Blah Guy

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:18-19

Tell us what you really think Jesus?

The poor, the prisoner, the blind, the oppressed? What is this talk?

Some revolutions* come and go in violence. Death is left in its wake like a plague eating humanity from the inside out. These revolutions always begin with one thing in mind. Conquest. Taking over. To have just one more pay taxes. Just a little more income; enfranchising, enforcement, encroachment.

Some revolutions begin with something else in mind. They are few and far between because there is little to be gained but much to be given. People are not locked down and controlled, they are released. Their chains are destroyed and put aside for want of new life and freedom.

One revolution brings chains; another breaks them.

Listen to the words of this Jesus. He mentions all the unmentionables. Beggars, murderers and child molesters, people who need glasses (and those who altogether can’t see a thing), those who make less than minimum wage. And with one swoop of the savior, all things were meant for change. His vision is never pro-stagnation. He brought the change machine.

And this Jesus came to begin the most silent revolution this world has ever seen. From creation to crisis to calling to covenant, he has slowly but surely begun the process of eradicating the world of oppressive (my senior pastor calls them False Authorities) forces which seek to bring those chains back. And where there are chains, this Jesus is dying to bring change (or could we say he died to bring change).

Enjoy this freedom. Change is here!

*This term is used by Brian McLaren in The Secret Message of Jesus.

Does it feel like worship has been “franchised”?

Our conversations are so interesting. Sit sometime and listen to the little inuendos we use…

“Worship was good today!”
“Man that worship kicked.”
“I don’t worship that way”

Let’s all remember what Burger King says… “Have it your way!”

We have to have it our way don’t we?

I fully come alive when I realize something. But this is no secret that many want me to know. Not because it’s a bad secret, but because it is the best secret the world has ever seen. And when someone comes to this secret in faith, and grasps hold, and never lets it go, it changes everything. EVERYTHING.

“You will worship neither on this mountain or Jerusalem” - Jesus in John

Jesus of course is trying to explain to a theological confused and somewhat morally displaced woman who was convinced that worship was intended only for a few. Jesus stands with her…and passes on the secret.

“You will worship neither on this mountain or Jerusalem”

Worship remains not a location or organization centered activity. Nor does it have to be an activity. It is a reality. A place of Spirit, a heart, a life. And it doesn’t have to pay the bouncer at the door, because it’s been paid for. The secret sets me free. Free to worship. The gates are open. No more membership cards, no more bouncers, no more measuring sticks. Its free. And if you realize who it is who talks to you, you will surely understand this secret. That you are free. Jesus says so. Just believe.

“The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great – and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” Rev. 11:18

It abhors God how bad his people are at taking care of Earth. This little promise should ring in the hearts of all of them. He will destroy those who destroy his Earth.

Wow! Talk about ignorance.

We are so ignorant because we think that Jesus is coming back soon and we can screw the world up as much as we want with wonton abandon.

We are so ignorant because we think that environmentalism was created by activists in the 20th century when in reality God is the original environmentalist.

We are so ignorant to the fact that to most people who are actually trying to save the world, evangelicals and Christians are one of the main enemies.

We are so ignorant of the heart of God.

Why? God really hates it when people mess up the things he makes. Any good father would be the same. You come in and destroy his yard, kill the family dog, and pull down the tree house he made for the son, he will get his shot gun, come out, and take care of business.

Why would God be any different?

“Destroying those who destroy the earth” Christian or not?

Although I would rarely consider myself a skeptic or an idiot, there seems to be an interesting difference in the witness of the scripture and my own personal theology.

I always assumed there would be no tears in heaven. I was wrong:

“I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside of it” Rev. 5:4

Does anyone cry in heaven. Jesus talks a ton about the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in hell. Maybe that is why so many dentists are going to hell……just joking.

In chapter 7:17, John says that God says, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes…”

This heavenly picture is laced with potent imagery which no sane human being should assume to fully understand. I understand that. The image that sticks out is that of tears. John has seen them before, so he knows what they are when he sees them. I have seen them out of they eyes on my own face. And so have you!

Tears are universal.

There are tears in heaven.

Heaven is the place where God wipes them off, not abolishes them.

God lives in color!

Revelation 4 stands among some of the many dangerous and somewhat confusing chapters of the Bible. Seriously, nothing can drive Christians apart than a little future talk. “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven” (v. 1). It is marked by all the colors you could imagine. John does not see the Kingdom in black and white, but beauty and technicolor.

Remember the good ole’ days of simple color movies. Revelation is the first “technicolor” scripture (among the likes of Ezekiel in the OT) in the New Testament.

From this chapter…two rules for all Christians to live by:

1) Look! - When you hear a voice, and it appears to come from heaven, look. This is the essence of “fearing God”, being willing to hear his voice and respond, not just hear it. The only sin greater than sin is ignoring the voice of the Lord when you hear it. Why? Think about it. The only thing worse than wrecking your Dads brand new T-bird isn’t nearly as bad as running away. Your dad would rather have a wrecked T-bird than an empty place at the dinner table. This whole letter of John is marked by looking, going, and seeing. He is taken for a heavenly “Cribs” march all the way to the throne of heaven. (Hear heavenly rap playing in the background). “And this is my sweet sound system, and this is my new car, and yeah, check this out, the throne-zone. boo-ya”

The nature of God is such that he really wants to show us around the Kingdom. He has no need to hide it from us. He even says something along the lines of “the keys to the Kingdom of heaven are yours”. Come on in. But in order to come on in…you must look!

2) Go through the Door - Doors are nothing more than movable walls. God sets up a building with four walls right. But the grace of God is this. His buildings are a lot like ours in the sense that there are movable walls, walls that we have permission to walk through. The mean ones in the neighborhood are the ones who lock their doors and never let anyone in. God isn’t like that, at least from this perspective. John gets to go in a look around. He lets us go in and look around.

In the earlier chapter he says, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” In this chapter, it is John going up to the door of heaven, while Jesus says he stands at our door. Here is the reality:

The door to heaven is opened when the door to our lives is open. Meaning this. Jesus not only stands at our door to come in, he stands at his own door waiting for us to come it. It’s like “the Sims”. In the Sims you have to make friends. And they are your friends only if you have them over first. Well, basically, have Jesus over for dinner and he will let you over to his place. The secret of the the Kingdom is really cool. Jesus has a house with doors, not four unmovable walls.

Here are some newly posted sermons from our friday night group.

Read this article from Relevant Magazine.

Not only are our friends not “getting fed” in church, I would take it a little farther.

What about me? I preach every week, prepare the word for the hearts of the people, spend hours agonizing over each and every sermon. Do I get fed by my own preaching?

It absolutely disarms folks when I admit that my own preaching doesn’t feed me.

What if church’s job was never, is never, and never will be to “feed” anyone? And most of the time we throw that straw phrase around, it is Christian lingo for, “I don’t like the style” or “I get bored of the sermons”. If you aren’t getting fed then you aren’t eating. Getting fed is a function of your desire to eat.

So how do I eat?