Be honest.
Do you ever get the feeling that Jesus would never choose to hang out in the places we’ve built for him? Do you ever feel like Jesus’ message of radical love, mercy and forgiveness has been drowned out by the voices of judgment, condemnation, and stagnant ritualistic religion? Do you ever get the sense that the church was never meant to be about helping itself, but about helping the world? Do you ever get the nagging feeling that Jesus never intended the church to be comfortable and controlled, but instead an untamable movement that challenges the way things have always been done? Have you ever longed to be a part of a community that isn’t afraid to experience God in new and creative ways? (Yeah, us too.)
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the pigs in my life. Not sure how these fit, but I know God is in them. I will start off with two. Probably my biggest two. One is work. I have been trying to find balance in this area for some time. If anyone has the answer I am all ears. I often give so much time to work because I need to make money to live..right? So I work and work and always have. In my mind it has been a security blanket, but in reality it has only brought more despair. It could be because I just don't make enough, just like everyone one else.. I am not intending that statement as a complaint, but rather a question. When is enough... enough? And I have never found enough to be enough when my goal is to have enough. For those of you who don't know, I am a recovering alcholic. One thing I was terrible with was my finances. I racked up a big chunk of debt. I have paid all off except for 1 more. This has been a driving force in my work as well. We are called to do this. For the last four years I dedicated work to pay for things I no longer owned or had, talk about depressing. This is my reason of justification for working so much, but it has gone beyond, and most often dictates my life. Soon I will be married probably no outstanding debt. Except to love my wife as well as others. I am so grateful God is invloved in this area because I DON'T want work to govern our marriage but God to. Ohh and marriage leads right into my second. For those of you who don't know Christy and myself lived together for a couple of years until we realized God wanted into this pig in our life. Going through this degree of seperation ( If I might be blunt) has felt like blessings at times and a curse at times. God has begun to minister more to me on how to better love. Especially to my soon to be wife. And how desperately I desire to be the man in her life... throughout our life. One of Gods promises is trials and tribulations. So even in the times when I feel no hope or love, can I give thanks to God and praise him? I word this as a question because there are times I complain and tear down instead of build up and edify that which God has created.
As I was writing this I got a call to go to work. I said I couldn't because I was given homework.
Thank you Scott for the homework. And the you to everyone for you encouragement to deal with the pigs in my life
"Don't be afraid; just believe."
How awesome is that?! I've got my legion of pigs I'm dealing with; holding grudges, pleasing others, doubt, anger, depression, confusion...fear. But there's nothing more comforting to me than His words in verse 36. When my fears get the best of me, and I'm freaking out about what I'm gonna do with my life, if I'm on the 'right path,' if this whole greenroom thing is really gonna pan out, if I'm ever gonna be good enough, if I'm fighting to be a part of a faith that the world sees as "dead already," and so "why bother?" I won't be afraid...I'll just believe.
Greg, thanks for your transparency. I hope the greenroom will never allow perfect people!
Gribz, the first thing I thought of was fear. Someone told me that the most common command in the Bible is not love God or love others but "fear not." Apparently it appears 366 times—one for every day of the year, including leap year!
In my mind and heart I want to abandon everything for Jesus, sacrificing comfort, safety, and selfish desires for the things of the Kingdom. In reality, sometimes I'm not sure what that looks like or how to get there—or I'm paralyzed by fear.
I pray for God's will. What I really want is an e-mail with step-by-step directions. Sometimes I sense Him asking me a remarkable yet frightening question—"What do YOU want?" I'd rather be told what to do—until that happens and then I squirm and rationalize and find reasons to do something else! Ugh!
I've always felt sorry for the owner of the pigs. Sure, they are not kosher, but two THOUSAND pigs! That's a lot of bacon! That's also a lot of demons.
It always amazes me how many times angels and demons are mentioned in the Bible, yet our culture generally dismisses them as spiritual creatures in outer space somewhere. This passage makes it clear that they are real...and that Jesus had amazing authority over them.
The healing of the woman is incredible, too. She was "trembling with fear" when Jesus called her out, yet rather than shame her, He blessed and healed her, commending her faith.
Jesus is hardly a model of consistency. He heals different people in different ways. He tells the demon-possessed man to "go home to your family and tell them what the LORD has done for you" in verse 19, then in verse 43 He "gave strict orders not to let anyone know" about the healed girl. He is always doing a new thing, customizing His ministry to each person and situation.
There is a lot in this chapter!
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