammon in your life? Once we honestly assess these things, we are called to give it up, place our ear on the doorpost and allow the master to puncture our ear with a nail. Once we are marked, we will never be the same. Others will see it and know that we are the bond slaves to God alone. One really can’t serve two Gods. Which God are you going to serve?

This Sunday, Gary taught on Acts 14:8-22.  In this story Paul heals a man and all the sudden people want to worship him. There are some who thought that he was a god along with Barnabas, his second-hand man. I don’t know what that would be like – to have people worship me. I think in today’s society, it would be hard not to take in the personal worship of other people. The more I think about it, each individual wants to be worshipped in some fashion. We are eager for others to worship us.

What is even funnier is that Paul and Barnabas went to this town to tell the people that they shouldn’t be worshipping the gods they worship. When Paul does that, they take Paul outside of the city and stone him until he is left for dead. One minute they are ready to worship Paul and the next they want to kill him. It almost seems like the Eagles fans. If the Eagles were to make a great play, the fans show their approval by cheering. If they mess up though, they are ready to throw beer bottles and batteries at them. They are extremely fickle.

When Paul was left for dead, it is believed that Paul went to the third heaven and saw the things of heaven in which no man could utter. I wonder what that would have been like. As Paul gets up and heals, he returns back to the town in which stoned him and continued to preach the Gospel once again. What I need to remember is that the Gospel extends beyond the pain and suffering we experience on a daily basis. The Gospel is a tough message for people to hear. That is important to constantly consider.

In conclusion, I am glad that we are going through Acts in our church. This is the third time in which I have gone through the book of Acts. Each time I study it, God shows me more about myself.  I am excited for our next service. God is so good. God bless.

I want to send a shout out to a young girl I have come to know through her Valedictorian speech, which was posted on YouTube. Being a Valedictorian is no easy task – I should know. I was not a Valedictorian in my class. Though I had done very well with respects to my grades, I had not achieved that goal. This girl had achieved this goal and was given a span of several minutes to give a speech to her graduating class.

What happens though is something I thought I would never see (though in some respects, I should not have been surprised). As she was giving her speech, as you will see in the video, she began to share what kind of impact knowing God has had on her life. As soon as she says, “God sent His Son…” the microphone is cut off and we are unable to hear the rest of her speech. The crowd becomes upset when a teacher or staff person tries to pass on to another qualified, achieving Valedictorian.

I know that people will continually attempt to shut us up when it comes to speaking the name of Jesus wherever we go. I know that people will hate our words and even hate us because we have reasoned within ourselves that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life for us to follow. I know that I should not be surprised that this young girl was shut off from sharing her expressed joy and hope for her graduating class, namely Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection from the dead. I know all this. But still, it bothers me. And, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, it should bother you too.

In closing, I would just like to say once again that I am thankful that this girl decided that she would stand for the truth. She stood for Jesus. No matter how she would be received by the crowd or the “highly educated,” she decided to speak some thought provoking words that will still continue to produce growth and fruit in others. The more I watch this video; my anger turns to love and happiness. I know 8,855 people + have watched this video. I know several hundred heard it and experienced it. It gives me hope that there are people who are walking with Christ because this girl – Brittany McComb – decided to live for Christ. For that, she deserves a shout out. Thanks Brittany for not stepping down and for speaking boldly about your faith in Christ. It is my hope and prayer that we could and would do the same, God help us.

I think I am going to start a group on facebook or something called, “B.A.” or “Blogs Anonymous. I definitely spend way too much time reading blogs on a variety of issues that span from life, religion, and other events and circumstances, I feel as though I might have to join a group and go through a 12-step program or something. In all serious though, reading other people’s thoughts about just about anything is really interesting to me. It seems to me, in many cases, that people are free to express their thoughts in ways in which they are unable to do any other way. I also think the freedom to say pretty much anything or question just about anything also has an appeal many people enjoy.

One of my favorite blogs is Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight. I am not sure how he has the time to write as much as he does but he always seems to challenge me in my thoughts. The other thing that is so unique about Scot’s blog is that so many people respond and write along with him (I, myself have had a good share of responses as well). Read today, Scot posed a question that I thought I would write about here. I hope that you all will respond to the question with your thoughts as well. The question is,

“When you read the Bible, let’s say for formation primarily, what difference does it make to you to ponder authorship or historical questions?”

I have never been asked this question before. It is a very honest and fitting question. I guess another way to ask this question could be something like, “Does our dependence on the Word of God depend on the authorship of each book of the Bible?” To answer this question with broad strokes of the paintbrush, I thought I would keep it to a couple of simple points:

First and foremost, the Bible only means something if we, as believers, decide that the Bible is not just another book to collect dust on our coffee tables. Rather, we must decide that it is God’s Holy Word to us that brings forth revelation from God, through His witnesses, to us in a written compilation of letters, poetry, history, and narrative. The Bible is so distinctive because it spans a timeline of a lot of important history and events. The authors of the Bible, who witnessed these things and felt it important to write them down for us, are said to be about 40 distinctive people who most likely did not know one another and lived over a span of 1600 years. This is very significant. This is the first point to consider when assessing the question we have been asked to answer.

The second point I would like to make is that the narrative of the Bible centers on the mission of God and ultimately the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The story of the Bible ultimately paints a portrait of God desiring to dwell with His creation. This is exemplified through Jesus, who was and is the Word that become flesh and dwelled among humanity. Through Jesus’ ministry and sacrifice, we can be reunited and reconciled to the Father once again. This is the hope in which the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation speaks of and is hard to miss.

In response to the authorship, there are greetings at the beginning of several books of the Bible that give the author’s name (Paul for instance tells us that he is the author of many of his missionary letters and not another person. In other books, we are told that someone else wrote down the words of the intended author. Jeremiah for example did not write his dissertation. Rather a scribe-friend of his wrote down the words he dictated. Finally, some of the books of the Bible leave us with no authorship (Hebrews for one). That should not discourage us from the validity of the Bible. What it should tell us is that the author of the books of the Bible are not as important as the words we are given to reflect on, meditate on, and obey. We cannot allow our relationship with God to be hindered by the lack of an author’s name. We do not need to worry about plagiarizing the Bible – all we have to do is write down the verse in which we are quoting.

Finally, in the cases in which we do have knowledge of the author’s names and an approximate date in which these letters were written, we are able to learn more about the culture in which these books were written. Since you and I (at least for the majority of people I know who read this blog), we are so far removed from the culture of the Bible (both in time, tradition, culture, language, and understanding).

So – to answer the question in one sentence, I would say that pondering the authorship or historical questions of the Bible are not wrong. It is important to be great students of the Word of God - to read great books, commentaries, dictionaries, and other materials and learn what we can with what we have been given. What is more important though: Christ, His Word, His love, and His people. As we do this, can be better stewards of our time and our energies.

Have you ever sung that song in Sunday school that goes like this, “Here is the Church, here is the steeple, open the doors and there’s all the people?”  I used to sing that song all the time.  We had the motions down perfectly and yet, as I grew older and began to understand a little more about our culture, I realized that perhaps there aren’t as many people as I thought there were in the Church.  In fact, studies and polls tell us that there has been a significant decline in most churches around the U.S. for some time now and it is projected to get a lot worse.

It blows my mind that Billy Graham has spoken to 200 + million people throughout his ministry thus far.  I believe God has brought him to this earth to preach the Gospel and has used him for many significant and important endeavors.  Where are the people though who came to know Christ through the ministry of Billy Graham?  Where are the 15,000 people who gave their life to Christ when I went to his meeting in 1991?  I don’t know – and apparently the Church doesn’t know either, which is a big problem.

With events like 9/11 and others, our churches experienced a huge increase of people who were searching for answers about life and death.  They were looking for comfort and for a place to find something real – both in a community and in God.  Where are they now?  Why have many of them fled the church?  Have they received the answers they are looking for or have they left in disappointment because the church, rather than using this opportunity to bless the unbelievers and wayward Christians to The Ultimate Healer, used that time instead to press their own agendas about financial giving and becoming members for their local community?  How many people are still walking around attempting to fill a void in their lives due to the confusion and complexity of life?

I don’t know how many lost people there are who have had their interaction with the Church in the past.  I wish I could throw out a conservative number of people who are desperate to hear good news and experience a hope they have never experienced before.  If I knew how many, I think I would somehow attempt to reach them all, if it were actually possible.

I write this small post to make an important statement:  We are the body of Christ – the Church.  And, in a lot of ways, we have failed to shine as a light to those who are searching for Jesus.  We have missed great opportunities to bless the world and those around us with the Truth of Jesus because we have inflicted our agendas instead of being who we are called to be.  We however are given grace by God to attempt once again to get it right.  And – to be extremely honest – we need to get it right.  We need to step into the body of Christ and love people and show them Jesus.  I hope my children will learn that simple song one day and it will be the truth.  I hope many people will be in the Church – the body of Christ.  It would stink if we had to change the words to, “Here is the Church, here is the steeple, open the door – where’s all the people?”

I am convinced that life is what we make of it.  Nothing happens solely on the basis of fate or even destiny but there has to be apart of life that is formed and shaped by what we bring to the table – even if it is not much.  I know I have said this before (at least ten times on this blog alone) but our stories and our relationship with God are two very important things we can bring to the table – they are two things that will ultimately shape who we are and what we are about while we are here on this earth.

This will be my final post for a while concerning the passage of John 14:6.  It is not due to a lack of information or a lack of thoughts – I have a lot of those.  For now, I have found that there is a lot of back tracking I need to do before I can move on and press forward with this journey.  I might be easy enough to say we can “just start off again from now” but there is something important about going back and reflecting on where one has been in order to understand perhaps where one might be going.  I don’t always understand why God does what He does but I know that I need to come to a place of reflection within myself before I can warrant any more time to this subject.

My final thoughts are simple but will take me down a road that I am not ready for, or at least, I don’t feel entitled to walk.  My first thought is that other people need to hear this message – Jesus is the journey.  No one should ever need to realize after 15 years of being a believer that Jesus is the journey – the way.  I am convinced that people need to hear the message of Jesus all over again.  I am also convinced that we need to learn how to read the Bible all over again as well.  We have a problem though with regards to reading the Bible that we need to deal with.

I think one of the biggest problems is the issue of isogesis.  Isogesis is a big word for “reading into the text” and it is a huge problem we have within the church.  This is a problem because the text is to read into us and change us for the better – we are not supposed into the text and change it – that is us playing God.  We need to continually reshape our thoughts and come to a place where God’s word reads us and shapes us into the type of people God desires to use.

How do we end our isogesis reading of the Bible?  I don’t know that we can fully end our selfish reading of the Word of God.  For the very beginning, Man (Adam and Eve) wanted to be like God and not much has changed since that time.  In fact, I believe in a lot of ways, the Church has lost its identity of being like God and falling into the sin of trying to be God to the local congregation.  There are though, some things we can do so that when we hear passages like John 14:6, we can use its powerful words to challenge believers in the way it was meant to challenge believers and provoke unbelievers to follow Christ instead of following themselves.

1.  Study the Word of God:  Not just study it as a student of the Word but place yourself into the stories of the Bible and ask/write questions in reaction to what Jesus says in the Word of God.  Ask yourself how do these Words of God challenge you to live as a believer of Jesus – a disciple of the way?

2.  Test the many voices that speak loudly:  There are a lot of voices telling us how the Church should act and how we should read the Bible.  The tools and tracts we are given are proof of an indoctrination of our minds and thoughts regarding the Word of God.  Within my personal life, John 14:6 would be a great example of this issue.

3.  Read books and commentaries you might not agree with:  One of the many “joys” I have is reading a lot of books.  Many of them are from people I do not agree with but have been proven to assist in my understanding of what I actually believe.  Their words have caused me to research once again the basics of their thoughts and determine their religious bend on a variety of thoughts and beliefs.

4.  Run away from the culture and do missionary work:  One of the biggest problems I have found within myself is that I am so consumed with in the culture of elitism that I need to run away from a culture that persists that it has all the answers and simple remove myself from it all and do work as a short-term missionary where I can live as Jesus lived and love people as Jesus loved.  The more I separate myself from a superior model of Christianity and simply do the work of Christ, perhaps I can allow the words of Christ to change me and not allow myself to change the Word of God.

I am convinced we need to rethink and relearn how to read the Bible all over again.  Once we are able to engage in the Word of God the way we were meant to, we can change a culture that is looking for truth in all the wrong places.  We can encourage people to follow the way(s) of Jesus and come to know the Father, through Jesus – the calling of a believer – and the heart of discipleship.  This should be our goal.  How we get there will be dependant on how we take the steps and allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  This is how we will know God’s will – His good, great, and perfect will.

Being in church this Sunday, I looked around and saw so many new faces.  It seems as though our church is growing both in people an in spiritual eagerness.  That is something to be really excited about.  Today Gary shared from Acts 12.  It is a short story but it has a lot of significance that is worth sharing about.  Here, we find Peter is imprisoned and an Angel came to him and set him free and helped him walk right out of prison.  What is funny is the reaction of the servant girl who worked at the house – she ran away and left Peter at the door when she realized he was there.

You know – prayer is a funny thing at times.  Sometimes, we can pray and God will answer our prayer right away.  Other times, it takes a lot longer.  No matter what the circumstance though, God answers prayers.  He is always there to listen.  I don’t think we allow that part of our lives to be as powerful as it should.  Prayer lifts our hearts to God and God holds our hearts in His hands and loves on us as we desperately come to him with a fervent and determined attitude and need.

I believe the one thing I received this Sunday that I need to continually think about is why we pray.  We do not pray to God in order to tell God our needs – He knows our needs even before we could ask Him.  I believe the purpose of prayer is more for us – to build our faith – and to believe that God will move in a powerful way.  In the end, we will know it is God and praise Him.   Amen.

I have been a Christian now for about 15 years.  I don’t say that to be prideful or arrogant.  Rather, I am saying that to make a very important statement about this passage that I have been studying now for almost two full days.  John 14: 1-7 has got me thinking once again about my walk with God.  What interests me this time around is the amount of time the disciples have been walking with Christ up until this point of the story.  For almost three years, these disciples have left everything behind to follow a Rabbi who said that these misfits could be like Him.  For three years, the disciples have seen Jesus in a variety of situations:  Healing people, loving people, serving people (even washing the disciple’s feet later on), and even how He leads as a Rabbi.  It is almost as though the most undeserving people on earth have been given a free ride in the most unbelievable training ever and they have come to this point in their training and forget the elementary information.  Jesus has called each one of them to follow Him.  Even despite someone like Judas was given a free access pass into this very exclusive crew of students.

As I said, I have been a Christian now for about 15 years.  I have at least eight Bibles (mostly different translations), Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, other religious and spiritual books on a variety of topics in which the Bible speaks of, and even possess a decent knowledge of the original language of the Greek in order to translate and understand a fuller picture of what Jesus and the rest are saying in the text.  Finally, I also have the ability to know the end of the story – we win and Christ reigns for eternity in a new heaven and a new earth with us being His co-heirs and co-kings and queens.

BUT:

I am no better off than these twelve disciples.  For 15 years, I have not attempted to understand this passage in any significant form or challenge the status quo of those who have taken a verse here and a verse there and compiled a list of verses to push and press an agenda without a care in the world to the context of the verse or to whom Jesus was speaking.  For 15 years, I have used this verse in a wrong way and feel as though perhaps I need to apologize to those in whom I have spouted this verse off to and yet have not done my part in researching why a tract or a “Christian book” would use this verse the way in which they do.

Here is what I have come to understand thus far concerning this text.  Jesus is the journey in which I am now on and have been on for almost 15 years and have not even understood what that means with regards to the way in which I live, in how I work, in how I build relationships, in how I worship, and even in how I read the Word of God respectively.  Each page of the Bible is there to help me understand how God calls me to follow and imitate Him as Lord and Savior.  Paul says we are to be Ambassadors for Christ.  What does that even mean though?  It means that we are to be representatives of Christ in the here and now and not just in the then and there.  With each step and each page of the Word of God, Jesus continues to push me forward and conform me more into His image and His likeness so that when the world sees me, they see a reflection of Jesus instead of looking at an average sinner.

Jesus did not speak these words to the unsaved but to His disciples.  They are words of encouragement to you and to me.  They are words, which we are given to press on and not give up living as Jesus called us to live.  Those who understood this ended up calling themselves, “Followers of the Way” and I have to ask myself if I can be included in that club or if I am worried more about how I am going to get there on my own behalf.

Jesus said He was going to go and do what He needed to do and then He is going to come back and bring us to Himself.  Meanwhile, we are to continue doing what Jesus has taught us to do – we are to continue in His way, with His truth, sharing His life with others.  We are not to sit around and pout.  We are to be actively engaged in what Jesus has called us to do right now – each day, every moment of every day.

When we look at these verses through these lenses, I am convinced that we need to somehow learn how to reread the Bible all over again.  I shared that with a woman today in the library after I had spent a good bit of time reading these verses over and over again and she just looked at me and said, “That seems so impossible.  How on earth can we learn to reread the Bible all over again after reading it the way we have read it for so long?  It would take such a long time.”  I took her response to heart and told her that I agreed that it would take a really long time to figure that out.  But for me, that is my goal.  I want to learn desperately how to reread the Bible afresh and put my feet into the sandals of the disciples as Jesus speaks.  I want to ask the questions the disciples would have asked.  I want to journey with Jesus and allow the dust from His feet to fall on me as we walk together.  I want to understand why it is so hard to believe in Jesus after seeing all the signs and miracles Jesus displayed while the disciples were present.  I would love to be present when Jesus transfigured Himself on the mountain – that must have been the most amazing sight.

In conclusion, I don’t think I could ever look at these verses the same way again.  I am certain that this message needs to be shared with others and cannot sit in the minds of man.  We need more pastors and teachers to learn how to reread their Bibles all over again and ask the questions the disciples would have asked.  Maybe asking these questions is something that will actually help the church grow rather than seeing the church decline.  Perhaps I am not seeing the fullness of the questions I should be asking, but I am nonetheless going to continue to ask.  I am learning and I praise God that I am finally understanding what it means to be a follower of the way.