"Oh Hungry?" John 6 - Part 1

What a strange situation; 5,000 people following Jesus around and only one of them brings a meal. I wonder why it was such an emergency for these people to eat. I'm sure it wasn't like they were going to starve or anything! But Philip is operating on the assumption that they need to eat (ulterior motive: Philip already knew what Jesus would do; this implies that this wasn't the first mass feeding Jesus had catered.)

So Jesus feeds everyone, and the crowd figures out that he's miraculously provided for them yet again, they try to force him to be king, but Jesus gets out of it.

Hey, wait a second... why didn't Jesus want to be king? Couldn't he do much more as a king than just a teacher? Doesn't a Prime Minister have more power and influence than the pastor from your church?

Suicide doesn't solve anything

I ran across an interesting perspective on suicide the other day while reading Kreeft's book on heaven.

If Heaven exists and is so great, why not escape earth right away and get there as quickly as possible? First of all because you don't get there that way. The God who revealed Heaven also forbade suicide, and all the medically dead and resuscitated patients who had committed suicide and had seen something of the next life reported hellish rather than Heavenly experiences. They saw that suicide was a disastrous mistake, that all the problems they had tried to escape followed them, but after death they could no longer do anything to change them... [Suicide is] like trying to get into college from elementary school by burning down the high school.

When you look at it like this, suicide doesn't solve anything. Why on earth would we ever consider it as an option?

"Seriously!" John 5 part 3

It's pretty crazy if you think about it: God coming to earth so He could be even closer to us. But, when he gets here, the people that claim to know him hate him! Jesus did a lot of good things: healing people, teaching, and (my personal favourite) feeding people. Plus John (see chapter 1) was respected by the Jews, and he said Jesus was the Messiah. You'd think that this is enough evidence that Jesus is who he says he is, but the Jews still reject him.

Jesus isn't a prophet, he's who the prophets talked about. He isn't a guy who did some good things, everything he DID was good. This is who Jesus is. Maybe it's time for all of us to take him a little more seriously.

"Judge Jesus" - John 5 part 2

Many people believe that judging others is in general a bad thing. But really, it's impossible not to judge people or situations. We can be less critical, but that won't change the fact that we are critical. I love Jesus' rationale on his good judgment:

"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."

If we want to be like Jesus, our judgement MUST be godly. That is, it must occur not to please ourselves (gossip, rude joking, teasing, pride) but rather God.
So here's my question: What does it look like when we judge someone like Jesus does? What are the results? Is it possible?

"Stir It Up" John 5 Part 1

We've decided to shorten posts up a little more, so here's our first attempt!

In this passage, it seems like the only thing Jesus likes better than a healing is a healing that makes a point. But what point is he making? He heals a man, then tells him to pick up his mat and walk, and people get all worked up. Apparently, it's against Jewish law to carry your mat on the Sabbath (the holy day of the week). Then, when Jesus sees him later on, he tells him to stop sinning.

Gwah?! I thought Jesus told this guy to carry his mat! So here's your assignment: Why did Jesus tell this guy to stop sinning?

Oh, and you can't answer "because Jesus didn't want something worse to happen to him." That's too obvious.

Q.O.T.D.

Why is it so hard to do the right thing? AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

John 4: Obey Your Thirst...

...is one of my least favourite slogans of all times. I can't put my finger on it, but it just annoys me. Just like Paul. HA! Just kidding, man.

Anyways, that's what Jesus talks about in John 4 (if you haven't read it, do so now!) Jesus meets a lady (a very promiscuous lady) at a well, and starts asking her questions. This Jesus guy is crazy: talking to a Samaritan woman (taboo), then he tells her he has living water. Her reply?

"Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

Paul's brother, Kevin, made an excellent observation. It sounds like this lady is frustrated and being sarcastic. Go ahead, read that in a sarcastic voice. But then he pulls out the big guns and starts telling her about all her past broken relationships. She is floored. The disciples are confused. The lady goes home and cries in her house, goes to church for a couple months, then eventually goes back to her old life.

NO WAY!

Of course not! She goes home and tells everyone about Jesus. Then they all track Jesus down, convincing him to stay with them for a couple days. Many become believers. All because of one woman had to tell others about what Jesus did.

Is that what happened when you got home from camp? Is that what we do when we feel especially close to Jesus? Or do you just go home, feel better for a few weeks, then go back to your old life. How has Jesus changed your life? Are you different because you've "met" him? The challenge here is a HUGE challenge for all of us: If Jesus is so great, we need to tell everyone about him, how great he is, and how he's changed our lives. Don't go it alone, you'll fizzle out. Get together with other people who love Jesus, read some Scripture, tell some stories, pray, and fire each other up. But don't stop there. Change other people's lives like Jesus has changed yours.