Pacifist…or Sissy?

I have never considered myself a pacifist. I grew up in the 80s and 90s playing with toy guns and video games, watching the “heroes” in movies take out the bad guys…and like any boy in his right mind I wanted to be a “hero,” too.

But, lately I have been seriously reconsidering my boyhood position.

Stop Going to Church

No, that is not a typo. I mean every word of it. And, yes, I am still a preacher.

There are some mind-sets that we have simply because they are repeated over and over and are never questioned. I like chili, and I love chocolate, but I am not about to mix the two. I have never tried them together before, but I have a long-standing, unchallenged belief that it would be disgusting.

Going to church is a lot like chili and chocolate

Sideshow God

Have you ever thought about what it would feel like to be the Bearded Lady, or the Goat Boy? What would it be like for people to gawk at you and stare because you are to them a spectacle, and no more? To be valued based on your admittance price? I imagine it would feel pretty miserable to only be loved for your entertainment value. I imagine it would feel like God feels.

Don’t Do Nothing

Steve Sikes, a family life minister in Pitman, NJ, told an interesting story in a bulletin article recently. He wrote about an eleven-year-old boy who received three umbrellas for Christmas. The gift may seem odd, but the reason was that a couple months before he and his mother had been traveling down the highway in a heavy rain. The boy saw a man walking in the rain, and he asked his mom if they could stop and give the man a ride. The mother explained that it was not safe to pick up strangers, even if it was raining. Her son responded, “Well, then can’t we turn around and give him our umbrella?”  So, an eleven-year-old boy got what he wanted for Christmas: a service project.

Things Above

When the preacher stands up behind that fancy pulpit in his fancy suit and tie (I don’t normally wear a suit, so this obviously doesn’t apply to me) what goes through your mind?  Other than, “I wish he would hurry up…the Methodists are going to beat us to lunch.”  When you hear about Jesus, and holiness, and heaven, what do you picture?  What do you think of when you read this verse:

Taking Jesus Seriously 002

 Other articles in this series:
001       009  010

The kingdom was the message Jesus came to give the world. Some might be inclined to disagree, and to say that it was the gospel that Jesus brought to the world, but Matthew tells us that “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (4:23, ESV; see also 9:35). The gospel of Jesus was defined by the kingdom, belonged to the kingdom, was “of the kingdom.” The good news that Jesus proclaimed was that the kingdom was at hand.

Taking Jesus Seriously 009

Other articles in this series:
001  002         010

Early in His ministry, Jesus stepped out of a boat into the country of a people He had not yet visited. As His sandal-sole touched gravel, two fiercely deranged men ran out of a nearby cemetery screaming and shrieking as they came. They were shouting at the top of their lungs, “What do You want with us, Son of God!?” But, they were not their own voices that exploded from their mouths; they were the demonic voices of the spirits who possessed them. “You know it is not time for You to torment us!” A chorus of angry, tortured voices spoke in eerie unison. “If You are here to cast us out then send us into those pigs.”

Taking Jesus Seriously 001

Other articles in this series:
002  009  010

It is funny how words affect us. Recently there has been some publicity surrounding the story of a bakery department in a grocery store that refused to write a little birthday boy’s name in frosting on his cake. Why the refusal? Because his first name is Adolf and his middle name is Hitler. Amazingly, the bakery staff did not want to wish Adolf Hitler a happy birthday. What is in a name? Apparently more than we like to admit.

An Explanation…

The post below, titled “Taking Jesus Seriously 010,” is meant to be part of a larger work on the Sermon on the Mount. Later posts under this title might actually precede what I have already posted, so I have put a number on the end to help you figure out where the posts fit in relation to one another. Enjoy and feel free to comment.

Taking Jesus Seriously 010

Other articles in this series:
001  002  009

Throughout His ministry, Jesus was rejected again and again for many different reasons by people from many different backgrounds (see Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 9:51-56; John 12:42; Luke 18:18-30), but every rejection boiled down to one objection: Jesus was not the Messiah for them. They had expectations, traditions, and interpretations that they held onto so tightly that when the Savior of all mankind appeared and offered them riches beyond measure they could not take hold of Him. Jesus was not the messiah they had pictured.

He is not the messiah that most of us picture today.