John 10:10 - Was Jesus Lying?

I'm not much for resolutions, but I'm all for change.  So, in response to a fantastic message in church yesterday regarding the fruitless fig tree, I want to do my part to make sure this coming year is full of digging and fertilizing and greater fruitfulness.  You might even say abundance.

I want the gospel to get down inside of me and move around inside of me and rearrange the inside of me so that I can leave this life FULL, not full of STUFF, or even full of HAPPINESS, but FULL of Gospel living, and THAT'S what abundant life is.  

"A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.  I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance." ~ John 10:10

When Jesus spoke these living words, He didn't mean that you would have THINGS. What a preposterous thought!  We here in the western world might think that.  But a great percentage of our brothers and sisters on this earth don't live in a land of plenty. How unfair, how bigoted of Jesus to say that we would have abundant life if He meant that we would have STUFF, because then he just outed the majority of his family.  

What a slap in the face to those believers who are starving in third world countries. 

What a slap in the face of those believers who are beaten up and dragged from their homes and thrown in a cold prison. 

What a slap in the face of those precious sheep who are suffering with disease, far from adequate medical care.

That's not very abundant is it? So is Jesus lying? Of course not!

He meant something else, because that's not what abundance is.  Abundance means to be abundant in Gospel living, because that's what we're saved TO: Gospel living.   We're saved FROM slavery INTO Gospel - good news - FREEDOM...

Freedom to see merciful Spirit led change our hearts, freedom to have godly relationships while this life lasts, freedom to live and walk in the light in the midst of a dark world - THAT is abundance. NOT. STUFF.  

So get it out of your head (I'm speaking to myself). The same Jesus that said He had come to give abundant life, is the same Jesus that said not to worry about your life and your clothes and your food.  The same Jesus also said, don't store up treasures (stuff) on earth. He did not mean abundance from a fiscal or physical standpoint (though certainly He may bestow these blessings on anyone He chooses). Any message or messenger that says differently is LYING.

What Children Want Most (A Good Christmas-y Tie In Repost)

Behold, my first grade class (I'm the fella in the blue Star Trek shirt on the front row. Yeah, I'm cool like that):

My first grade teacher passed away last week. She had taught first grade for 37 years. I guess when something works well, there's no need to change it.

I distinctly remember NOT learning how to read in first grade. For me it just "happened". I do remember reading out loud for Miss Hehn (later Mrs. Purdon) about a dog name Spot and how he loved to run, and I remember being so proud. Not proud in the nasty, arrogant way adults are, but the face-beaming, heart-warming way that six year olds are when they've accomplished something. I credit Miss Hehn for that.

I also remember that I felt safe in Miss Hehn's class. I knew she loved me, and I trusted her. First grade was completely comfortable for me. Even at her funeral, the eulogy spoke of the countless times her students called her "mom" or "grandma" because she was such a comforting presence in class that they forgot where they were. I love and admire Mrs. Purdon for that.

In my church setting, I am a teacher. I am also a father. I guess the two are somewhat interchangeable, or should be. And what I've learned being a father and a teacher is that a most effective vehicle for delivering a lesson, whether in math or morality, is a loving heart toward the child being taught (we can talk about teaching adults another day...) I owe this, at least in part, to Mrs. Purdon as well.

Some time ago I read that if you're a father, your children's self-image is primarily derived from how they think you feel about them. I don't think I could agree more.

What children want most is to know that an adult loves them (oh, and by the way, discipline is included under the heading of love). I'd like to say "parents" in place of "adult" but there are so many kids who have no parents, or at least parents who will ever really love them. But I guess if I were to boil this down to something targeted at a male audience, I'd say that a child only wants to see their father smile at them.

I ask myself (ask yourself): When does my day brighten? My hope soar? My heart sing? When I remember that my Father smiles at me - that the One who chose me before the foundation of the world and sought me out and saved me through Christ loves me constantly and consistently and with infinite care.

Miss Hehn loved me and I thrived in her class. I'm trying my best to love my sons and help them to thrive. My Savior loves me and when I let myself believe it, I thrive.

Longfellow on Christmas (Repost)

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
Historical Note: This hymn was writ­ten dur­ing the Amer­i­can civil war, as re­flect­ed by the sense of des­pair in the next to last stan­za. Stan­zas 4-5 speak of the bat­tle, and are usual­ly omit­ted from hymn­als:

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Odd Thomas - Incarnation

Closer...please.

A heartfelt song from John Mark McMillan for desperate times in our lives.  There is no hiding the emotion in this song.  How truly desperate are we?...am I?



Come closer, closer to me.

Find me broken, find me bleedin'
cause I need more now than a fairy tale,
a god who lives in a book.
I need someone real.

So would you come?
Would you come?
If I begged you, would you come closer to me now?

Come closer, closer to me.
Find me broken, find me on my knees,
cause I need more now than philosophy.
Some god in outer space doesn't mean anything to me.

So would you come?
Would you come?
If I begged you, would you come closer to me now?
Would you come?
Would you come?
If i begged you, would you come closer to me now?

Son of David, don't pass me by,
cause I am naked,
I'm poor and I'm blind.
Son of David, don't pass me by,
cause I am naked,
I'm poor and I'm blind.