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.)
14 comments:
Gribz, you have a way of making people feel at ease. Thanks for your thoughts and challenge to be a part of the conversation...looking forward to what is planned for the 24th at the greenroom gathering! more to comment when I'm not half asleep. OK, who is next????
Great stuff man!
It is truly ironic how the very people who knew Jesus best, were the ones who could not except who he really was.
I often wonder if Jesus was surprised by this turn of events. Did he initially expect his friends and relatives to open up their hearts to his message? And I wonder how Jesus felt when he was rejected by the closest ones to him.
I'm so glad Mark chose to record this moment in the life of Jesus. He's showing us that even Jesus faced rejection.
I think we often assume that if God is pleased with what we're doing than we won't face any hardships; that everything will always go as planned. But throughout the gospels we see Jesus being dismissed, turned away, slandered, ridiculed, laughed at... even executed on a Roman torture device. (I know, I'm not supposed to read ahead.)
Being a part of building the Kingdom of God, no matter what it is, is hard work filled with many ups and downs. The question is will we give up or choose to persevere?
Aral, I give you mad props for what you just did this week. I love you story of the lady that decided to ask God for help and when she realized He was there helping clean house, and she thought twice. How easily I can also be right there. I like that you have a recovery Bible, I have one also. I got to thinking while you talked about those who Jesus knew personally from day to day life. I couldn't help but think about how in my life the times I hurt someone the most, were those who were closest to me. I would always push them the furthest away because they could often see right through me. Do I do this with Jesus as well?
Thanks Aral for helping inspire me bro!
Man, Greg, you just took this in a new direction. You've showed me something I never saw in this passage. Maybe we're a lot more like those friends and relatives than we want to admit; we're more than willing to see Jesus a certain way, but when we're challenged to re-think and possibly even re-define our understanding of him, that's when our defences start to rise.
Thanks for always being open to sharng how God is working in your life.
Great thoughts gentlemen. here's mine for the day.
i am always compelled when I read and re-read this chapter. the phrase that stands out the most to me is toward the end of the chapter. verse 35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. 36 Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
37But he answered, "You give them something to eat."
"YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT" It is as if Jesus is saying. You wanna be like your Rabbi...start now. I think of those of my friends who think God is angry or doesn't exist because of all the starving people in the world. The words in Mark begin to surface. "You give them something to eat" If the local church is the "Hope of the world"...then "the church" needs to unify to end hunger, poverty, homelessness, aids, you fill in the blank.
Jesus gives his disciples a call for action. now it's our turn to listen.
and respond!
Dee your thought of the day is very humbling. Where you placed "you fill in the blank" is sobering. "You give them something to eat!" ME! While reading this today I thought of Joelle and one of her ministries of feeding and helping a tribe in Africa. Do you think the disciples gave all the food they had to Jesus, to have others fed? If they did I am sure they didn't expect to get any back or for there to be leftovers. Mark says also that all were satisfied. Not a word I hear much in our culture. It doesn't say they had enough food to stuff themselves to the brim, or indulged. Or there was just enough to take any hunger pains away. No, they were "satisfied".
Sorry my mind sidetracked to a brief conversation I had with a customer at work. After I had taken her order I repeated it back she said something that caused me to pause. She simply said "That is true." It was a meaningless conversation about her order and yet such a profouund statement it seemed. I don't think I had ever heard the before. It is always "yes", "thats right", or a blank stare, you get the picture. No she said, "That is true." I can't really descibe reaction other than a little shock, the message was clear. Afterwords I thanked her for using those words because it helped teach me something, the value of a word.
Hi everyone! As I listened to Aral and then read the posts below I am constantly reminded of my own journey and how my own father continually tried to show me God's love through high school and college yet I was just like the people in Jesus' home town. Like Scott mentioned, I ignored, turned my back, laughed at and completely ridiculed my dad. My faith was lost and I was more caught up in my own plan...mostly partying and finding ways to show opposition to what my dad was saying. It's not until years later that I realize what he was doing and how much it has hurt him, however just like Jesus, he never gave up on me. In time, bits of what he was saying or doing, began to spark some interest to search for my faith again. I now understand completely what you said Aral about showing you to your friends and the fear of being rejected. I rejected my dad for trying to show me Jesus and now who of my friends are going to reject me for me trying to share my faith. Ok, so I may have gone off on a tangent but somehow this all began from something someone said on here. :)
Looking forward to tomorrow night Aral!
Many things struck a cord with me in Chapter 6, but since it is late I will only touch on one. What an amazing boost of confidence that the disciples must have experienced when Jesus sent them all out and He gave them Power!!! All this time Jesus has been the man of the hour and they have really been learning. As they reconvene we meet back up with them and Jesus is doing his marathon teaching seminars. As I read about I first get a feeling of arrogance in the disciples but later I sense they have are getting the head knowledge but are missing the compassion and an overwhelming sense of giving. Many of the people there probably didn't have much money and to send them away to buy food for themselves, many would go hungry. Jesus was teaching of spiritual nutrition but he also knew that we need the physical nutrition. Now I do believe that Jesus didn't have to feed the 5000+, but in another way He shows us an overwhelming act of showing His servant's heart! Not only were the disciples fatigued I believe they had a lack of faith in the impossible of feeding that many people.
I am absolutely astonished with this miracle. The fish really could only be so big, were not talking a two whales. What a simple example of extreme faith and thankfulness that God will provide in the most impossible times. David Copperfield has nothing on J.C.
I am challenged to one not get a sense of arrogance of knowing the scriptures because people with less head knowledge probably have more heart and Faith than I do. That is a scary place to be. I have been there many times and it is definitely not a comforting place. The second challenge I take away is to open myself up to feeding 5000 moments that only God can provide for.
Looking forward to tomorrow...i mean tonight!
Great conversations! When Denise brought up the whole thing about Jesus seeing the massive hungry crowd and telling his disciples "YOU feed them", it reminded me of the story in the book of Exodus.
God is speaking to Moses through a burning bush and God tells Moses that He has seen the pain of hurt of His people by the hands of the Egyptians and is ready to save them from their bondage and oppression.
Moses must have thought God was going to single-handedly do some mighty act, but God says to Moses "...and I want YOU to save them!"
When Jesus tells the disciples to feed the hungry people, Jesus is simply mimicking his Father - showing us how God chooses to get things done in the world. God uses His people, no matter how broken, to heal the world.
For me this concept is very convicting.
Looking forward to tonight!
Aral. Great job last night! Thanks for leading us closer to the heart of God. You and Lynn make a great team. Would love to do something like that again.
Sorry I missed this past Monday...but I am finally commenting as per Scotts request..
I really responded to Aral's analogy of UNBELIEF being Jesus' Kryptonite..b/c I hear the word "cripple" within it..the Kryptonite that is. We r crippling our Wonderful Saviour w/our unbelief! Like 10,000 angels on their way to us & we shake our head "no", so they have to put on the brakes, change the direction, go back to heaven sad. Ever have a gift 4 someone & they refuse receiving it?hmmmm..yes, JUST BREATHE, JUST BELIEVE.
SO, this a little off topic, but based on what Scott said Monday night about the impact at has on culture, and, in turn, the world, I thought we might want to pick apart this blog I came across today about Christians and their struggle to change the world: http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2010/05/to-change-world-part-1-confused-about.html
Any thoughts?
Aral brings up a great question.
One that must be answered before we officially launch this new movement. What do we mean when we say "we want to change the world?" Do we simply want to make people behave the way we think they should? Or is it something deeper than that? I think this is the question we should be asking: How did Jesus go about changing the world? What was it that he tried to change - if anything? What was His goal?
In the article Aral sent it says this: "Christians have tended to believe that the 'culture war' was about gay marriage, abortion, and teaching evolution to school children. The belief is that, if we 'win' on these issues, we will have created a 'Christian nation' characterized by "Christian values.'"
So, Is that our goal? Is it our job to "Win" the Culture War?
Is that what Jesus came to do?
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