John 4:31-54
“It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:42
This is pretty much the way it works. People, believing in Jesus for themselves.
I was reading an article last week about a man who was “born Christian”. I never really understand what that is supposed to mean. I know it’s possible for Christians to have children. I know that it is possible to be born into a family where both parents believe in Jesus. I know that Christian parents generally do what they can to teach their children about God and stuff. Being “born Christian”, that is weird.
Among the many foundational things about being a Christ-ian, personal belief is one of the nonnegotiables. Following Jesus isn’t a subject to be taught and memorized. He isn’t inherited through genetics by some kind of faith gene. You actually have to believe, for yourself, in Him.
The kind of faith we see here among the townspeople is much more than intellectual assent. I believe Adolf Hitler was a person. I do not however believe in him. Believing in this Biblical sense comes to a place where the believer knows Him to be real enough to have a relationship with. Having that, we recognize His work in the world today. Belief carries with it a level of trust, whereby we actually act on His word.
Believing does not have to do with subscribing to an ancient form of philosophy or ideology. From the outside looking in, I do understand how it can appear that way. We do seem to have a different attitude towards things like the sanctity of life, human sexuality and getting drunk on the weekend. Even these come, not from memorizing a moral code of conduct. We read our Bible and find that it is not an irrelevant book, but it speaks quite clearly about the real matters of life in the here and now. Genuine belief spills over from the mind, affecting the lives we live. It does so because of its legitimacy. Real faith affects our actions. Anything else is a fraud.
As I speak of Christians, many of you identify yourselves among the ‘we’. Others of you see them as the ‘they’. I’m writing primarily to those of you who consider them to be the ‘they’. Becoming one of them is often considered to be a negative thing. A good friend of mine was married to a woman who became a Christian, and when she told him his response was kind of cute, “That’s great dear. They got ya!”
Maybe you know people like this Samaritan woman and they want to tell you about Jesus. It can be annoying, I know. Yet be encouraged. This isn’t a thing that can be forced on you. Nobody can make you be one of us. If you don’t want to talk about it, just tell the person you don’t want to talk about it. If they are a decent human being, they’ll respect that.
But you’re here, reading about Jesus for yourself in the book of John. Forget me. Forget the woman. What do you think of Jesus? What do you see in Him?
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Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Another Life to Live
John 3
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:4
Conversations with Jesus don’t seem to flow like we would normally expect. If a man were to tell me, “Kev, I can tell you are a teacher from God, because no one can do the things you do.”, I’d respond much differently than Jesus. I’d probably say, “Thanks man. Thanks a lot!” After hearing these very words form Nicodemus, Jesus unexpectedly retorts, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” I’m still not sure how this was a response to the man. What I do recognize, is that the same odd form of communication exists today between the people of the world, and the people of Christ. It looks like this;
“I can’t help it. I was born this way.”
However tactfully the Christian may or may not respond, what they might be thinking in their mind is, “Oh dear. If you really were born this way, if you really haven’t been born again, that’s too bad.” Being born whatever way is supposed to be some kind of defence for a person of the world. A follower of Christ sees it as a death sentence. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The "cannot" seems quite definite.
We have been raised in a world that told us we are basically animals. I believe the typical narrative tells us that we came from apes. Is that true? Are we little more than monkeys? Whether we like it or not, we are stuck with and obligated to obey whatever instincts we are born with. We rarely even pause long enough to consider the possibility that the way we are, might not actually be okay.
Jesus doesn’t present us with a new ideology. He hasn’t come up with a new philosophy for living. His words for Nicodemus are not that there is a better way to live - There is another life to live.
No one is born a Christian. The family of God is a thing that we need to be reborn into. Nobody really knows the intricate mechanics of how it happens. What we know, is that it does happen for those who believe in Jesus. You’ve noticed it haven’t you? Christians just think differently. You try to argue with them, but they just don’t get it. They simply aren’t the same creature. That’s the point.
To an extent, the world is probably right. Without Christ, we really are like animals. Would it ever truly be a compliment for me to say, “Yes – You really were born that way”? Without even thinking, we are compelled to do whatever our instincts tell us to do. Many people are fine with that, and even defend the worldview. I wonder though if some of us are tired, or maybe even find it a bit insulting. Is it possible that you’ve loved the darkness more than you’ve loved the light? Does it sound like good news to hear that you were made for more?
None of us fully understand what this reborn life looks like, and that’s okay. For now, I hope that you have either found it, or something about it appeals to you.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:4
Conversations with Jesus don’t seem to flow like we would normally expect. If a man were to tell me, “Kev, I can tell you are a teacher from God, because no one can do the things you do.”, I’d respond much differently than Jesus. I’d probably say, “Thanks man. Thanks a lot!” After hearing these very words form Nicodemus, Jesus unexpectedly retorts, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” I’m still not sure how this was a response to the man. What I do recognize, is that the same odd form of communication exists today between the people of the world, and the people of Christ. It looks like this;
“I can’t help it. I was born this way.”
However tactfully the Christian may or may not respond, what they might be thinking in their mind is, “Oh dear. If you really were born this way, if you really haven’t been born again, that’s too bad.” Being born whatever way is supposed to be some kind of defence for a person of the world. A follower of Christ sees it as a death sentence. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The "cannot" seems quite definite.
We have been raised in a world that told us we are basically animals. I believe the typical narrative tells us that we came from apes. Is that true? Are we little more than monkeys? Whether we like it or not, we are stuck with and obligated to obey whatever instincts we are born with. We rarely even pause long enough to consider the possibility that the way we are, might not actually be okay.
Jesus doesn’t present us with a new ideology. He hasn’t come up with a new philosophy for living. His words for Nicodemus are not that there is a better way to live - There is another life to live.
No one is born a Christian. The family of God is a thing that we need to be reborn into. Nobody really knows the intricate mechanics of how it happens. What we know, is that it does happen for those who believe in Jesus. You’ve noticed it haven’t you? Christians just think differently. You try to argue with them, but they just don’t get it. They simply aren’t the same creature. That’s the point.
To an extent, the world is probably right. Without Christ, we really are like animals. Would it ever truly be a compliment for me to say, “Yes – You really were born that way”? Without even thinking, we are compelled to do whatever our instincts tell us to do. Many people are fine with that, and even defend the worldview. I wonder though if some of us are tired, or maybe even find it a bit insulting. Is it possible that you’ve loved the darkness more than you’ve loved the light? Does it sound like good news to hear that you were made for more?
None of us fully understand what this reborn life looks like, and that’s okay. For now, I hope that you have either found it, or something about it appeals to you.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Jesus to the Hypocrites - "OUT!"
John 2
“And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple...” John 2:15
If you’ve ever been disheartened to look at the church and think, “There are so many hypocrites in church,...”, then you’ll like this Jesus. The temple of His day wasn’t the Church as we know it now. It was a place to worship God for sure, but worship itself was different. They hadn’t received Christ as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, so they were still buying animals and sacrificing them, as a symbol of their desire to be made right with God.
In time, there were people who soon figured out they could profit from this. So they brought the market to the temple. They had found a way to profit from the failings and sorrows of others. Christ was not cool with that, and He still isn’t fine with it today.
The temple was to be, as the church is today, where honest sinners could come to be reconciled to the God of the universe. It was not to be a feeding ground for predators. You’ve seen that haven’t you? Unless you live in a cave, you have heard of people in the church taking advantage of others. You have heard of leaders sexually exploiting the people entrusted into their care. You’ve heard of swindlers siphoning off cash from the treasury. You’ve heard of others who convince the people of the church to buy into their fraudulent investment schemes. The church should be a place with open doors, but it also needs to be a safe place, and part of that infers that the wolves don’t really belong. These examples might be among the very sort that Jesus would have driven out with a whip.
The church isn’t for perfect people. It is in fact a place for people who really have done wrong, who earnestly want to be made right. Does that describe you? I was in conversation last week with a guy who likes to sleep with multiple women. He told me he thought that if he walked into church that he might spontaneously combust or something. The church may or may not be a place for such a guy. If he wanted to go to church to look for his next bed partner, there would be something horribly wrong with that. If the day comes when he really wants to walk with Christ, there is a place for him. He seemed like a pretty authentic guy, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him walk in some day, and I don’t believe he’d be there to be a wolf.
There is a place to make money. The temple just was not that place. Christ was not speaking against commercial agriculture. If getting rich is what you’re really after, then I would encourage you to seek out a qualified financial advisor. Or if you really want to pursue sin, pursue it somewhere else other than among His people. If you’re tired of the filth of life and want to walk with God, there’s room for you. Some call that good news. Others might judge you as being one of the many hypocrites and that has to be okay. They aren’t your judge anyway. Only God really knows your heart.
I hope to see you some day.
“And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple...” John 2:15
If you’ve ever been disheartened to look at the church and think, “There are so many hypocrites in church,...”, then you’ll like this Jesus. The temple of His day wasn’t the Church as we know it now. It was a place to worship God for sure, but worship itself was different. They hadn’t received Christ as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, so they were still buying animals and sacrificing them, as a symbol of their desire to be made right with God.
In time, there were people who soon figured out they could profit from this. So they brought the market to the temple. They had found a way to profit from the failings and sorrows of others. Christ was not cool with that, and He still isn’t fine with it today.
The temple was to be, as the church is today, where honest sinners could come to be reconciled to the God of the universe. It was not to be a feeding ground for predators. You’ve seen that haven’t you? Unless you live in a cave, you have heard of people in the church taking advantage of others. You have heard of leaders sexually exploiting the people entrusted into their care. You’ve heard of swindlers siphoning off cash from the treasury. You’ve heard of others who convince the people of the church to buy into their fraudulent investment schemes. The church should be a place with open doors, but it also needs to be a safe place, and part of that infers that the wolves don’t really belong. These examples might be among the very sort that Jesus would have driven out with a whip.
The church isn’t for perfect people. It is in fact a place for people who really have done wrong, who earnestly want to be made right. Does that describe you? I was in conversation last week with a guy who likes to sleep with multiple women. He told me he thought that if he walked into church that he might spontaneously combust or something. The church may or may not be a place for such a guy. If he wanted to go to church to look for his next bed partner, there would be something horribly wrong with that. If the day comes when he really wants to walk with Christ, there is a place for him. He seemed like a pretty authentic guy, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him walk in some day, and I don’t believe he’d be there to be a wolf.
There is a place to make money. The temple just was not that place. Christ was not speaking against commercial agriculture. If getting rich is what you’re really after, then I would encourage you to seek out a qualified financial advisor. Or if you really want to pursue sin, pursue it somewhere else other than among His people. If you’re tired of the filth of life and want to walk with God, there’s room for you. Some call that good news. Others might judge you as being one of the many hypocrites and that has to be okay. They aren’t your judge anyway. Only God really knows your heart.
I hope to see you some day.
What Jesus Does
John 1:29-51
“The next day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
If we’re going to take the time to consider Jesus, then I think it wise to understand early on what He’s really all about. I meet people who tell me, “I tried this Christianity thing, but I never really got to the place where it felt like it should.” Others experiment with Jesus hoping He’ll fix something wrong with their life, their relationships, mental health or finances.
There are sufficient stories where God has healed broken relationships, restored finances and helped drive away the mental demons in order to keep the dream alive. Still, many others walk away if or when they realize they still have problems, even after going to church for a while and reading the Bible. It is here that John declares for us what Jesus was sent to do, and it is this – To take away the sin of the world.
Sin isn’t a complicated church word. Sin is disobedience, or rebellion against the very God who created the universe. It is at the core of what is truly wrong in the world. John’s declaration of who Jesus is appears rather odd in a way. If you know what God calls sin or take the time to look into what He wants for humanity, and then take the time to look at the world we live in, you’ll notice that the sin is still here abundantly. If you’ve made such observations, I hope you might come to the conclusion that we are living in and looking at a world that really doesn’t want what Christ came to do. I gave up trying to change the world a long time ago. I hope it matters that I hold much more hope for you.
Yes. It would be absolutely beautiful if sin was abandoned in this world, and I still have such fantasies. Even if we could take away one sin, a sin like murder, just think about how much more lovely life could be for us all. Add to that human trafficking, and theft.
You might be of the mind that doesn’t think sin should be such a big deal. I would propose to you that it is the very moth that eats away at the very fabric of life. Consider if you will simply sin’s affect on relationships. Sins like lying, jealousy and slander destroy relationships every day. It’s not an ancient concept, but a very real and destructive work in us and in the world now.
Our wounds in life often find their root in some form of sin, and it’s rather odd, because God often gets the blame. If God is so great and powerful, then why is there so much pain in the world? I would present to you two things: 1. God is not a dictatorial tyrant. If tyranny is your flavour, then Jesus really isn’t for you. When we say that Christ came to take away the sin of the world, He didn’t come to do so by forcing our hand. 2. God has not wronged you. He didn’t run away with your husband or wife. He didn’t get drunk, get behind the wheel and kill anybody. He’s against those sorts of things.
Maybe you just want a happy life, spending more time on a sandy beach in the Caribbean somewhere. Jesus didn’t come to help us get wealthy or necessarily even to get our life on track. He came to take away sin. If something about that speaks to you, then let’s keep pressing on together. Shall we?
“The next day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
If we’re going to take the time to consider Jesus, then I think it wise to understand early on what He’s really all about. I meet people who tell me, “I tried this Christianity thing, but I never really got to the place where it felt like it should.” Others experiment with Jesus hoping He’ll fix something wrong with their life, their relationships, mental health or finances.
There are sufficient stories where God has healed broken relationships, restored finances and helped drive away the mental demons in order to keep the dream alive. Still, many others walk away if or when they realize they still have problems, even after going to church for a while and reading the Bible. It is here that John declares for us what Jesus was sent to do, and it is this – To take away the sin of the world.
Sin isn’t a complicated church word. Sin is disobedience, or rebellion against the very God who created the universe. It is at the core of what is truly wrong in the world. John’s declaration of who Jesus is appears rather odd in a way. If you know what God calls sin or take the time to look into what He wants for humanity, and then take the time to look at the world we live in, you’ll notice that the sin is still here abundantly. If you’ve made such observations, I hope you might come to the conclusion that we are living in and looking at a world that really doesn’t want what Christ came to do. I gave up trying to change the world a long time ago. I hope it matters that I hold much more hope for you.
Yes. It would be absolutely beautiful if sin was abandoned in this world, and I still have such fantasies. Even if we could take away one sin, a sin like murder, just think about how much more lovely life could be for us all. Add to that human trafficking, and theft.
You might be of the mind that doesn’t think sin should be such a big deal. I would propose to you that it is the very moth that eats away at the very fabric of life. Consider if you will simply sin’s affect on relationships. Sins like lying, jealousy and slander destroy relationships every day. It’s not an ancient concept, but a very real and destructive work in us and in the world now.
Our wounds in life often find their root in some form of sin, and it’s rather odd, because God often gets the blame. If God is so great and powerful, then why is there so much pain in the world? I would present to you two things: 1. God is not a dictatorial tyrant. If tyranny is your flavour, then Jesus really isn’t for you. When we say that Christ came to take away the sin of the world, He didn’t come to do so by forcing our hand. 2. God has not wronged you. He didn’t run away with your husband or wife. He didn’t get drunk, get behind the wheel and kill anybody. He’s against those sorts of things.
Maybe you just want a happy life, spending more time on a sandy beach in the Caribbean somewhere. Jesus didn’t come to help us get wealthy or necessarily even to get our life on track. He came to take away sin. If something about that speaks to you, then let’s keep pressing on together. Shall we?
Sunday, January 1, 2017
In The Beginning
John 1:1-28
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was in God”
This might be an odd way to start off, but I’m going to begin by possibly challenging everything you’ve been taught. It might be wiser to warm up to you first, but if you’re going to check out on this journey, why waste time?
We’ve been taught all along in school that billions of years ago, the universe began all on its own. Non-living matter spontaneously gave rise to life in a cosmic big bang. It took a lot of time of course, but that is in fact the story we are given. The Bible teaches something drastically different. We read here in the first part of John, that in the beginning, God already existed and that He spoke the universe into existence.
I know I’ve lost some of you, and Christians are often tagged as if they don’t believe in science, but nothing could be further from the truth. We love science. We carry iPhones and buy data plans. We go to the doctor and usually take whatever chemicals they prescribe. What you will find, is that we sometimes draw different conclusions than what is generally held by the established scientific community.
And here we are. We don’t believe that life came from non-life, not because we are morons, rather because we trust our senses. We have never observed otherwise. So I’m not asking to join our ranks at the moment, but simply that you would consider something you haven’t been fed in public school or post secondary. We don’t believe the universe was a self starter, and it is often science itself that reinforces our convictions.
I encourage you to look into the research being done by an organization called CERN, especially the work being done on what is referred to as a hadron collider. Essentially, scientists are trying to recreate a miniature ‘big bang’. What we notice quickly, is that this system is also not a self starter. The system requires input from outside itself. Specifically, it requires a massive amount of financial support, not to mention a great deal of human resources. So as believers, we see very little conflict between science and what we see in The Bible. In fact, it reinforces our faith.
It seems so glaringly obvious to many of us. For this reason, you may have found us to be immoveable when you get into a discussion about it. Maybe you are ready to jump ship and join the Christian ranks. Regardless of how you receive this, thank you for listening and giving Christ a chance. If nothing else, maybe now you have a better understanding of why these Christians hold on to their ideas about creation so strongly. It’s because we really do like science. We simply come to different conclusions on occasion.
PS uni – means single, or one
Verse can mean a sentence, part of a poem or song.
Could the universe have been a single spoken statement? Like, someone spoke it into existence?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was in God”
This might be an odd way to start off, but I’m going to begin by possibly challenging everything you’ve been taught. It might be wiser to warm up to you first, but if you’re going to check out on this journey, why waste time?
We’ve been taught all along in school that billions of years ago, the universe began all on its own. Non-living matter spontaneously gave rise to life in a cosmic big bang. It took a lot of time of course, but that is in fact the story we are given. The Bible teaches something drastically different. We read here in the first part of John, that in the beginning, God already existed and that He spoke the universe into existence.
I know I’ve lost some of you, and Christians are often tagged as if they don’t believe in science, but nothing could be further from the truth. We love science. We carry iPhones and buy data plans. We go to the doctor and usually take whatever chemicals they prescribe. What you will find, is that we sometimes draw different conclusions than what is generally held by the established scientific community.
And here we are. We don’t believe that life came from non-life, not because we are morons, rather because we trust our senses. We have never observed otherwise. So I’m not asking to join our ranks at the moment, but simply that you would consider something you haven’t been fed in public school or post secondary. We don’t believe the universe was a self starter, and it is often science itself that reinforces our convictions.
I encourage you to look into the research being done by an organization called CERN, especially the work being done on what is referred to as a hadron collider. Essentially, scientists are trying to recreate a miniature ‘big bang’. What we notice quickly, is that this system is also not a self starter. The system requires input from outside itself. Specifically, it requires a massive amount of financial support, not to mention a great deal of human resources. So as believers, we see very little conflict between science and what we see in The Bible. In fact, it reinforces our faith.
It seems so glaringly obvious to many of us. For this reason, you may have found us to be immoveable when you get into a discussion about it. Maybe you are ready to jump ship and join the Christian ranks. Regardless of how you receive this, thank you for listening and giving Christ a chance. If nothing else, maybe now you have a better understanding of why these Christians hold on to their ideas about creation so strongly. It’s because we really do like science. We simply come to different conclusions on occasion.
PS uni – means single, or one
Verse can mean a sentence, part of a poem or song.
Could the universe have been a single spoken statement? Like, someone spoke it into existence?
Monday, December 26, 2016
The New Year's Jesus New Experiment
With Christmas behind us, we now await for the New Year. As we turn the page on the calendar year, we often give pause to reflect on life in a way we seldom do during the regular day to day. We look back on the life we’ve lived, the relationships that have shaped us both for the better and the worse. While we process who we are and where we’ve been, we also give thought to where we are headed in the future. This is a time to look at reshaping who we are.
As we evaluate the direction of our lives and who we are, our thoughts often turn to our standing with God. If that’s you, consider following along here for the month of January. I will be posting daily writings on the book of John as found in the Bible. This is meant to be a way for you to test the waters, or to “taste and see” whether or not you think the God of the Bible is worth following.
If you aren’t a Christian, I encourage you to take the next month and live life as if you really were one of them. If you’re up to the challenge, here are three things besides reading this blog to take on for the first month of the year.
1. Read The Bible Daily. If you are reading this blog, please read the corresponding readings in John. (You can find it on www.biblegateway.com) It’s not homework, but I think Jesus is worth having a look for yourself. I’m sure most of us have known some bad examples among those who follow Him. He deserves to be seen for who He is, and you deserve to know the real thing.
2. Attend a Bible Believing/Preaching Church. I’m a part of Faith Church in St. Thomas and if you live in that area, I hope mine would be categorized as such. You won’t likely be able to become an integral part of a people within 31 days, but showing up Sunday mornings for the next few weeks might give you a sense of whether or not there is a place for you.
3. Live the life. You might not know all that “the life” entails. That’s okay. Yet, as much as you understand what it should really mean to life the way God wants – do that. Spend time talking to Him. Talk to some church people. As you read His word and spend time among His people, just do whatever it is you find that His people are really supposed to be doing.
My blog writings will NOT be the whole Jesus experience. These are a taste. For a lot of people, this will be like signing up for a gym membership whereby we stop going by February. For others, this could be the beginning of a new life. It’s worth finding out.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Q & A With The Elder
Question
Just have a question to ponder 😊 if you get a chance to read hosea 2...specifically verse 10....it looks like the exact scene from the new testament with the woman caught in adultery and thrown before Jesus no? Yet there are two opposite reactions? In a way? What are your thoughts? Obviously God is the same today yesterday and forever but the oposing actions seem tricky to decipher?
Answer
I don't believe I am able to tackle all of the dimensions to your question in one sitting, so I'll start by offering a valuable piece, my hope being the value will be significant enough to help you in some way. What I'm going to do, is to take a decent look at what is happening in Hosea 2.
God is speaking to the nation of Israel. In His address, God compares His nation to that of an unfaithful wife; yet, not merely unfaithful as if she had an affair, but characteristically promiscuous. It's tough to appreciate the message without putting ourselves in God's perspective, which is why I believe God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute. The message of Hosea is better understood when lived, rather than simply being taught.
Imagine having a wife. You buy her fine jewelry for Christmas. For her birthday, you purchase that red dress she looks so pretty in. You give her $150 to get her hair done when she asks. When she puts on her necklace, does her hair and slips into her form fitting dress, rather than going out with you, night after night she grabs the keys to the Focus (the Focus you bought for her) to meet up with a different boyfriend night after night.
God is actually being quite rational.
"You like your lovers so much? Fine. Then be with them. See where it leads. Go. Live your dream!" God's discipline, lived out in this setting looks something like this- I'm not going to keep buying jewelry, paying for a car or manicures so that she can use them as a 'turn on' for her lovers.
The astounding thing to me isn't that this looks different than the way Jesus interacted with the woman caught in adultery. What amazes me is that God could ever be so faithful as to even want her back, much less seek to "win" her back.
"But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her out into the desert and speak tenderly to her there." Hosea 2:14
It seems to me, that the whole stripping down/desert thing was itself, not so much a method of chastisement, but part of His plan to separate Israel from her many lovers, in order to win Israel back to Himself for good.
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