It's Really Happening!

Praying for so many things for all of us as summer kicks off! Can't wait to share in the "fellowship in Christ's suffering" as well as in the celebration with laughter and tears at summers end! Go team go God! 

Finally a True Human

Final Thoughts:

(Page 137) "All the miseries of man prove his grandeur, they are...they are the miseries of a dethroned monarch." But we do see Jesus. In the midst of the Garden that has become a cemetery, in the midst of the Castle that has been invaded by alien forces, we see one human being who is crowned with glory and honor. The human we see in the midst of the wreckage is God."

- Wow. This hit me so hard. What a sad, discouraging, beautiful sight. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live like that without the hope of God in our midst. To know that we've been conquered by our sin, by our ugliness with no way out. What would there be to live for? This so completely magnifies to beauty of our Savior and the hope he heals with. 

(Page 141) " The most perfect human being who ever lived, God in our flesh and blood, is not ashamed to stand before the watching world and point to us and say, ' My brothers and sisters.' We might be ashamed to do that. He is not ashamed; He is not ashamed of you or me."

- Yikes. Conviction. So often I try to tell Jesus not to associate with me because I am ashamed of myself. I try to tell him not to associate with me until I'm worth being associated with. But Jesus tells me that its not about being perfectly transformed until I get to have a part with him. I get it all now and he will do the transformation as we walk together. This makes me feel so embarassingly grateful knowing that he doesn't just associate with  me but he calls me his sister! his child! How badly I want to live in that truth and that joy and the knowledge that Jesus delights in calling me his own even when I am still so far from his perfection.

Lastly (page 143-144) "The Father is finally getting an answer to the very first question He asked humanity, 'Where are you?' 'Here I am,' says the representative human."

- Only Jesus can finally answer that question that us as humanity could not and did not answer. Talk about bringing redemption full circle! It's so beautiful! Where are you? Here I am. It's complete. It's finished. The world restored to the way God designed it to be.

To Him be all the praise and glory now and forever more. Amen.

God Personified

Team! I'm so sorry at the lateness of this post!

In last week's chapter I was just so completely blown away by the identity of Jesus as God. I think I've always felt a more natural inclination towards God instead of Jesus though I've always longed to feel more of that connection with the Son. SO to say the least this emphasis of Jesus as God incarnate totally expanded that adoration for Jesus and that desire to know him more and to learn from his example.

I also thought the angels as mediators between people was pretty cool but even cooler still that Jesus is the perfect mediator because he WAS human!  (Page 119) Jesus is the superior mediator because, unlike angels, Jesus knows both what it is like to be God and what it is like to be human.

(Page 126)When you look at Jesus you see who God is; you see the character of God. God the Father looks at Jesus and says, "O God"

I think I also unintentionally create a hierarchy of the trinity- God, Jesus, Holy Spirit- which is of course ridiculous! But it is so exciting to see Jesus as God personified and then knowing that the Holy Spirit is God currently at work in this world. There's no hierarchy. And there is so much revelation of God. It certainly makes me fall that much more in love with Jesus knowing that the God I've always called upon is him. Basically, this chapter brought an extremely fresh light on old knowledge.

Cheers!

A place where everybody knows your name... I'm old(ish)... but this was an old television show with some classic characters where they all shared life around the local watering hole.  I loved how DJ pg 141 talks about how important a name was back in the day.  "In the first century, if you knew someone's name, you knew something about the person's nature and character. Jesus lives and dies to make His Father's nature and character known to the world." To me that speaks incredibly to His character and how His Father is glorified.
Being a follower of Jesus, the TRUE HUMAN who walk(s)ed this earth is to live and die to announce and reveal the Name of His Father.  Is that my goal? Is that my mission? Is that my followership?

Thanks everybody for challenging me over the past few weeks.  It has been incredible to journey with you all and share and hear WHO Jesus is together... Thanks for being honest, vulnerable and also available to chat and discuss and be stretched and challenged by you all!  Looking forward to serve together as we all are encouraged to "LOOK!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KtAgAMzaeg

Thanks everybody!
Andy

"It is the Lord.....

I want to thank you guys for the last 9 weeks and the journey we took together via Who Is Jesus.  I thought the training weekend was such a great way to finish up the Admin study.  I don't know about you but for me Jesus was so real and so present at both training weekends.  I believe the study helped me see Him and hear Him more clearly.  So see and now read the Barney's excitement for a person! Not a study or a program - a person!  To see and now read the Trainees and drivers talk about following a person is so exciting!  My encouragement, challenge, and Svenhard's to you and I is to continue to press into the person of Jesus like never before.  There is no doubt in my mind drivers, barneys, and trainees will need John-like figures to their Peter-like responses to Jesus (the study on Sunday morning). And more importantly our Peter-like responses will demand a need for a John-like admin team to never give up on each other......... "It is the Lord Andy, It is the Lord Joseph, It is the Lord ADK, It is the Lord Emily, It is the Lord Mike, It is the Lord Josh, It is the Lord Katy, It is the Lord Katie, It is the Lord Steve, It is the Lord Reid!"

Always pointing each other to Jesus when we ourselves cannot recognize Him.  If we want the staff to experience Laughter and tears it starts with the Admin team.   

-Reid

Hebrews 2:11

"Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters." - Hebrews 2:11

The past two weekends (and the past couple of years) during the I Am Statement testimonies, I've picked "I am a child of God" because of the ways that God has revealed to me that I don't have to be a perfect child. When I read the first paragraph at the top of page 141, that is the first thing that came to mind. "Jesus is not ashamed to call them - broken human beings - brothers and sisters." We are gifts given to Jesus, and the Father never gives bad gifts. Yes, we are imperfect and we are broken, but both Jesus and the Father are not ashamed of that. Both Jesus and the Father love us unconditionally despite of that. Jesus still calls us brothers and sisters. And the Father still calls us beloved sons and daughters.

Short and sweet...but that's all I've got! Excited to continue the blogging experience with you guys on the barney and driver blogs!

Quotes from Darrell Johnson (143-144)

“Here I am.” “Here I am,” says the representative human. “Here I am,” says God the Son as one of us. “Here I am,” says the One who is us! “Here I am – and all the children You have given Me.”

That is the gospel of Hebrews 1 and 2. God loves humanity that He becomes humanity. God so loves us that He becomes us. God has not given up on His original design.  The Living God so wants us to be all He wants us to be that He becomes all He wants us to be!”

“Here I am.” Finally.
“Here I am.” The true human.
God the true human!

And that, brothers and sisters, is why we are drawn like a magnet to Jesus of Nazareth. That is why we find him irresistible.  Who is Jesus? He is everything we were meant to be. He is everything we long to be.

To Him be all the praise and glory now and forever more. Amen. 

Another Comment that Became a Post

Responding to Emily's Post on the Holy Spirit and Yearning For the Father --      Very, very, very, very deep..... makes me think.....a heart's "father" yearning is like breath seeking the lungs that bore it.....in a garden.....at creation.....at calvary (which is in a garden by the way in the gospel of John)......your post is like a voyage to the depths of meaning....it is beyond understanding and pushes me to embrace that Faith is perhaps most real & soul piercing when based not on what I comprehend but on the one who has comprehended me, who seeks me, and finds me.....when I was convinced..... I would die alone.

Brilliant! to quote Darrell

Since college I have had this affinity for the Old Testament, the words that were spoken and written about Jesus in the OT then brought forth in the New Testament to show us that we have known about Jesus all along. Well, of course we have known about Jesus all along we have access to both the old and new testament but for those living in the time of the new testament it was brilliant to have the author of Hebrews go back to the words of God in the Old Testament to show who Jesus was and is. God had given the words and the author of Hebrews knew where they were and how to share them with those during the time of the New Testament but now they are words for us too! Brilliant! God has spoken so clearly to us about who Jesus is and yet so often to hang out hats on and listen to Jesus is from others, although valuable nothing replaces hearing from a Father about a Son. Recently in a new marriage where I was lucky enough to not only gain and awesome husband but step-daughter as well this resonated with me in a new way. I had heard many other people who knew Kimmy (my 5 year old now) talk about her and tell stories but to really know her I listen to Jon, no one knows her better than her father. To know her better or to get to know her better outside of spending time with her the next best thing is to go to Jon. In the same way with Jesus, it is vital that I not only spend time with Him but with his Father getting to know who He is!

Here we are

woah. The last few pages of chapter nine are seriously blowing my mind.  This post may not even make sense but here goes nothing...

"do you hear what Jesus is saying? ... the Father is finally getting an answer to the very question He asked humanity.  In the garden, in the garden that had become a cemetery because of the sin of Adam and Eve...God calls out, 'where are you?' .... Here I am. Here I am says the representative human. Here I am says God the Son as One of us.  Here I am says the One who is us! Here I am - and all the children you have given me"

woah.

I have to say the most life changing season of my walk with Jesus so far was when I felt Him call me out of hiding.  I had spent so much time hiding behind these identities I had formed for myself in the things I achieved or the things I was good at, I hid behind lies, I hid behind other people's personalities that I thought were better than mine, I hid behind shame.  When I heard "I love you, the one I created, not any of those other things. I love you. What freedom.  I've never felt so bare and vulnerable and free.  To stand and look God in the eye and say Here I am.  Me, not any of those other things, me.

what a full circle moment to realize in that time it wasn't me on my own that stood there in freedom to say here I am.  That it was Jesus who died on the cross and then came to introduce me to the Father.  As His body was ripped He tore the curtain and instead of me saying Here I am, I hear Jesus say, "here she is".  I was hidden from Christ by my sin.  When Jesus broke that barrier I hid myself away behind shame.  I find humbly that it was not me who finally found the courage to say Here I am - but Jesus who says here we are.  When God cries out "where are you Emily".  The only reason I can answer is because Jesus stands with me.  He has removed my shame. He has unburied me from all self made barriers.

I don't know...wish I could explain what just happened in my head better but thats the best I got... processing overload!

The Beauty of the Sky & The Experience

Chapter 8-I was immediately struck by the language of the universe and of light in this chapter.

"Jesus the Son is 'the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of God's nature' (Heb. 1:3).  The word "radiance" means "shining forth."  It is the property of light to shine forth; light radiates light.  It is the property of God to shine forth; God radiates God.  The radiation is Jesus the Light."

I think it is amazing that Jesus, who we referred to as the Light a few chapters ago is once again referred to as the Light in this chapter when discussing his relationship to the Father.  God is the king of the Universe, sitting somehow out there beyond our imagination and beyond what we can even begin to understand.  Yet, how can I begin to understand the nature of God (although I tend to think I understand it so perfectly because in my potholes I think I know exactly how God thinks about me and how He views me and I cannot fathom any other possibility!) when I cannot even begin to understand the nature of our own reality, the nature of our world, and even the nature of the Universe?  Human reason can only extend to what is seen and even at that it falters.  Humans can only understand a micro-bit of everything God has created, including His divine, beautiful, unfathomable nature and character.  Yet, in His glory and beauty and magnificence, He shines His light in and through Jesus Christ who is made awesomely visible to us every night as we look up.  We see God's radiance shining through Jesus in the beauty of the constellations.  And still yet God uses the sky to remind us of His covenant (as explained to Noah) using rainbows.  The clouds remind us of the purity of the Spirit.  The sun reminds us of the light of Christ that we are called to reflect.  It is so beautiful how God makes use of everything, including the sky, to remind of His radiance, beauty, and unimaginable nature.  It is so marvelous ("Into Marvelous Light I'm Running") that it causes all of us, even those who are "blinded by the Light," to continue to search, seek, and look further into the Universe where we are told God's throne sits!  i speak to the Mediator, radiated by stars, to pass the message along to God somewhere off in eternity for Him to hear my deepest, simplest, worst, best, most beautiful, most disgusting feelings, thoughts, and emotions. 

Another thought that blows my mind-"You are son.  Today I have become your Father."  But, "there was not a time when the Father was not the Father."  So, God has always been a Father and Jesus has always been the Son-there was never a time when God was not a Father.  Since the beginning of time, of which there is no beginning, God has been a Father.  That must mean that when God formed, Jesus formed.  But they never formed because they have always been, living in eternity.  Blowing my mind.  I don't even know what to make of it all. 

Chapter 9-"Jesus conquers death not by avoiding it or commanding it to disappear but by experiencing it."  Jesus experiences death.  Jesus suffers.  Jesus feels every human emotion that are aware of and experience everyday.  He is the perfect Mediator because He knows what it is to be perfect (on one side of the canyon) and what it is to feel temptation, suffer, hurt, and die (on the other side of the canyon).  Who better to mediate for us?!  When people ask me what I will be doing this summer, I try to "explain" Sonshine to them.  But as we all know, I think, you cannot explain Sonshine, explain houseboats, or really even explain Jesus-YOU HAVE TO EXPERIENCE IT.  What an amazing role model.  Jesus EXPERIENCES every emotion we experience.  He knows.  He has been there.  He is not blind to our pain, or our joy!  He has experienced it all. 
In class today, two students began to briefly argue over the best Mexican food restaurant in the area (completely unrelated to the topic at hand... but nonetheless relevant to this topic!).  One student said that the best one was down the street and the other one said the best one was in the adjacent city.  They then immediately jumped into the questioning, "Well, have you been there?!"  "No..."  The student had NOT been there and so the other student refused to believe that his experience at this restaurant was legitimate because he has NEVER EXPERIENCED it.  Yet, Jesus experiences it.  I can't sit here and pray saying, "Yeah Jesus, but HAVE YOU DEALT WITH THIS?"  But, what do I do anyway?  I assume he doesn't understand what I am going through.  But, he knows BETTER than I do!  He knows.  He has experienced it!  Jesus has experienced my experiences.  He was fully human.  That is why Jesus can make all of these claims (that he is the light, the stronger man, "He", etc.)... because he was fully God and fully human!  I need to learn to fully relish in Jesus' full humanness and full Godness, understanding that He knows exactly what I am going through, not just because He is omnipresent but because he has also experienced everything and more than I have, am, or will experience.

Hearing What The Holy Spirit Intended

What really stood out to me in the Chapter about listening to who God says Jesus is are all the old testament references.  Over and over again this chapter notes how the author of Hebrews "hears what The Holy Spirit intended".  At the time, these passages of the OT were assumed to be about human kings, and as Darrel notes, where even read about/over kings when they took their human thrones.  however, "the people of God realize that God was speaking beyond David and Solomon and beyond all other mere human kings. The words to david about Solomon were clearly spoken about someone to come" (123).

God made some pretty awesome claims/promises about Jesus in the OT before people even knew Him.  It got me thinking about God's promises and whether or not I "hear something more; what the Holy Spirit [intends] to be heard".  The kings of the OT clearly could not fulfill or live up to the lofty promises of a King promised from God who would reign eternally.  If the Israelites were looking for a king or mere human to fulfill God's promises how futile and disappointing that must have been.  But I realize that I do this all the time.  I look for things of this world to fulfill God's promises to me.  The fulfillment that completes God's promises to me are like nothing I could find on earth.  In fact, His promises to me are greater than anything I could imagine on earth.  So of course the things that I can see/touch/talk to/comprehend will never be the fulfillment of what He has promised.

Just as Darrel points out that in speaking of this king "the psalmist is speaking beyond what He knows" I realize that my heart yearns for something beyond what I know.  My heart yearns for a relationship/love/Father beyond what I know, beyond what I could imagine.  So when I am promised a perfect loving Father, when I am promised to be a daughter loved and treasured - these are promises easily mistaken in the world, but perfectly fulfilled in the One who is not of this world.  The Holy Sprit intends for me to hear Jesus in these promises.

Pointing the Finger(s)

I am finding that the more I read this book, the more questions I have!  Is anyone else experiencing that?

The Father saying who Jesus is:
"God says, 'Let all the angels worship Him." (DJ., p. 124)
"The Father says to Jesus, 'O God." (DJ., p. 125)
"The Father addresses Jesus as 'O Lord." (DJ., p. 126)


Jesus (as a young boy in the temple) saying who God is:
"Why did you seek me?  Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"  (Luke 2:49)

Layman's translation:
youmemeyou, youmemeyou, youmemeyou...  :)

They are both pointing to each other.  I know that Jesus is the human form of God, so it makes perfect sense that they would point to each other. 

Darrell is putting a lot of emphasis on God pointing to Jesus, and rightfully so.  However, Jesus also points to God.  I think it deserves to be pointed out that they point to each other furthering the argument that they are One. 

Thoughts?

Spaghetti Bridges

I'm not going to lie, I got really excited when DJ talked a little about engineering in this chapter. :) The picture (yay visuals! - PS thanks for the drawing a few posts ago Katie) of Jesus as the master bridge builder is such a beautiful revelation of what He came to do.

The first thing that came to my mind when I thought about how often we try to build our own bridges to God is a simple engineering project that I've heard about at Poly. The professor posses this problem to the students: you have a package of spaghetti noodles and scotch tape and you need to build the longest bridge off of the desk that you possibly can. Now, I picture us...building bridges in this life with spaghetti noodles. And I think even if you're not an engineer it's pretty obvious that those bridges (especially when you're only building from one side) won't last very long. For one of two reasons: 1. it won't even make it to the other side before we start walking on it or 2. come on, it's made of spaghetti noodles! But so often we try to bridge the gap, we try to perform, we try to plan our next steps, we try to do life on our own and all we're doing is building a spaghetti bridge.

And even if we had something to build with that was more sustainable than spaghetti, the gap that we are trying to bridge is an eternal separation. I don't know about you guys, but building a bridge that is infinitely long would be exhausting. And that's what we do! All the time! We build our own bridge.

And every now and then our bridge falls, the spaghetti noodles break and we start falling with it, but what happens? We land on another bridge that was underneath us the whole time - it's structurally sound and stretching all the way across the eternal canyon. We see His arms outstretched, a crown of thorns on His head, His body beaten - He is the bridge and the bridge is FINISHED! It's already built, we just didn't see it because we were too busy trying to build our own. He is the master bridge builder. He built it from both sides of the gap - the only way it would have ever been completed. Why waste time and energy on our own bridges, when the one we want to be on is already built and is way better than one we could  ever build on our own?! What needs to be done has already been done!


One other thought..."Sit, My Son, My only begotten Son whom I have loved for all eternity" (128). As much as I read this as a beckon to Jesus to sit with the Father, I also read it like this "Sit, my Daughter, my beloved little girl whom I have loved for eternity." A call to come and sit with the Father. To sit. And be. Just be.

Perfect Timing

Chapter 7 Reflections:

"It is during the water ceremony on the last and greatest day of the Feast, says John, that Jesus cries out above the noisy crowd:  "If you are thirsty, come to Me and drink;..."  (DJ, .p.98)

"It is during the light ceremony that Jesus stands up and says, "I Am the Light of the kosmos.  Anyone who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of Life..."  (DJ, p. 99)

Jesus had perfect timing.  He knew the exact event and moment when to speak up and  proclaim who He was.  Because the ancient worshippers were in the midst of the Feast of Tabernacles they would have been "in tune" with the analogies He was making (although they may not have been in agreement with the claims He was making).

Jesus has perfect timing.  He knows the exact event and moment to speak up in our lives.  He knows the scope and sequence of our lives.  He knows when our lives need to be shaken up, and when He needs to go "radio silent" for a while.  He knows where we need to be in our lives and when we need to be there.  His timing is perfect....always.

 

Funneling Part 2 - Desantis' Meaning of Life Model

Your post reminds me that "LIFE" receives meaning through blood.  Scripture literally says LIFE is in the blood (Leviticus.)  Scripture says Jesus is LIFE.  Christ's blood "funnelled" to you in you and through you is the circulation of LIFE.  His Blood is MERCY. His blood is FORGIVENESS. So what's the meaning of life?  What is the meaning of funneling?  Receiving and dispensing FORGIVENESS.  How does this body organized as SSCM LIVE?  It lives by humbly receiving and enthusiastically dispensing FORGIVENESS.  So cheers to FUNNELLING.  Cheers to LIFE/Blood. Cheers to forgiveness which flows as blood from the foundation of the world through the slaughtered lamb on the throne.  What is the meaning of LIFE? - FORGIVENESS through the LIFE in you which is JESUS in you.

I just can't contain myself!

God showed up this weekend and lamb slapped with so much goodness!!! Barneys were amazing, talks were amazing, all of you were amazing, and God just so far exceeds amazing. I certainly found myself ending the weekend asking myself: if things hadn't gone as well as they did would I still have found myself here praising Gods name? I sure like to think so, but it was a good reminder for the times that won't look the way we expect- do we still proclaim God's goodness?

I came home and began journaling and this is the mental image I just can't get out of my head:

Heres what followed: God, Father, you are the person holding the pitcher. Jesus, you are the pitcher that carries whatever the Father fills you with. Holy Spirit: you are the water that fills ours and other's cup.
The person pouring the water (God) doesn't need the funnel to fill the cup but he chooses to use it! And it doesn't work if all the pieces aren't operating in accordance with what they were created to do.
Finally, sometimes you're the funnel and sometimes your the cup. Sometimes God fills us through someone else being the funnel and sometimes we are the funnel through which God flows. But what is so cool is that it feels SO good experiencing BOTH!!! It feels wonderful being filled up with Jesus through someone in our lives but it also feels so good to be the funnel! Because the water of the Holy Spirit flows through the funnel often times we feel just as filled up as the cup. Anyways, to say the least I'm a little overwhelmed with the goodness, joy, and love of the Lord!
P.S. Blog on Who is Jesus? coming soon...

The only mediator we need

Jesus..."The one final, sufficient Priest, surpassing and replacing all other orders of priests. Jesus the High Priest comes from the presence of God and brings us into the presence of God. Jesus is the only priest we need. Jesus is the only mediator we need. Thus, right at the beginning, the author of Hebrews preaches the good news. 'Jesus has become as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs'(1:4)" (119).

     This passage reminds me of a week on Shasta last summer. In my quiet time with God I kept hearing 'Anneliese you need to know Jesus' And I was like God, I know who Jesus is. and all week God was pushing me to Jesus - 'You need to KNOW Jesus'. You need to start with Jesus - you are missing out on who JESUS is. And then I went into panic mode "What does it mean that You are pushing me toward Jesus - do I really not know Jesus - whats happening? What does that make me?"
     So from that point on it was a humbling process of starting at the beginning - which though it felt humbling at the time when I think about it- it was/is an amazing blessing to explore and try to comprehend the significance of Jesus in my life with God's encouragement and challenge. And the biggest revelation was Jesus is the mediator! I realized I had been reading about Jesus and asking about Jesus but praying to God the Father and I had this bizarre, or limited, perception of the role Jesus was to play in my life. Its this life-transforming realization - what Jesus truly is to me - the intimacy I can truly feel with Jesus - that Jesus is the mediator because he understands! Its another reason why I love this book because i am constantly being pushed to the cross - to the concepts that I glazed over as a child - as a teenager - as a college student - I didn't know how to experience that truth. I couldn't be vulnerable until God taught me how to be authentic. So what is it that keeps people (kept me) from exploring the truth about Jesus in an emotional way? From exploring true intimacy with Christ? Is this the fear of having to understand something so outside of our comfort zones? Is it the fear of being trapped in a glass case of emotion [because that will happen]?
     God,  this summer when I am returning laundry, shopping at Costco and teaching staff to inventory - how are you going to use me to show how transforming it is to be in a relationship with Jesus? I can't wait to live it and I can't wait to see it. I experience daily the difference that it makes to be willing to ask about Jesus - to be willing to ask Jesus - and to be willing to listen. Jesus, I am excited to see hearts transformed in your name this summer, among campers, staff, Lodi, Shasta Lake, Larson Marine, the offices, Paradise Point staff. Push us closer to you Jesus and let that excitement shine through us. Everything is about to get crayzay

"That's my Boy!"

Reading through this chapter I felt like I was reading a letter that a father wrote to his son.  Paralleling this feeling with reading through Hebrews with different lenses was pretty incredible.

To Which of the Angles Did God Ever Say...?

• You are my son... "You are my son; today I have begotten you"
• This is my Son whom I have chosen, listen to him... Luke 9:35 (121) (Johnson, Darrrell Who is Jesus?)
• I will be His Father and He Will Be My Son... Hebrews 1:5 (123)(Johnson, Darrrell Who is Jesus?)
• God the Father identifies Himself as the Father of the Son as much as He identifies His Son as His.
• Is this like saying God saying to me..."I am Andy's Father, and He is my Son"? (I think every child desires/needs to hear that from their parent. I know I want to hear it from my father.  I guess that's what parents experience walking into their child's classroom.  "I am _____'s Father.")

I don't know about anyone else but I want to hear Darrell's sermon that he references to on pg 124.

"Jesus is the unique, only begotten Son of the Father.  The wonder of the Gospel is that we who are made are adopted by the Father into that unique relationship- but this is another sermon!"

It was heartwarming to read how the Father spoke about His Son, so genuine, so honest, so gentle, yet with great authority and honor!  That is the SAME FATHER that calls us His children... I think I'm getting into what Reid was blogging about... now I'm crying. (...it's just dust in both my eyes...)

THANK YOU JESUS FOR BEING WHO HE CREATED YOU TO BE and for allowing us to be adopted into that unique relationship with the Father.  

Who is Jesus??? Who is Reid??

Listening to the Father say Who Jesus is has encouraged me to listen to the Father and Jesus say who I am!!!  Ok, I know this is about Jesus but reading through Hebrews and hearing the Father and Jesus talk about each other makes it really hard to not hear them talk about who are!  Because who they are makes us who we are!!!!!!

"I am trapped in a glass case of emotion right now" - Ron Burgundy

Ron said it so right - Jesus is/was a glass case of the Fathers Character.  Looking at Jesus, hearing the Father say who Jesus is reveals who the Father is. 

"Jesus is a glass case of the Father's heart" - Reid Delgado

"The main point is what has been said is this: we have such a high priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens" (Hebrews 8:1)

Happy Training Weekend =)

A Bridge to Calvary and Communion

The Latin word for priest is pontifex.  What is interesting to note is that pontifex is an engineering term.  In particular a pontifex is a bridge builder.  A priest is a bridge builder; a mediator is a bridge builder.

In order to build a bridge, the builder has to know both sides of the canyon over which the bridge is to be built, right?  Jesus is the great Bridge Builder because He knows both sides of the canyon between God and humanity very well. (120) (Johnson, Darrell Who is Jesus?)

This passage spurred me to ask -  I what places do you sense a want to hide from the master bridge builder?  Is there a bridge that Jesus has established in your heart that you’d like to abandon or not walk down?  Often I see the bridge leading to calvary.  Jesus wants to lead me there to share His glory.  Jesus continue to refine your passion in me and glorify your name in blood and testimony. 

Again and again we hear Him saying things like “I only say what I hear the Father say,” or “I only do what I see My Father do.”  As David Gooding of Irelande puts it: “No prophet, priest, poet, or king ever spoke of God as his personal Father in the way and to the extent that Jesus did.”….the wonder of the Gospel is that we who are made are adopted by the Father into that unique relationship.” (124) (Johnson, Darrrell Who is Jesus?)

Thanks Jesus for inviting me into communion with the dynamic relational activity of you, your Father, and the Holy Spirit.  Thank you for choosing before the foundation of time to make us  in your image. 

Ani hu... (Any who...)

I think that could be a cool boat name... what if the entire fleet answered the question Who is Jesus?

Reading this chapter I appreciate how Darrell tells us a bit about his own journey and background.  It is always fascinating to hear how following God can dramatically alter someones life.  From career choice to health, to living location, friends, etc... all these can change in an instant when they experience Him in a new way.  You could almost hear Darrell's excitement when he writes...

"I was further taken back by the fact that the writers of the New Testament  gave to Jesus names and titles which only the God of the Old Testament had.  For instance, they called Jesus, "The Holy One" and "Lord." As I read the New Testament, I saw that Jesus performs deeds which only the GOd of the Old Testament performs.  Jesus forgives sins! Jesus raised the dead!  Jesus stills the raging waters of the sea of Galilee! and Jesus makes people's response to Him the basis of their eternal destination.  He was worshiped; He was given the kind of praise and adoration which only the Living God deserves. " (96) DJ, Who is Jesus?

The teacher at our church this week referred to Jesus as a Liar, Lunatic or LORD.  This reminded me of the true scandal it was when Jesus would declare these titles.  "I AM HE" in the middle of a feast celebrating the Jewish Nation's deliverance... and This Guy proclaims I AM HE!  Lunatic- outrageous claim  with outrageous timing.

John 18- I love hearing Darrell describe  Vs. 6.  "Why did they fall to the ground? Were the Jews so accustomed to prostrating themselves immediately when they heard the divine pronouns.  " pg 107.

I want this to be my reaction, to fall on the ground at the mention of His name.
 Father, I want to know you and have reverence for your name as the people in BC times. Father forgive me when I don't.  When I resist, when I reject.  Jesus may I see you (Ani Hu) as who You are! 

Mysterious, Miraculous, Spirit Pouring

A couple quotes that stood out this week are as follows:

“As I read the New Testament, I saw that Jesus performs deeds which only the God of the Old Testament performs.  Jesus forgives sins! Jesus raises the dead! Jesus stills the raging waters of the Sea of Galilee! And Jesus makes people’s response to Him the basis of their eternal destination!” (96) – (Johnson, Darrell Who is Jesus?)

The Feast recalls that miracle and celebrates the fact that it was a sign of the greater miracle to come – the miracle of God pouring out of His Spirit upon His people, filling and flooding them with the water of life.

The reading this week prompted many questions for me. One set of questions are as follows; What is so special about Jesus?  How is he miraculously pouring out His Spirit upon His people?  How is He miraculously pouring out His spirit on you?

 

One answer to these questions is - God is miraculously pouring out His spirit right now through the testimony of His saints that are serving on admin with Sonshine Ministries and/or contributing to the blog. Thanks for sharing your journey via the blog.  Your stories, thoughts, and impressions bring rich encouragement and intrigue about the mystery of Christ's gospel and His new world order that He is establishing through you. For me, your writings are a glorious appearing and out pouring of Spirit. Thanks! 

I Am He

reading this chapter I realized this is really the message I have heard each chapter: I am HE.  When I read this passage it hit me like a ton of bricks, "Woman, you need not go another place, for I Am He, the very one you seek to worship" (106).

With each name, in each chapter, through each description of Himself, I have heard Jesus tell me, "I am enough for you".

I Am the One you are looking for
I Am the One your heart longs for
I Am the One you are seeking to worship
I AM HE

Jesus: "whom do you seek"
Emily: "blah blah blah [every hope, desire, need, longing, passion, dream]
Jesus: "I Am He"

Ok! Jesus I hear you! It's You! You are the One! You are my One!

When I read this chapter I look back on these past few years and I hear  "Anneliese, don't you get it? I AM HE. That is all you need to know right now, that is all you need to trust in, that is TRUTH" He has every right to demand my life, to guide me in a life that glorifies Him. He deserves impassioned worship! He is everything. EVERYTHING.
And as I continue this semester and work with you all this summer we are called to do everything in reference to Him. Because that is all we need to know but that is what I always forget - It's HIM! HE IS. That is life. true life.

What Else Did They Want?

"God created no evil; nothing God made was originally evil.  This being - Satan, devil, accuser- became evil as a result of his decision to be independent of God."  (DJ p. 87)

I really appreciate DJ's concise explanation of a very commonly asked question,  "Did God create evil?"  I also am extremely convicted of the consequence that happens when I try to be independent from God, worry over my own life plans, and act as if God is not in control.   Being independent from God is dark, evil, and essentially hell.

"Since he cannot get at God - for he is not God's equal - he goes after what is closest to God's heart.  Humans.  (DJ p. 88).

Wow, we are that loved by God.  Of all of creation that God could love, he loves us the most. 

"Jesus would simply show up and demonic powers would cry out, "I know who You are!  The Holy One of God"  (Mark 1:24)  (DJ p. 80). 

The note in the margin of my book for this sentence was, "How could the Jews not have believed?  What else did they want?!!"  It truly baffles me that past and present-day Jews could and cannot see that in the presence of this man, demons would and do cry out and flee.  How could this have been an ordinary man?  C.S. Lewis was right when he said that people have to think that Jesus was either liar, lunatic, or Lord.  The Holy Spirit was not present at this time in history that Jesus was casting out demons, so could that explain why many did not believe? The Spirit was not there to change hearts.  But what about now?  Our Jewish brothers and sisters, who believe in the same God, how do they deny who Jesus was?  I am curious and am at a loss.

Hematidrosis

For Spring Break I am traveling up to Indiana with my housemate. We stopped in St Louis on the way up and walked by the court house where Dred Scott fought for his freedom from slavery. Despite his evidence, proof, and claims, the judges determined that "Any person descended from Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of the United States, according to the Constitution." I imagine Scott standing in that court room: "I am a human being, created equally and beautifully-a masterpiece of The Lord." The ridicule, laughter, and accusations of "blasphemy" he must have received. Yet he did not fight back nor did he relent. He held his position as tough, humiliating, and painful it must have been. As Jesus stood in front of the High Priest and claimed, "I Am He," imagine the ridicule, laughter and documented accusations of blasphemy we know he received. Yet our God persists! Turn the other cheek. Peter, put down your sword, shalom! Imagine all the moments of Jesus' life that are not chronicled by which he was laughed at, scoffed at, spit at... Yet not once did he give up-he persevered. He was under more stress than we could ever imagine-sweating blood! He sweat blood! A very rare condition, hematidrosis, by which a person swears blood because they are under extreme leves of stress! Yet!, when the guards come to arrest the already bloodied Jesus, what does he say? I AM HE!!!! I often think of Jesus as God but tend to forget that he was fully human. I can only imagine the state of his heart as it pumps gallons of blood through his body as his pulse increases and bloodied sweat is excreted from his body. But he perseveres. Not my will but Your's. Our Goe experienced the greatest amount of suffering, physically through hematidrosis, scourging, and asphyxiation but also emotionally as he relentlessly states I Am He although his disciples will abandon him. He persevered for me. For all of us. He knew he was called for a greater purpose and refused to let mocking, laughter, humiliation, blood, pain, or suffering stand in his way. If that is not enough proof, in of itself, that Jesus truly is He, I don't know what is. No other human (as CS Lewis reminds us: Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius) could endure the torment faced by our amazing God. It is impossible. Yet because Jesus is He, he endured and persevered for a sinner like me to experience mercy and grace.

You Are?!

Jesus has revealed to me, through DJ, that there is so much more to the words "I Am He" than I ever knew. I loved when DJ talked about the other places Jesus makes this claim, where he asks (on page 106) "is Jesus simply saying, 'I am the Messiah'...'it's me Jesus'...'I'm the one you're looking for'?" No, Jesus is saying so much more than that.

"Woman, you need not go to another place, for I Am He, the very One you seek to worship." So, you're saying all those worldly things, the praise, the grades, the image, that I desire so much, that I seek after so hard, that I worship before I worship you...I don't need to go after those? You, who are standing right in front of me, are the One I am ultimately seeking to worship? 

"You need not be afraid, I can control the seas, I Am He." So, you're saying that in the times when all I see are waves crashing all around me...I don't need to fear? You, the one who is walking on water, are the One who controls the seas?

You are Ani, Ani hu? Ego, ego eimi? You are I Am He? 

You are God who became flesh?

You are Jesus, who's hands were nailed to the cross?

You are God, who suffers there, and became sin there?

You are the One who died for me?

"Yes! Yes! A thousand times -- YES!" Thank you that the answers to all those questions are YES, a thousand times yes!

On page 107, when DJ brings up the Jewish officers' reactions to Jesus's claim, I was struck by this sentence, "were those Jews so accustomed to prostrating themselves immediately when they heard the divine pronouns, "I-He," that they responded without thinking?" How often is that our response when in the presence of the Lord, when hearing His name? Not often enough, I don't think.

"In light of His great Tabernacle claim we see why life is so miserable when we do not do it Jesus's way. The only rational, sensible, logical, truly realistic thing to do is surrender to the Center of Life. ...If Jesus is in fact who He thinks He is, the He is worthy of our impassioned worship. He is worthy of our impassioned love. He is worthy of our impassioned allegiance in every sector of life!"

May that be how we live our lives. Surrendered to the I Am He, giving all worship, love, and allegiance to Him in every part of our life. And even if we don't...He'll probably just "walk into our lives" and command it anyway: "Come to me. Follow me. Lose your life for Me!" :)

Walk into our lives....

Page 109 - a very small paragraph has been in my face all week (all my life).  " Given who He thinks He is, He has every right to walk into our lives, interrupt our plans and command us: "Come to me. Follow me. Lose your life for me!"

Come to me - All day long - from the minute I wake up the Spirit of Jesus whispers to me, "Come to me."  What do I do?  Do I obey? Do I ignore? Do I say no? Do I say yes...but never come?  More often than not yes!  I respond YES JESUS - but then fail to pick up the feet of my heart and head and move towards Him. 

Follow Me - "Ok - hold on - I am almost done with this Jesus...be right there!" Sound Familiar?

Lose your life for me! - Jesus- mucho take it easy on the death talk! You came to give life and give it more abundantly - what is with all this crucifixion talk?

Man I had a hard week in relationship with Jesus - I need him more than ever to be the "I AM HE"

Blah, meh and just ok

Those are 3 ways I hope I am never described as or Darrell Johnson puts it on page 110 "mild approval"

Darrell was quoting C.S. Lewis on that page "Lewis observes that Jesus produced only 3 effects on those He met. They are hatred, terror and adoration. 'There is no trace of people expressing mild disapproval'".  This is a concept I had never really looked at closely but was immediately intrigued when I read this. Jesus did not live a life that people looked at and felt so-so about, Jesus drew strong and clear emotion. It caused me to reflect on the church, other Christians and my own life. Truth be told I hope that I do not elicit terror or hatred from people but as I wrestle with my worldly fear of that response I realize that if people respond to me in those ways as I am walking with Jesus, I must be in good company. As my life is reflective of who Jesus is and how He is moving in my life I need to push aside the people pleaser and desire for adoration all the time, a life with Jesus may have others that do not adore me but elicit hatred or terror. Those are strong terms and although I may never experience that  harsh of a reaction I do need to prepare for people to push back and some people not wanting to engage because of my faith and love for Jesus but that my faith and love for Jesus can also draw people in to with His sweet aroma of grace, mercy, and love.

The Stockholm Effect

" The whole world and the circum-ambient atmosphere were filled with devils; not merely idolatry, but every phase and form of life was ruled by them. They sat on thrones and hovered around candles. The earth was literally a hell."- Adolf Harnack pg 81-82

"God's enemy seeks to  destroy humanity: not because he hates us but because he he hates God; he wants to destroy God. But since he cannot get at God, he goes after what God has made, especially human beings, made in God's image. He goes after what is closest to God's heart. Humans." pg 88

I find these both oddly comforting. I so quickly forget that I am not loved by this world. This world, my sin, does not love me, care about my well being, or want me to live in my true image. But how often do I cherish them? I forget that this world is still a house occupied by the strong man and that I live in it though I am on the side of the stronger man. I think I often run the risk of not giving enough credit to Satan's hold on this world, and when I do this I diminish the incredible victory that the stronger man achieves. If I do not fully appreciate the power of the strong man I cannot fully appreciate the power of the strongER man. Do I see this earth as a literal hell that God is conquering minute by minute? That is a lot to be impressed with and amazed at! I thank him for constantly breaking through and for always emerging victorious.

call to action!

For me I heard in this chapter on the Stronger Man a serious call to action
"'I will build my church', says Jesus, 'and the gates of hell will not prevail against it' (matt 6:18). Most people have taken this to mean that as Jesus builds his church in the world, hell will try and destroy it but will not succeed.  this is true. The powers of hell will try and not succeed.  But what Jesus is really saying is that He will build His church and the church will move into hell's strongholds and hell will not  prevail against the church!" (92)

Woah! reading this passage made me question what I do now given the authority of being a child of God and the assurance that Jesus has bound the strong man.  I realized most of the time I stand outside the strong man's house ready to defend myself against attacks.  This passage reminded me that I am not called to defense, I am called to action! I am called to move forward, take ground, plunder the strongman's house with Jesus! If I am feeling pretty secure and un-attacked by satan it's not because my strategy of defense is so great, its because I'm not dangerous for the kingdom.  I am no threat to the kingdom of darkness standing outside the strong man's house with my dukes up, I'm a threat to the kingdom of darkness when I move with the authority Jesus has given into the strong man's house, when I move to action into hell's strongholds! And the only reason I can do this? Jesus, the Stronger man, has bound the strong man and won my victory. All I have to do is move forward - the battle is won!

I think this last week I needed some serious reminders that Jesus is not only strong - but strongER. There are things about being back on USC's campus that have been really hard for me this year.  I'll be honest, i've been missing playing soccer a lot.  I thought choosing to drive last summer instead of play meant that finding my identity as an athlete didn't have a hold on me any more.  All summer long I didn't have one regret, I've never felt more myself.  But coming back to campus was ultimate heart break.  I avoid walking past the field and take alternate routes around campus to bypass the athletic offices to avoid feeling sad.  I try and forget that the opportunity was ever presented to me.  These last few weeks the what if's and heart ache feel like they have had such a hold on me.  Right after I decided not to play I had a convo with Reid where he reminded me that I was already delivered from finding my identity as an athlete.  but I didn't feel delivered and lately I still haven't and it was making me feel like I would never be, that this struggle was just too strong. But I was reminded that Jesus is strongER.

I was reminded of this while reading the prayers on the last page of the chapter
you spirits behind false idols and false sources of self worth: as strong as you are, Jesus is stronger, and He binds you. You must let me go free. 

Control -- An Incantation of Dark, Demonic Oppression

This book is really a great guide to reading through the Chronicles of Narnia.  My son was sick this weekend so we sat on the couch and plowed through 200 pages of Narnia living.  I was chatting with Kyle about the Calormenes (I think they are called.) I talked to him about how their speech is unique from the speech we find in the two previous books  Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe & Magician's Nephew.  The Calormenes speak with multi-syllable words and formality.  They have a highly developed set of rules pertaining to social conduct and C.S. Lewis reinforces the formality and structure of their civilization with their vocabulary and speech patterns.  When I chatted with Kyle about their speech we were sharing about the subtle ways that C.S. Lewis (brilliantly in my opinion) creates unique pieces of "stand alone" literature while at the same time tying them to a series.  I never thought for a moment as we chatted that perhaps he was also making a powerful, extremely relevant & personal-to-me poignant point about my susceptibility to the dark side of spiritual warfare.  He nailed me .....AND I DIDN'T SEE IT COMIN' - until Chapter 6.

Although the Calormenes are a huge empire, they have no interest with invading Narnia, a small land.  They don't want to mess with Narnia because Narnia they believe is infested with ancient demons & dark magic.

I didn't connect the their fear of Narnia with their formal speech until I read chapter 6 of Who is Jesus?

The Calormenes have no time or space for the demonic realm because they have filled their relationships with laws & rules of conduct.  Their relationships are epitomized by ROLES and prescribed rules of conduct.  They walk according to the ROLE. Speak according to ROLE.  Since they are so "in control" Narnia appears "out of control."  They are masters of ROLE CONTROL.

The connection is powerful for me. I think C.S. Lewis' point is and will continue to be that in those places (like where I grew up) where we think demonic activity is explained by physics, chemistry, and fall under our "control" are actually the places where demonic activity runs most rampant.  

The Calormenes want to remain isolated from ancient demonic activity.  The irony/reality is that the bondage of spiritual oppression was far heavier among the Calormenes; they simply denied its existence and resisted the light of truth which would reveal a "things" ultimate spiritual nature.

Simply put -- this chapter and in a very vivid & emotionally stunning way The Horse and His Boy, have knocked me to my knees and spurred me to confess: "Oh God, I say again, when I think I'm in control, that is again Lord actually when I am out of control" and perhaps easy prey for dark magic.

Savior!!! Keep saving!!!!!

wow. i had forgot to post on chapter six until this morning and the timing actually worked out because chapel's topic revolved around the notions of demons and there were references to c.s. lewis' screwtape letters. so cool to see God tying things together personally in my head. The passage i was drawn to is apu's passage of the year, James 2 and also Mark 1 and Acts 19 (where the sons of sceva try to cast out a demon in the name of paul and Jesus and get beaten bloody).

James 2:18-20 says  ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

Letting faith spur deeds is huge i think. not out of misguided motive. also it gives me a practical view of putting on the armor of God and having a strong backbone of scripture to trust in.

His Muscles are Huge...

I thought it was interesting that D.J. talks about the evil one being a strong man, but Jesus as the Stronger man.  The imagery of the strong man being bound by the stronger man DJ 88-90 has been on my mind for days.  p.88 D.J. speaks of Jesus "liberating the hostages"and healing some kids and casting out demons.  "He has come to set the hostages free!"

The strong man's treasures are really the Stronger Man's.  The misfits, broken, weak, hurting, kids are REALLY Jesus the Stronger Man's treasures.  He sees the true value of (us).  He binds the strong man because he is STRONGER! He does not destroy the strong man, but He binds him.  Is this a torture of the evil one?  "This binding Jesus begins to do in the wilderness when Satan comes to test Him.  Three times the enemy tries to deflect Jesus from His mission.  Three times Jesus stands.  Jesus wins all the time, all three rounds and emerges form the wilderness with His Gospel:'The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God has come near."

I love how Jesus, being the stronger man is so humble, but He totally gets the Work done.  His muscles are huge.

Father, thanks for sending your Son to bind the strong man.  Thanks for calling us your precious treasure... you know how to take care of us, better than any strong man.  Thank you for being the STRONGER man!  

I was so 2 dimensional

This chapter really hit something I have thought about so often. The balance of how much power we give to the things in the world that are evil. I had not physically experienced spiritual warfare until one summer I spent on the lake and since then I have had this battle of not allowing the experience of this evil color all that I do but recognize that this is a part of the world we live in.  I love in this chapter though that even in that evil and when we feel it or experience it or it seems consuming Jesus has already bound it, he has already done the work! Praise God! His name is all we need to speak. The comfort and rest in His name.

I very much appreciated in the chapter the reminder of the 4 dimensional life that we live in. I very readily am able to regularly and often look at the physical and the human in an experience but do not put in the forefront the Living God and unseen spiritual world. In all situations I need to have these four lenses laid out so that I am able to fully experience life and do my best to understand what is laid before me. This helps with the balance view of my life.

exactly what we need, when we need it.

"Jesus's encounter with evil in the form of unclean spirits is fundamental to the Gospels' portrait of Jesus" (81). I feel like this fundamental aspect of who Jesus is, is often skipped over in modern church settings...at least it was when I was in junior high and high school, and I would venture to say even now. Of the four worldviews that DJ talks about, I feel like I've only ever really considered the first three: the human self, the physical universe, and the Living God, thus leaving out the unseen, created "spiritual" beings and powers.

When that fourth worldview does come up, it freaks me out a little bit. It's not something that I feel comfortable with. I think the first time I really took an in depth look at it was when we read through DJ's It Is Finished during my first summer as a driver. But there is such good news in the Stronger Man! And I wish I had known it sooner. "We need not fear the evil one in his desire to destroy" (91). "There is authority and power in Jesus' name!" (92) "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world turns out to be the Lion who takes down the ruler of evil" (91). So, I have no reason to freak out, because Jesus has already won. Jesus is the Stronger Man!


A few other random thoughts:
"The Stronger Man, taking what appeared to be a weak way, had bound the strong man" (91). What appeared to be a weak way...a towel and a wash basin, the floor of the mikey, the docks in 100+ degree weather, giving up a summer to work with college students and teenagers...ultimately the cross at Calvary. "For when I am weak, then I am strong..." only because the Stronger Man lives in me.

"Jesus comes into all the wreckage to make us whole again. Sometimes we need forgiveness. Sometimes we need physical healing. Sometimes we need psychological healing. And sometimes we need to be delivered from the work of Jesus's enemy" (89). He doesn't just fix it from afar. He comes into it. He is in the brokenness, He is in the pain, His is in the hurt...making us new...making us whole. And He gives us exactly what we need, when we need it.

Total Recall

I've got to hand it to the people of the days of yore...they had great memories! They were really good about recalling and remembering what God did and how faithful He was.  This is a big theme not only in the first few pages of Chapter 5, but throughout the Bible. 

"And they live in tents during the Feast as a way to recall that during those days the Living God Himself - Yahweh- graciously chose to live among the people..." (DJ p. 67).

"Briefly, the water ceremony helped recall how God miraculously provided water in the desert." (DJ p. 68).

"The light ceremony recalled God's gracious guidance of the ancestors in the desert."  (DJ. p. 69).

"God's gracious guidance was remembered during the Fest of the Tabernacles..." (DJ p. 69).

This really got me thinking.  As present-day Christians, do we remember God enough?  Do I remember God enough?  When decisions in my life need to be made or when great leaps of faith and trust need to be taken when there are no obvious signs, do I remember God's faithfulness in my life?  He has never left me, and never stopped loving me.  Do I remember God's faithfulness to His people?  He is the Light that never goes out.



"Jesus the Light leads us out of the vagueness of "God-talk" to know God as God really is.  Not all at once of course.  In the nature of things that is not possible.  It is too much to handle all at once.  But step by step, day by day, year by year Jesus reveals the Living God to us" (DJ p. 72).

Oh, what sweet release!  I don't have to have it all figured out right now!  What grace He gives us.  He gives us the gift of time, the gift of a journey with Him!! 




"But begin with Jesus and we begin with God's idea about God, we begin with God's idea about God's own personal self-revelation"  (DJ p. 72).

Oh dear,  where does this leave the Jews?  Even the most devout Jew, one who has studied God's word for his/her entire life, prayed fervently to Him still wouldn't truly know Him because it is their own idea about God?  That's heavy and tough.



"What makes it so bad is that the bondage blinds us so that we do not see the true nature of our condition.  Because He loves us, He exposes the terrible truth (DJ p. 75).

It is as if Jesus says to us, "You cannot see it [in yourself] so I have to shed light on it."   Lord, thank you!  Even though this is so painful and ugly, you are making me right with you.  "Consider it pure joy my brothers..."

"Jesus the Light knows where He is taking His church.  He knows where He is going and He will not leave us to walk in the darkness about His will"  (p. 78).
Thank you, Jesus!!!!

There is power in the name of Jesus

First of all I love how each chapter DJ builds the information up level by level and then by the middle-end my mind is blown because here are the implications of this Truth - this is Jesus and this is my life with Him

There is a lot of imagery in this chapter that I want to repeat.

 1.) The world is a house under siege (87)

 2.) He has come to plunder the strong man's house! He has come to set the prisoners free!!! (88)

 3.) As Jesus lets evil take Him down, graves were opened? Yes, because in the moment Jesus dies, death lost its grip. (90)

Jesus on the cross is the Stronger Man 

         And what does it mean when the Stronger Man is also the light of the world, the bread of life, the one who baptizes in and with the Holy Spirit, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?  And what does it mean that He invites me into relationship with Him?
         It means that there is power in the name of Jesus - it means that (as DJ mentioned) when I am confronted by evil in this world (which happens all too often) I can say "I belong to Jesus. He has bound you. You have no authority in my life. Be gone" I am living this life with the Stronger Man on my side.
         And now the challenge is to recognize that Almighty power- that its true - that is belongs to Him who loves me - that the power cannot be diminished by evil - and that I am not in this alone. Because when I try to resist that evil without calling upon the power of Jesus - or when I reason "its not reeeeaaaally evil I'm sure its not that bad or nothing I can't handle, I'm pretty resilient " thats when I fall because thats when I am trying to make my life independent from Jesus- and DJ made it pretty clear what  happened when a certain fallen angel wanted to do that.
          But why wouldn't I want to embrace and rely on the power of Jesus over my own?!?! (ugh pride, the hope that independence makes me stronger, that perfection makes me worthy - potholes) But Jesus is so much more so so much more than these potholes that make me want to run away- the potholes that are rooted in the worlds lies - the lies that are intended to drive me away from my Creator! my Redeemer! My Stronger Man! And guess what?! He already bound evil - He conquered death - I do not have to be captive to these potholes! I/we are called to something greater.
          Now I will worship Him - the love of my life with too many life-changing "I Am" statements to count. Because what happens when I surrender and worship in His name?- The powers of darkness tremble!!! Because once again they realize that Jesus, the Stronger Man, has bound them (93)

Ahh now this is a reason to sing! This is a victory! Celebration is central! Praise Christ...Always

btw: I've shared this with Andy already but I want to let you all know how important this blog has been for me these past 6 weeks, especially for the ~5 weeks that I've been here in Mexico. It is great to feel connected to and present in this community even though I am so far away. So thanks!
You are in my prayers,
Adk

I AM KERMIT THE FROG!!!

Last week in class I was teaching the students about Chlorophyll.  The topic seemed to fit more and more each period I was teaching it.  On Page 72, DJ reminds us of the verse in Colossians where it states, Jesus is the "visible expression of the invisible God."  Yet, as we keep reading, DJ and Paul are reminding us of the importance of being Christ-like and how the greatest compliment one could receive would be: to be like Jesus.  SO LET'S DO IT! Let's all be chlorophyll!  As I had to remind myself, but as you may remember, chlorophyll is a pigment found in green plants that ABSORBS light in almost all spectrums of the electromagnetic spectrum, yet is a poor absorber of the Green spectrum of light, HENCE we see plants as being green. 
First of all, we are all called to be reflectios of Christ here on Earth-to reflect His radiant goodness, love, mercy, and justice.  Thus, like chlorophyll we are going to reflect that "green" for the world to see! 
Secondly, chlorophyll aborbs the green spectrum of the electromagnetic spectrum POORLY, yet this is the color that we see.  I personally tend to wear that greenness on the outside of my body ALL THE TIME.  I make my potholes visible at times.  Others become aware of them.  I become highly aware of them.  Everyone can see it.  I am not absorbing Christ's light efficiently or to the extent that he is calling me to absorb it at!  I become humiliated by my greenness!  Yet, in my humiliated, green, Kermit-the-frogness (who appears to be right when he says "it's not easy being green"), I have the incredible opportunity to 1) boast in my weaknesses (my greennesses), and 2) rely on Him all the more.  HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.  He shines on us so brightly that we may reflect His goodness.  Sometimes what we reflect is ugliness, bitterness, sadness, depression, frustration, etc. YET, when we are ready to come home and follow His light and are ready to absorb ALL OF HIS LIGHT, He is the Father that does not give up on his son or simply watch as his son runs home to him... He is the Father that runs to us, that shines His light on us CONSTANTLY and UNYIELDINGLY.  His light is always shining although I choose to hide in the shadows of sin and guilt.  He runs to us and hugs us and reminds us that we are forgiven and loved-that we can forget about our potholes, or our greeness, and truly and fully absorb His light that we may go out in the world and serve Him wholeheartedly.

Emphasis

"It all depends on where we fix our attention." (p.78)

Where do I fix my attention, place my emphasis?

"Stay close to the Light of the world and we do not walk in darkness about the will of God." (p.76)

BUT...

"He does not lay out a master blueprint for our lives." (p. 76)

"All change, however good, is experienced as loss.  And with loss, the temptation is to run to the past, like the Israelites in the desert. ... But God in His mercy would  not let them go back.  He had better plans for them and called them to follow Him into His yet-to-be-unfolded goodness." (p. 77)

So what is my focal point?  What am I trying to figure out?  Where is my emphasis?

All the time, I doubt His plan.  I have so many master blueprints written out, its nuts.  God brought me to this camp 3 years ago after ripping out a massive set a blueprints from my hands.  But I keep drawing up plans!!!  I want answers.  I want reasons.  I fear the unknown.  I blame God for change and doubt His goodness, comparing His plan (or what I perceive of it) to my own set of blueprints.  My own understanding of my past, present and future.  This emphasis leaves me angry, lost, and tired.

"But the sweetest thing I've ever heard

Is that I don't have to have the answers,
Just a little light to call my own.

Though it pales in comparison
To the overarching shadows,
A speck of light can reignite the sun
And swallow darkness whole."
Emphasis by Sleeping At Last


I don't have the have the answers.  All I need is The Light of The World.

-Mike

The Burrito of Life

Hello Team, sorry for disappearing from the blog, it is encouraging to read your posts from the past few weeks.

I'm catching up on the reading.  Reading through Ch. 4 today, "The Bread of Life" instantly translated to "The Burrito of Life".  I love burritos.  I've ate a lot of burritos recently.

But even if I double down, those burrito's never satisfy!  And according to DJ, that is a "huge compliment!" (p. 56)

It doesn't always feel like that though.

In fact, it really frustrates my prideful heart.  All the time.  I don't want to have to "keep coming".  The much easier alternative would be to simply "graduate Jesus school" with a degree in culinary arts and make all the self-sustaining burritos I want!  But it still doesn't work.  "When we find ourselves empty and hungering too much for the bread that perishes, it likely means we have fallen out of the habit of the "keep coming." (p. 63)

No joke.  There really is no lasting satisfaction under the sun.  I have spent long enough in the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain. 

"I Am the final satisfaction of the human soul." (p. 64)

Reminded me of a scene from the Boy Who Cried Abba...

"The Medicine Man smiled and said, 'When you get to heaven, Little Friend, Abba will not ask you how many prayers you said or how many souls you saved.  He'll ask, 'Did you enjoy the fajita?''"

Do I enjoy the Burrito?  The Bread of Life?  Eat of it and don't die.  LIVE!!

-Little Brother

Delicate, Delicious, Devastating Light

This sentence on page 77 reminded me of the study we shared at the admin retreat that I think was described as "Learn from Israel's Mistakes." Darrell Johnson writes, "And with loss, the temptation is to run to the past, like the Israelites in the desert. The uncertainty inherent in the journey to the Promised Land was too much to bear." (DJ, 77) I'm traveling through Narnia right now. In Book 2, Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe so much of this incredible gospel story involves these kids wrestling with the uncertainty in the journey. I read this tonight which I think is fascinating when thinking about the blog. I believe this passage captures the pain, horror, joy, and thrill of encountering light. The children are introduced to Aslan in this book in the following way: "Here the Beaver's voice sank into silence and it gave one or two very mysterious nods. Then signaling to the children to stand as close around it as they possibly could, so that their faces were actually tickled by its whiskers, it added in a low whisper - "They say Aslan is on the move - perhaps has already landed." And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different.... At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer. (LW&W, 74) This passage captures for me the delicate, delicious, devastating fury by which Christ FILLS His temple.

The Stronger Man

Pg. 92 - "The powers of hell will try and not succeed.  But what Jesus is really saying is that He will build His Church and the church will move into hell's strongholds and hell will not prevail against the church!"

Man I just loved that view - On the houseboats God's church -(staff, youth leaders, volunteer staff, and campers) move into hell's strongholds in the lives of staff, youth leaders, volunteer staff, and campers and hell does not prevail!  We have seen it for years, God always wins!  Every week, everyday, every minute the stronger man JESUS plunders the evil one's home. 

I never tire of watching Jesus do His thing.  The opportunity to be a part of His act on the water is such a blessing.  As admin it is easy to get caught up in our tasks and miss the Stronger-Man's act each week.  Don't get me wrong - the Stronger-Man works every minute within our tasks but when we focus on the tasks and not the Stronger-Man himself.........we begin to burnout.....  

 

“One sign that I am violating my own nature in the name of nobility is a condition called burnout.  Though usually regarded as the result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess- the ultimate in giving too little!  Burnout is a state of emptiness; to be sure, but it does not result from giving all I have:  it merely reveals the nothingness from which I was trying to give in the first place.”  (Palmer, Parker, Let Your Life Speak. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2000, 51)

 

 

 Another side note - I love Jesus' own analysis of what is going on by His presence on earth: "No one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house" (Mark 3:27)

Jesus doesn't sneak into the world unannounced!  300+ prophecies of how He would come and live and die!  There is no sneak attack - He was born into the strong man's house - came as a helpless infant, grew up as a child, and confronted the strong man (mano y mano) and bound him! 

A helpless baby?????........The Stronger Man!
A weak Child????.......The Stronger Man!
An uneducated Carpenter????........The Stronger Man
Died on a cross????.........The Strongest Man Ever!!!!!!!

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the visible expression of the invisible God (Col. 1:15)
Jesus is God with a face.
Jesus is God's idea about himself.
Jesus is the one untarnished, untwisted, authentically whole human being.
Jesus is who we were created and are being redeemed to be.

Wow. Honestly, thats all.

4/5

when dj says "i am the bread of life. life does not work without me. You cannot make it without me. I am absolutely necessary for human existence... you need me more than you need your next meal" (54) that resonated with me a ton. in this astronomy class i'm taking (freshman class...ugh) we have been going over the creation of the universe and how even scientists who dont believe in God say that it would be stupid to think that the creation was an accident. there are too many factors that have to be what they are for life and if even one factor was tweaked just a little bit, life would cease to exist. life would CEASE to exist. If that doesnt validate how essential and necessary God is for human existence i dont know...

holy cow that is crazy. "life does not work without me" is so true and it has lamb slapped me a couple times in the form of this astronomy class i thought i'd be blowing off. It is so insane to think that if the force of gravity was a little stronger or weaker, we wouldnt be here on earth anymore.

i was also struck with "if we stay close to jesus the light we will never walk in darkness about God... It is too much to handle all at once. but step by step, day by day, year by year Jesus reveals the living God to us" (74) and "if we stay close to jesus the light we never walk in darkness about humanity" (73).

all of those statements are loaded with so much stuff that can be applied in daily life. I think rather than staying close to jesus the light so i dont walk in darkness about humanity, my gut reaction is to walk in darkness about humanity and try to get everything right so i can approach jesus the light but it doesnt work that way. it also shows that the process is so important as compared to the instant gratification world we are surrounded with.

2013 Pillars of clouds and fire

As I was reading through chapter 5 I was struck by the part on page 69,

"God set them a pillar of cloud during the day, and a pillar of fire during the night. Whenever the Pillars moved, the people would pack their belongings and follow. If they did not follow they would be left to walk in the darkness alone. "

Page 71, "Follow me. Stay close to Me. Stay right on My heels. I Am the Light of the kosmos.  Walk with me and you will never walk in darkness."

This made me reflect on my life and wonder what are my pillars of clouds and fire? What do these pillars look like in my life today and when have I allowed fear or insecurity or lack of trust cause me to miss these pillars? I need to open my eyes to see these so that I am not left in the dark and when I am nervous or scared to remember that Jesus is the Light of the world, I cannot be in darkness when I walk with him.  He is our pillar of cloud and fire like DJ said but I wonder also what he uses in my life to reflect Him that I miss.

Here am I!

I find in this chapter that Jesus the light is the answer to a question I ask God all the time - are you enough for me?

"[Jesus] lives by faith. He trusts His Father. He loves His Father, delights in His Father, obeys His Father."
Jesus finds all that He needs in His father, "so much so that He can say 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me?'" (DJ 73).

Woah. Can I say that? Is my whole life so centered and rooted in believing and loving that I can say, All that I need, all that I life for, all that I want, my only survival is knowing You, is living with You and walking with You in obedience?

Also, I was reading Isaiah 6 this morning and these verses always get me,

"Woe to me! I cried. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.  Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs form the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, see this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for.  Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:5-8).

For Isaiah to be able to say "Here am I" before the Lord astounds me.  It's a picture of someone completely uncovered, unashamed, un-hidden, bare, exposed! This passage shows Isaiah completely aware of his condition and completely aware of God's holiness (exposed) but also completely confident in the cleansing that just happened (unashamed).  Jesus the light both judges and redeems.  God's judgment both exposes us and allows us to stand in righteousness.  I don't have to hide because there is nothing to hide.  It's all seen in the light, but its also all burned away, purified, and cleansed in the light. So the result is, "here am I".  I can stand, un-hidden and unashamed before Jesus.  I can be seen and known - without the stains of darkness.  I am seen and known as the one He created me to be! 

Here am I!

Stay Close to the Light

"Follow Me. Stay close to Me. Stay right on My heels. I Am the Light of the kosmos. Walk with Me and you will never walk in darkness." (71) Why? DJ says that staying close to the Light does five things (among many others).

1. Reveals Who God Is - "begin with Jesus and we begin with God's idea about God, we begin with God's idea about God's own self revelation. God is just like Jesus. ...Stay close to Jesus the Light of the world and  we do not walk in darkness about God!" (72) This idea is totally new to me, something I never thought of this way, and I love it. Who is God? Jesus. It reminds me of the typical Sunday school questions where the answer is always Jesus...but it's true!

2. Reveals What It Means to Be Human - "He also turns out to be the perfect revelation of who we are, of who we were created to be." "Jesus is what it means to be human. Believing and loving." (73) Believing and love. I'm reminded of something I hear at Sonshine often: simple, but not always easy. I also loved where DJ talked about how/why we run to Jesus and away from Jesus. When I find myself running away from God, this quotes rings so true in my heart: "Yet we do not flee for long. For one, He is inescapable. But for another, we crave what we see in Him." It doesn't take long to realize the necessity of that Bread when I'm running the other direction. That craving for the Bread of Life overcomes the fear of letting God get closer and exposing the parts of my heart I try to hide.

3. Exposes the Truth about the Human Condition - Staying close to the light reveals to us that we are "in bondage to sin, held hostage by the power of evil, and living in the grip of death." (75) And we, ourselves, can't do anything about it. "We stand in need of Him." I'm continually amazed at how much these different chapters are intertwined into each other. But then I remember, they are all about the same person! Jesus, being the Light of the world, shows us once again how desperate we are for Him.

4. Illuminates God's Plans - "He opens up God's great plans for us and opens up the way to walk into those plans." (76) And what is that way? One step at a time, and always moving forward. I can think of countless times when I have had the mindset of the Israelites in the desert, wanting to run back to the "good old days" of the past (but only the good ones, not the bad ones!). I love what DJ had to say about that, "But God in His mercy would not let them go back. He had better plans for them and called them to follow Him into His yet-to-be-unfolded goodness." (77) Jeremiah 29:11 - He knows His plans...we have to stay close to the Light and wait for the next step to be illuminated in front of us.

5. Replaces Our Darkness with His Light - "if we dare to take the risks and follow Him into deeper intimacy with Him, we will experience more and more inner cleansing, inner healing. As Light (Fire), He moves into the secret places of our lives--into the 'shacks' of our hearts, into our thought life, into our emotional fantasies--to expose any and all darkness and burn it away." (78) Instantly, when I read this I was taken back to the weekend of our first barney appreciation last summer on the lake. We had a blazing bonfire going and were singing "Set a Fire," and it was honestly one of my favorite moments of the whole summer. Jesus, as Light/Fire, wants every part of our heart. He wants to light a fire inside us that we can't contain. He wants to burn away all that isn't of Him. He wants to replace all of the darkness, with His Light and His Life. And in order to do that, it's going to hurt, it's going to burn down to the deepest part of ourselves. But "we begin to experience more and more of what we might call 'inner radiance.'"

life-changing implications - of starting with Jesus

If we start with Jesus- cling to Jesus- stay in Jesus' light - there are life changing implications
- We learn about the true nature of God  - not the God that we create with our own ideas about God - but rather the God that Jesus is and communicates.
- We learn what is means to be human! - Believing and Loving -  Believing and Loving
- also loved this: "He loves others with his whole being. He finds fulfillment as a human in giving His life away in servant love"
- and in the moment to moment obedience that we are called to as disciples - we are always starting with Jesus and always clinging to Jesus - not ourselves!

and oooh how convicting was this? - "Disciples will not be concerned to create a career for themselves...The disciples will "learn obedience" by following Jesus in the same kind of moment-by-moment obedience to the will of the Father as it is disclosed in the contingent happenings of daily life in the place and time where God has placed them" (77).

Okay Jesus - Let's go

Shine Your Light and....

Question: Why do I choose to wander in the desert and not follow the pillar of light?

Response: I choose and say I see the light and guidance, and that path looks brightly lit.  I can see the contour of the path, the bumps, the cracks, on and on... So I'm gunna go this way and fumble around in the dark... in the desert... where I can't see... because following a pillar of fire is just crazy.

William Barclay's paraphrase of Jesus: "I am the Light that never goes out."(DJ 70) Reminds me that no matter how often I look or walk away from the Light, that it NEVER goes out.  It's the same Light that guided the Israelite through the desert, the same Light that Jesus spoke about to the woman who was about to be stoned.  The same light that I (today) should be (keep on) following.  

DJ 76- "Stay close to the Light of the world and we do not walk in darkness about the will of God.  He leads us out of darkness, and into the light of God's good purposes.  He opens up God's great plans for us and opens up the way to walk into those plans.  Again, not all at once.  As God lead the Israelites across the desert one step at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time, one year at a time, so Jesus the Light leads us one step at a time, one day at a time.  He does not lay out for us a master blueprint for our lives. He does tell us where it all ends -- being conformed to His image in a transformed creation.  He does not lay out a detailed image of how He will take us there....He gives us Himself--- as Bread, as Water, as Light.  And step by step unfolds the Father's will for us."

I fall into the trap "Okay Lord I trust you!" much like Moses and the gang as they trompted out of Egypt.  Then I want INSTANT gratification.  I want that blue print... I was telling Joseph today "Same story different day.  I need to learn what to trust Him with and what I'm not trusting Him with."

I was sharing with another friend about how in "the deepest darkest parts and times in my life, when I've opened my heart to God about those parts, the Light burns. It's scary, even at the spark of the light.  It burns good, and bright. Where the Light shines, even a little, there is no longer darkness."  God has used those dark spots in my life where He has shined to bring Glory to His name.  It's allowed me to connect with others who may be walking in that darkness.  That's how my darkness was revealed, someone in Love let His light shine in my life, even the pit of the deepest hole.  The brightness burns.  It's a deep deep burn, and it burns so good.

"Follow me.  Stay close to Me. Stay right on My heels.  I Am the Light of the Kosmos.  Walk with Me and you will never walk in darkness."

Father, the above quote speak to my soul.  May it sink in deep as I realize your brightness.