There are plenty of opinions about Jesus, and that’s nothing new. Even while he was traveling and teaching around the region of Galilee, some people clamored to see him and others despised him. They all heard the same teaching and saw the same miracles, but they reacted very differently.
When you think about the things Jesus said and did, what is your reaction?
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Do you have any struggles? It seems like just about everybody does. Some struggles we choose—like getting in shape or learning a new language. Some we don’t have any choice in—like dealing with cancer or the loss of a loved one.
Jesus struggled against suffering and death by choice. He entered into a broken and hurting world in order to bring healing and new life to us. Matthew tells us a story of how Jesus came close to people in their brokenness to demonstrate the kind of transformation God wants to bring to the lives of all people.
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How do you feel about authority? Lots of people have lots of opinions—and they can be very different depending on your experience with various kinds of authority. Some people fear it. Some respect it. And Some rebel against it.
Matthew tells us about how Jesus handled authority in a way that surprised everybody.
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Have you ever thought about what it means to have the Lord as your shepherd? Jesus said “I am the good shepherd.” He said other people might play the part and pretend to be like that. But nobody will ever care for you like Jesus, because they’re only like hired hands. When trouble comes they’ll take off and leave you to fend for yourself. They’ll let the wolves eat you because they’re just in it for the money. They’re not willing to put their lives on the line for you. But Jesus already gave his life for you.
It really is good to have a Good Shepherd.
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CHAPTER SIX – Dead and Buried
Did you ever wonder why it’s so hard for some people to quit doing things they know are bad for them? It’s usually because they’ve been doing it for a long time.
If a person smokes one cigarette or drinks one beer and realizes that it’s gross and unhealthy, it’s easy for them to never drink or smoke again. It’s even easier for people who have never even tried such things. If they have watched other people’s lives destroyed by things like drugs or alcohol, it’s extremely easy for them to choose never to touch those things. But for the person who has made it a habit and become addicted after months (or even years) of use it can be an extremely difficult struggle to break free of those bonds they have created.
It’s the same way with sin. People choose to turn their backs on God, and break his commands. And the deeper they go and farther they run from God the more they become enslaved by their own evil. They become so used to living in sin and their minds are so darkened that they can’t even imagine what life could be like if they weren’t slaves to wickedness.
That’s why the fact that Jesus is willing to cleanse us from all sin is such Good News. Not only does he save our lives from eternal damnation, he purifies our lives from the stain of sin and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to be able to live the way he commands us to live. When we choose to repent and to turn away from sin and toward God, in his wonderful grace, God sets us free from that slavery to sin and death, and we are free indeed to live for Jesus and have a brand new life in relationship to him.
I don’t know about you…but I think that’s awesome!
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From Frog’s awesome wife:
It was a long time coming…but she’s finally here! The cutest baby ever was born on Sunday morning , August 8th. She was delivered by emergency c-section, as her heart rate kept dropping and she was responding well. We found out the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. She did not start breathing on her own for almost six minutes after birth and was very limp and pale. She was brought immediately to the NICU, where she was tested for various infections. Her white blood cell count was very high, so the doctors were guessing she had some sort of infection and started her on antibiotics right away. Every blood culture they took to determine a specific type of infection came back negative, so they never discovered exactly what kind of infection she had. Thankfully, her spinal tap results showed that there was no infection signs in her brain. It was a rough day for all of us as Baby wasn’t feeling well, Mom had to go through surgery, and Dad had to worry about both his girls making it through all the complications. But it was a great reminder that even through the rough times we can depend on God.
Since the doctors had started a course of antibiotics to fight whatever this infection was, she had to stay in the NICU for 10 days to finish her treatment. But she was already showing much improvement after the first few days. She moved out of her isolette into a regular bed, learned to breathe room air and maintain her own temperature, and got her feeding tube removed. Poor girl went through a lot during her hospital stay, but she was such a trooper. She is perfectly healthy and happy today!
We praise God for His continued faithfulness to us. We might have thought our difficulties were over after our 2-year struggle with infertility, but God proved to us once again that He can bring something good out of a seemingly awful situation. The day she was finally released from the hospital, August 18th, was one of the best days ever. How long we had looked forward to the day when we would have a child in our home! We are so grateful that our precious girl has no lasting issues from her complications at birth. She is a wonderfully sweet baby and we are as happy and proud as parents can be!
Thank you for your prayers for our family!
It was definitely a rough day when she was born. I remember that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when the doctor told us that the baby wasn’t responding and would have to be delivered by C-section. Thankfully the nurse was happy to wait for me to pray for Jenna and the baby before they were prepped for surgery. I had to put those paper clothes over my outfit, and then they let me be in the room during the procedure.
I always imagined that a C-section was a nice clean cut where the baby just slid nicely out. But in real life, it’s more like a cannonball wound and the baby still has to be pushed through the opening. I watched as they pulled the baby’s head through the incision, and unwrapped the cord and clipped it and handed her to the baby team.
The baby team went right to work cleaning her up and using the respirator to breath for her. She was like a wet noodle and just flopped around and wasn’t crying or moving or anything. The baby team was professional about it, but it was scary for me to watch my child not respond. Meanwhile, I also kept an eye on my wife who was bleeding profusely. The doctors were also diligently working on mom, but it was clear that both mama and baby were having complications.
As mom and baby were both being worked on I had the realization that I could lose them both on the same day. And that was heart rending. So I was fervently praying that morning for both my girls. I told God I would trust him no matter what happened, but I prayed hard for the recovery of both mom and baby. And praise the Lord, they both came through it well.
It was such a blessing when I finally heard my daughter cry. And I love to watch her grow and learn new things on a daily basis. And it’s so good to know my beautiful wife is well and can share her love with me and our budding family.
PS. If you’d like to read some of the back story to just how huge a blessing this baby girll is be sure to check out these two entries:
It’s not an Ordinary Nation.
The word ordain comes from the word order. That’s what it means. It can be like an order that a boss gives a worker or like putting things in alphabetical order. When a church ordains a pastor. They do a little of both. That’s what happened to me. My church made me a part of the leadership team along with other elders and deacons. With a team committed to serving God with wisdom and humility the things that get done and the decisions that get made will be done with order and not disorder. I also got orders from my Boss to step into this role and to serve the people of God’s church. So I’m taking my orders to teach and to serve. This talk is just a response to being assigned this new role.
But a pastor is just 1 role in the church. Everybody in the church is supposed to be using their gifts to serve God as a team. So what does it mean to serve God? And how should we look at our own role as part of this team?
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How many times have you heard someone say they’re sorry, but their tone clearly revealed that they weren’t sorry at all? How many times have you been the person doing just that? It seems like people in our culture have a difficult time actually allowing themselves to regret a wrong action or feel sorrow for hurting someone else or even admit that they did anything wrong. We always like to come up with excuses for our behavior. It seems even more difficult for some people to actually forgive when they’ve been hurt. So what do we do with all that emotion? And does giving or receiving forgiveness actually do us any good? What do you think?
This talk I gave last year was an emotional one for me. I even felt choked up listening to it again. But I sure am glad to have learned some things about dealing with this stuff in my own life. What experiences have you had that you’ve learned from?
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This is a little clip that talks about a couple analogies for what spiritual life and living as part of the church ought to be like. I always like word pictures that help explain complex concepts in down-to-earth ways.
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