Good Folks
I have seen my share of hypocrites; I have seen the mischief of their pretensions and play acting. But I decided a long time ago that they would not determine whether I went to church or if I followed Jesus. I also decided not to focus on them. For you see, I have seen
Christlikeness as Image Bearers
Ancient kings would extend their kingdoms to far reaching cities; they would erect images of themselves in these places to declare that place was also the king’s domain. God created the first humans in His own image so that as they spread over the earth these image bearers would declare by their presence that,
Life is Not Fair
It was not fair to Jesus either. Someone lied about me; it happened to Jesus also. My reputation has been damaged by gossip; they said that He was a drunkard. My credentials were questioned; so were His. My friends forsook me; Jesus knows about that. My temptations are great; check out Jesus’ 40 day
Jesus as Family
We have a biological family and we have a spiritual family. Oftentimes the latter is closer than the former. Jesus identified His disciples as family in all three synoptic gospels. The NT sees the church as the family of God, the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). As such, we are admonished to treat our
Jesus as Wisdom and Word
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:1–3 NASB). This bears more than a striking resemblance
Jesus as Lord and Master
We recoil from the word “Master”. Its connotation offends us; it suggests that we just might have to bow to someone above us. Hear this word from Jesus, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46 NRSV). The Lordship of Christ is front and center
Jesus as Warrior
It was hoped that the Messiah was to be a great warlord who would release all His fury against Israel’s enemy Rome. He did not take up the sword against it, much to the dismay of His followers. Instead, the “fury’ with which He would defeat was dying like a lamb; when we thought
Jesus as Intercessor
If we believe that God is Trinity then we have to say that the intercession of the Son to the Father is the self-talk of God. As I said in the book “The Self-Talk of God”: “The Son and the Spirit pray to the Father, not to overcome the Father’s reluctance, but this is
Jesus as First-fruits
A farmer looks forward to the first fruits of harvest. The Father raised the Son from the dead as the first of those who would be brought back to life from death with a new creation body. This is the beginning of “making all things new”. This is the defeat of death. His resurrection
Jesus as Friend
Abraham was known as a “friend of God”; he walked with Him in faith and obedience (James 2:20–24). Jesus said, "You are My friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:12-14). He further said that there was no greater love than “to lay down your life for your friends” (John 15:12-13). Jesus
Jesus as Victor
There were many victims to the cruelty of Roman crucifixion. But there is One who died on a cross that transformed victim into victor. Rome came against Him in a crushing public way, believing by this that they were done with Him. They threw everything they had at Him, yet He turned it all
Jesus as Lion and Lamb
John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”. Isaiah saw Him as a “lamb led to slaughter” who never opened His mouth in protest (Isaiah 53:7). In The Revelation of Jesus Christ, John on Patmos sees the Lion of the tribe of Judah triumphing,
Jesus the Shepherd
Kings were expected to be shepherds that cared for the people as sheep; Ezekiel prophesied against kings for their failure to do so (34:1-20). When Messiah-King came, He declared Himself to be the good shepherd. We call leaders of congregations pastors, i.e. shepherds; they are to care for the bodies and souls of those
Jesus the Servant
“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45 NRSV). Jesus’ way of being stands in vivid contrast to the way the Gentile lords did business. He reminded us that we were to follow His example in being a
Jesus the King
God’s Good News is that the Kingdom of God has arrived. “Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. ‘The time promised by God has come at last!’ he announced. ‘The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!’” Mark
Jesus the Prophet
A prophet is one that speaks forth God’s word. He is not so much a teller of the future as an expounder and exposer of the present; he is one who reads clearly and declares the present state of things. The prophetic role is not a popular one. Jesus exposed the corruption of the
Jesus the Priest
Jesus took the role of a priest when He declared, “Your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). Though Messiah, born of David’s line, did not descend from the tribe of Levi, yet He became our great High Priest after the “order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:18-20). He makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34); He is for
Jesus the Leader
The Lamb submitted Himself to a Roman cross and by that cross won true victory. He invited His followers to take up a cross, even if it meant going to their own deaths. In fact, we carry that on which we die. He said that if we did not follow His cross-bearing method that
Jesus the Preacher
I grew up in a tradition that treasured good preaching; we had a long list of examples of those who did it. In some cases we thought “good preaching” was a rip-snorting condemning of sin of all kinds. I have come to understand that the real Model that we say we follow did not
Jesus the Teacher
Jesus taught that obeying the commandments is a matter of the heart; He moved beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law. He challenged His hearers to look at their own hearts for lust and hate; He redefined idolatry beyond image making to things like serving money and materialism. This
Loving More and More
Most of us have a desire, as an ideal, to love God and neighbor more. This desire is of little consequence as a goal if it finds no ways for practical action. Do we look for ways to express it? Does it generate any concrete deeds? Human need all around us calls love to
Counting Our Days
New years, birthdays, funerals, and other things remind us of how fast our days are passing from us. Disease, disaster and death come and shorten our days. We pray with the Psalmist “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!”
Incomplete Stories
I don’t like books or movies that leave me hanging in the end. I like happy endings, or at least endings with a completed story. Stories do not always happen that way. We are all writing our stories. We can die in the middle of our stories; we can die with tasks unfinished and
Burdens
There are burdens that we bore one time and then laid them down. There are burdens that become almost like our companions that we carry all of our lives. There are new burdens before us that hitherto we have not borne. Some are personal and we have to bear them alone. Some are so
Receiving to Give
We receive in order to give. We are not baskets to collect gifts; we are channels through which gifts pass. We are pipes allowing the generosity of God to flow through us. Paul is clear that the gifts of the Spirit are not for our private consumption, but are given to us to serve