Loving Jesus Style

I heard several talking heads on a cable news outlet discussing the situation in America with the series of murders that have happened. These highly educated news people could not agree on what the root cause of all the violence was. Some blamed race relations, another deteriorating families, another guns, and on and on they went. All they were doing was listing the symptoms of the decay that has been plaguing America and the west for many decades now. These folks overlook the simple fact that has contributed to the decaying of America. The fact that we kicked God out of our country decades ago and now we who have sown the wind are reaping the whirlwind. You really can't expect folks to have a respect for their own lives let alone the lives of others if they do not believe that they are creatures created by God. If they do not believe that there is any plan for their lives and will not have to face eventual judgment  for the acts they commit. A bad act is no different from a go

Scripture: 1 John 5:11-12 (ESV) 1 1  And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Meditation: What is salvation? If you asked many Christians that you would get an answer like ‘Salvation is having faith in Jesus to save you from your sins’. But I have a feeling that Jesus would say that it is something more than just a mental assent to Jesus being the Savior. For example the scripture verse above seems to indicate that eternal life is something that is lived through Jesus. Not merely some mental picture of Jesus dying on a cross to save us from our sins. Although it is that, but I believe that salvation is so much more. Salvation is a way of life for Christians to live out daily.             Somehow, modern Christianity seems to have disconnected the idea of salvation from its practical everyday effect on how Christians should live in the world.

Scripture: (Luke 18:15–17 NRSV) 15  People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. 16  But Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 17  Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Meditation:             Most of us have heard that bringing a canary into a coal mine can help keep you alive. You see the canary is far more sensitive to the poison gasses that sometimes exist in the mines than we humans are so they get sick and die earlier than we will. Giving us ample warning to get out and save our own lives.             This past Sunday Pastor Cindy Marino of Rochelle UMC used the illustration that I think is likewise very much worth heeding. She said that “Our children are our canaries in the community.” And she recited som

Scripture: Psalm 63:1-4   1     O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2      So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3      Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4      So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name. Meditation:             The psalmist here gives us some beautiful words regarding his affection for God. I don’t know about you but I have met very few people (including myself) whose affection for God is this obvious. I think it in our day and age it is simply not cool to love God like this.             When we do meet someone who loves God this passionately we are likely to brand them as fanatics or somehow find them creepy. Yet the psalmist is unafraid of what we think of him. His love for God is all out, no holds barred, and unashamed.

Scripture: 17  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! 18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20  So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NRSV) Meditation:             What wonderful good news Paul has for us in these verses. However, there are days when we feel like anything but a new creation. Often we simply just feel old. We strain to be an ambassador for Christ. What is the remedy for this?             There may be several causes. The

Scripture: 6  For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7  for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:6-7) Meditation:             Paul is speaking to his young protégé Timothy in these verses. Paul is urging him not to be afraid to use the gifts God had given to him. In the same way I believe that Paul would urge us to use the gifts we have received from God. There is no question that it is getting harder and harder to live as a committed Evangelical Christian in these days. If we are prone to fear (as I am) then we may be tempted to curl up in our little cocoon of safety within our circle of church friends rather than to boldly act on our faith. Giving our testimony to others verbally may be something that we are simply too afraid to try. We can and should live our lives in such a way that they can be our testimony in front