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My Other Blogs

If you regularly follow this blog, you’ve noticed that I have not posted much in recent weeks.  That’s because I’ve created two other blogs that are getting a lot of my attention.

Back in May, my family started a journey through the gospels.  Over the course of the summer, we read all four gospels and had daily conversations about what we read.

We are now journeying through the rest of the New Testament.  Each weekday we are reading one chapter and discussing what we find.  I’m blogging questions to guide our time together.

You can keep up with us by going to the following blogs…

Journey through the Gospels

The Journey Continues

However, since you're already here, feel free to look around this blog and see what I'm reading and look at some of the other websites I frequent.
 

Ordinary People

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

Ordinary, basic, plain, normal.  None of these sound very exciting.  Where is the action?  Where is the adventure?  Where is the drama?

As we consider the early church, we find a whole group of ordinary people; fishermen, tax collectors, tent makers, and the like.  So how did this group of ordinary people make such an extraordinary difference?

The people of the early church were forever changed by an encounter with Jesus Christ. As a result of this encounter, they came to possess the very presence and power of God in their lives through the Holy Spirit. Together, as God directed them, their new lives in Christ were used to turn the world right-side-up.

Today as Christ-followers, we have the privilege and responsibility to carry on the mission of the early church.  However, before we start relying on all our technological advancements and theological insights, we must remember one basic truth: God is still in the business of using ordinary people to carry out His work.  We are living out God's plan and God's purposes.  He has the big picture in mind and all the details worked out.  He is looking for ordinary people; people like you and me.  He wants to move in and through us to make a difference.

For this to happen, we have to be fully available to Him.  We have to be willing to commit our lives to His plans and purposes.  We have to be all in!  The people of the early church did not have the education, the knowledge or the perspective that we have today.  However, what they had was a commitment to what they believed that resulted in action.

One more thing.  The verse at the top of this page gets right at the heart of the issue.  Peter and John were bold and courageous to the point of astonishing the people around them.  How was this possible?  They were just ordinary men.  Take a look at the end of the verse: "these men had been with Jesus."  Today, our opportunity to be with Jesus is found as we spend time with Him in the Bible and in prayer.

Ordinary people + Jesus = making a difference!  Being ordinary doesn't sound so bad after all.

PS – my family is continuing our journey through the Bible.  We’ve completed the gospels, now we are moving through the rest of the New Testament.  Join us at www.thesprings.typepad.com/thejourneycontinues.

 

This I Know!

“Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know.  One thing I do know.  I was blind but now I see!  John 9:25

Are there some things you don’t quite understand about your faith?  Are there some issues that you are unsure of?  At the same time, what do you without a doubt know to be true?

Chapter 9 of John’s gospel is the story of one blind man that Jesus healed.  While you would expect this healing to be a welcomed act, this healing takes place on the Sabbath, the day the Jews were supposed to refrain from work.  This provides one more source of irritation between Jesus and the religious elite.  And as they press to make their case against Jesus, the former blind man becomes part of this conflict.

Beginning in verse 13 of chapter 9, this man is interrogated about what happened to him and who did it.  He factually answers, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”  But the leaders wanted to know more.  Actually, they wanted the man to join in their accusations against Jesus.  After trying to lead the man into saying Jesus was a sinner, the man replies, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know.  One thing I do know.  I was blind but now I see!”

One thing I know.

There is much I don’t know about Jesus.  There is much I can’t explain or understand.  There is much that doesn’t make sense to me or fit into my frame of reference.  This may have been what was going on in the mind of the “was blind, now seeing” man.  He couldn’t grasp, comprehend, or clarify what had taken place.  All he knew for sure is that now he could see.

All I know for sure is that God has been faithful through the years.  All I know for sure is that God has clearly led through seasons of great confusion.  All I know is that God has blessed me beyond what I deserve.  All I know is that God has given my life purpose.

And what I know is enough.

No Surprises Here

"Who are you?" they asked.  "Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied.  John 8:25

Have you ever encountered someone who has never heard of Jesus?  I’m sure there are people that fall into this category, but probably not around here.  In fact, even including my overseas travels to the countries of Kazakhstan and Bulgaria, I’ve never met someone who had not at least heard of Jesus.

This was the case when Jesus was on the earth, as well.  Jesus did not come with a hidden agenda.  He was transparent about Who He was and what He came for.  He lived before the people, taught before the people and worked before the people.  The people didn’t always believe Him, but it wasn’t because they didn’t know Who He said He was.  Here is how John’s gospel records what Jesus said about Himself.

John 6:51:"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever."

John 8:12: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

John 10:9: "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”

John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

John 11:25: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”

John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 15:1: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

So who is Jesus?  What did He say about Himself?  More importantly, what do you believe about Him?

When it’s all over, there won’t be any surprises.  People won’t be able to say they didn’t know; they’ll only be able to say they didn’t believe.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Philippians 2:9-11

Jesus Christ, the Son of God

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  John 20:30-31

We are heading into the final leg of our Summer Journey through the Gospels as we begin the Gospel of John.  If you haven’t been part of this journey, you can start anytime.  All the information can be found at www.thesprings.typepad.com/gospels.

The opening verses of John’s gospel speak incredible truths about the very nature of Jesus.  Here we read about His complete divinity and complete humanity.  Central to our faith is the belief that He was fully God and fully man.

Being fully man He is able to identify with us…

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”  Hebrews 4:15

The gospels bear witness to His life among us.  In John 1:14 we read, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  The fact that He dwelt among us helps us to know that He truly does understand what we face.

Yet sadly, for many, the truth of John 1:10-11 is true.  “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

Being fully God He is able to do something about our dilemma…

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”  1 Peter 3:18

One of the clearest statements about the deity of Jesus Christ is found in John 1:1-3.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”  Here John puts to rest any question about whether or not Jesus is divine.  Bottom line: Jesus is God; always has been, always will be. 

It was only because Jesus was fully God that His death would satisfy the penalty for sin.  This is expressed by John as he announced in 1:29, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

While a journey through the gospels gives us great insight in to Jesus the man, we must never forget that He is fully God.  Being fully man means He is able to identify with us.  Being fully God means He is able to do something about our dilemma.