25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‚ÄúRabbi, when did you come here?‚Äù 26 Jesus answered them, ‚ÄúTruly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for […]
Jesus' Nature and His Temptation
I have still been amazed today that Jesus really was tempted to bow down to Satan. I was talking about it at lunch and Andy G and I began talking about how it was a real temptation for Jesus to turn the rocks into bread. Andy said a good one, ‚ÄúHe probably had to deliberately […]
Jesus was Tempted
Today I met Andy J at the bank and we talked about Luke 4. The amazing thing about Jesus being tempted in the desert, I think, is that a lot of times we‚Äôve been ripped off and analyze what the temptations represent or what they symbolize and the way He resisted w/ God‚Äôs Word or […]
Notes from the day: Church Culture and Jesus' Teaching Style
Good conversation at the Donut Bank today, talking about how the culture and the church is moving the way of companies and business…away from the powerful CEO that makes all of the decisions and his trickle down approvals. The church is becoming more entrepreneurial, smaller and more agile. Instead of the monstrous IBM church a […]
Hospitality to His Rejectors
(if this is a little scattered, I was retrieving Levi a couple times during this writing) There has to be something up with John 6.4 There are a lot of similarities between Jesus feeding the 5000 and the ‚ÄúLast Supper.‚Äù Jesus broke the bread and gave thanks and passed it out to people that would […]
The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 6.3-5 Jesus is sitting w/ His disciples, away from the crowds, but He can see that the crowds are coming. He looks out over them and doesn‚Äôt ask ‚ÄúShould we feed these people?‚Äù but instead, ‚ÄúWhere do we get their bread?‚Äù I love that. Jesus isn‚Äôt waiting for the people to come and beg. […]
Prepare the Way then Get Out of the Way
Luke 3:3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke 3:4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‚ÄúA voice of one calling in the desert, ‚ÄòPrepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. […]
Jesus and the 'Social Gospel'
When the paralyzed man said other people go down to the pool ahead of him, Jesus didn‚Äôt pat him on the back and pout or ‚Äòrelate to his problems.‚Äô He just ended the problem. It makes me wonder how many times we help people by giving them food or shelter or clothes or whatever and […]
God Isn't Afraid of Anybody: Scary or Dirty or Unholy
John 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‚ÄúWill you give me a drink?‚Äù I was thinking this morning about Jesus asking the woman for a drink of water. There were several times when we lived in Asia that there would be a kid walking down the street eating […]
Jesus’ Exodus
Jer. 16:14 “However, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ Jer. 16:15 but they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and […]