Friday, July 20, 2012

5 Radical Statements - 1 Chapter: #5

As I begin the freedom to write and express whatever I want again, I wanted to start with the most important thing - Jesus. As I was reading today there were 5 statements in one chapter that I think would drastically change the way we live if we really wrestled with them. Luke 9:

#5 "Fit for the kingdom of God." (verse 62)

A man runs up to Jesus and says I want to follow you...but let me go back and say goodbye to my family. Jesus (maybe with a sigh says) "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back again is fit for the kingdom of God."

What does it mean to be fit for the Kingdom? Jesus is asking this question, what do you want the most? Look if you want the kingdom it's going to cost you. This is not a nice little walk in the park. You're going to leave your family or get kicked out, lose your friends and possibly leave your country. People will hate you, make fun of you, and tease you. You'll lose most or all of your hobbies and they won't have the same lure to you anymore. Your dreams that you've always had will probably be tainted and seem small and simple. Nothing else will really satisfy you. Habits or addictions you have are just pointless and stupid now. If you're not ready to leave that behind, I'm not sure you're ready for the Kingdom. No, He actually says. "Look, if you can't leave that little thing, you don't deserve the Kingdom. You're just not ready for it."

This seems like a hard teaching in our life but we see it play out in every single facet of our live. What do you love more? When you go to McDonalds and you consider "Double Cheeseburger or Chicken Nuggets?" You go with the nuggets because you love them more. The same question is asked "Are you willing to give up the cheeseburger for nuggets? You decide, yes. Yes I am. When you could wake up in the morning and go exercise you decide, "I'm willing to give up my sleep to go exercise" or "I'm willing to give up exercising today for 30 more minutes of sleep." Simple ideas. I know. Let’s look at it more on a grand scheme. You're in love. You could go hang out with the boys/girls tonight or you could go get a movie and spend the time with that "special someone." You could sit and watch TV until your wife/husband gets home, or you could get up and make her/him dinner. We could go to bed early or stay up a little later talking about stuff and sharing life together.

When love is involved it's not a hard lesson, it's what does love compel me to do? If I do this, I enjoy it more, give a greater love to her/him and receive it in the process. Whatever choice you make, that is the Kingdom you will receive. If you make some hard choices about exercising because you love your life and enjoying it more than you do eating McDonalds and sleeping in more, then you'll get a much more energetic and fulfilling life. Love is the driving force for us to make those easy/hard decisions. Love is the driving force and wisdom helps direct the way.

So Jesus is asking them this question. Look - do you want the Kingdom? Do you want to live in a Kingdom of riches and satisfaction and glory? or do you want the kingdom of striving, and attempting to please people, of pulling yourself up by your boot straps, of trying to be a good person with all your medals, awards, organizations, volunteering and such. Do you want the kingdom of wanting to please people all the time and not disappoint anyone or do you want the Kingdom where I am the most dominant and loving voice in your life and have already accepted you? You're choice. You can't have both. You can't bring your trash into the Kingdom. Leave it at the door and I'll give you all new, better things inside. Do you want to be well thought of in everyone’s eyes temporarily until you mess up again or do you want to see the burning passion in my eyes for you?

Jesus welcomes you into the millionaire community in heaven where everyone inside has been given all that they had. He says, you're not fit for this community with all that junk you have. Leave it here and let me prepare you and I will give you everything your heart has truly desired. It's not that you’re too dirty to come in and you should feel ashamed, He says "I've got better stuff for you inside; you've got to leave all of this behind if you want it." You can feel the warmth of glory on your skin while you still wear those rags, let me give you my cloak. Everyone inside is wearing my stuff and using my things. No one brought a thing to this party except me. They all left their junk over there next to the cross.

It's easy to see in an illustration like this but these are things I've had issues letting go of:
a relationship when God said "she's beautiful, mine, lovely, awesome...but not your wife," friends who I've spent 18 years with, friends who I've went through college with where you really know yourself, a car that I fixed up and loved, a country where I knew all of its freedoms, the freedom to say whatever I wanted, having hot water for a 10 min shower, being able to communicate with strangers, the ability to do art when I wanted to express myself, my hobbies, playing football, basketball, or running, doing exercise, working on my own, giving up having my own business, being around to see my niece/nephew being born, having a normal digestive track, being "well established" with a house, car, girlfriend/wife, job, doing a job I'm actually good at, sleeping in, relaxing and just people watching in an airport, going to bed early rather than staying up to pray through something, getting something done in the day, the feeling of accomplishment, going where I want when I want, eating what I want when I want, having familiar friends who understand you walk through life with you, having a physical place I can call "home" and can rest. I think you understand. These issues aren't always easy - but that's why He says the gate is small and few find it. He says the road is narrow. I don't think people get very far down the path due to the narrowness of it.


Francis Chan has a video/message called The Biggest Lie In Your Life. It hits on this point deeper saying what is it that you're believing will give you a greater love than Jesus. That's my question for you to wrestle with:

What, honestly, do you love the most? What are you willing to forego to choose that thing?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

5 Radical Statements - 1 Chapter: #4

As I begin the freedom to write and express whatever I want again, I wanted to start with the most important thing - Jesus. As I was reading today there were 5 statements in one chapter that I think would drastically change the way we live if we really wrestled with them. Luke 9:

#4 "Give them something to eat" (verse 13)

The disciples have come back celebrating all that Jesus told them to do and amazed that it actually worked. He took them aside and withdrew (my guess is kind of to debrief them and get them some rest). People followed them and Jesus taught them. The disciples came to Him and said "it's getting late, shouldn't you send them on? They're going to be hungry." Jesus turns to them and drops this command on them. "You give them something to eat."

Pause. Don't you love that? Jesus drops it in their laps that He's about to do something and they are completely incapable of doing it, but He lets them squirm a little first just to prove it. Most of us know the story how they brought a happy meal (5 loaves of bread and 2 fish) fed 15,000ish (5,000 men) then collected 12 basketfuls. But I want to look at this set up.

Jesus intentionally puts them in a place where they cannot do things without Him. Jesus will set you up to not be able to do things without Him. Let’s talk some practicals - I ended up in China and when I was there it hit me. I'm in China. What the crap just happened? As I began to write my lesson plans my brain just locked up. It had never been here before and I thought, What the crap just happened? What did I say I'd do?! I found myself in front of 500 students all saying "Sing a Song!" and I think, How in the world did I get here? I'm sitting across the table from my assistant dean and other teachers and they say "How do you know God is real?" What proof do you have? I uh... um... well... In the summer I find out I have to raise $17,000 in less than a month and I'm sitting at home by myself. What the crap? What am I doing here? I found myself in India sitting beside a man who was supposed to die in the next hour and all of my graphic designing training wasn't paying off to help him. What in the world do I do? How did I get here? My teammate/team leader is lying on the floor because he's been sick for 4 weeks and we keep praying for him but he only seems to get worse and we're in a country not known for its best medical coverage. What am I doing here? Wha... Another friend just found out her ex-boyfriend of 7-years is now engaged 3 months after she left for China. I uh... what? I'm sitting in my church where well versed "wise" people are discussing how God made us out of boredom and we're his little experiment. They're throwing around verses and I'm trying to keep up and Wait, no! This is... uh. Can we ... what? No! It's July 12 and I feel like God's plan is for me to go to school in the fall but I still don’t know where yet and I haven't applied, found an apartment, or even know what city. What happened? What am I doing here? Seriously? Can I get out?

In each scenario and we all could go on, we have this What in the world happened? How did I get here? Can I please get out? Can we start over? Can I not live this life? Can you just remove me from here and put me somewhere else? You have to come fix this. I have no idea what's about to happen and I can't even prepare for it. But this is when He has to come through. The same thing happened when Jesus says "alright, go feed ‘em." They had to have that overwhelming, Say what? You want me to do ... what? How... I can't even... Do you know where... What?

This is how I understand these circumstances. We ask for God to move in ways that its unmistakable it's Him, then we freak out when He lets the odds stack up so it's obvious it's Him that overcomes. Suddenly, someone gets cancer, a car wreck, a house leak, a sudden speech, guns pointed at you, etc. It’s these incredible events that no one wants to be in, but everyone loves the stories of other people afterwards. It's these things that freak us out because we still expect us to do it. He never expects you to do it without Him. When we say "I don’t know what you want me to do! I've done everything I can do! What do you expect out of me?" He gentle responds, "I don't expect you to do it. I expect you to be faithful. I expect to do it." Sometimes I feel like He adds on a little lighthearted reminder "When have I ever expected or depended on you to do something? Hasn't it always been you waiting on me to do it? ... Did you expect me to change in the last 2 days/2 weeks/2 years?"

Are we ready to see ourselves struggle a little so that God can come through? Are we focused on being comfortable - or being in a position to see God do incredible things?

Monday, July 16, 2012

5 Radical Statements - 1 Chapter: #3

As I begin the freedom to write and express whatever I want again, I wanted to start with the most important thing - Jesus. As I was reading today there were 5 statements in one chapter that I think would drastically change the way we live if we really wrestled with them. Luke 9:


#3 "He gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal." (verses 1-2)

I know this is a long statement but we need it all. Jesus just had prayed for a little girl who was dead and she came back to life and then ate with them. He then pulls the 12 together and does this. "He gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal."

What did he send them out to do? 2 Things. Go look again.
     1) to proclaim the kingdom of God
     2) to heal

What did he give them for that?
    1) power and authority over all demons
    2) power and authority to cure diseases


I'm not the wisest person and I am often wrong. Most of the time when Jesus makes a statement to His disciples we continue to apply it to today "go make disciples of all nations..." "follow me" "repent" "be born again" etc. Most of the time as I read this, I read it how it had been preached to me, "Jesus sent out the 12 to preach the gospel! 1) The gospel that Jesus refers to in Mark 1:14 is not the same gospel that we refer to today. Now we say "Gospel/Good News - Jesus came to live, die, and rise again for our sins." The gospel/good news he proclaimed was a military term used by the Romans. When they conquered a new area they would proclaim the gospel the "good news" that the new area was part of the Roman Empire. They now had all of the rights, privileges, and protection that all Roman citizens have. 2) He doesn't say preach the gospel. He says proclaim the Kingdom. So Jesus was proclaiming that Heavens kingdom was here. It was about to come (and did at the cross).

What happens in the Kingdom? People know and see God and Jesus who He sent. They are complete - no sickness, pain, suffering, lacking, depression, insecurities, etc. Many times when we read this but miss out on the other parts of this verse. Proclaim the Kingdom and cure diseases to show the Kingdom. It's like show and tell. He sends them out to show (cure diseases) and tell (the Kingdom is near).

The last part is the how. Jesus sends them out He gives them power and authority over demons and to cure diseases. Jesus gives them/us power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. (This was never for them to boast in what happened - later they did and he rebuked them for it and told them instead to celebrate God knows them - but it was to show that God is real, loving, furious, and pursuing them.)

My question for us to wrestle with is: Why don't we still do this? I don't think the question is why doesn't God do this but rather why don't we pray for this? When's the last time you prayed for someone and asked for them to be healed and expected in instantly? When's the last time we rebuked a demon (or apparent demon - I say apparent because in America they masquerade much better. By the way, a person is not a demon. Please don't rebuke a person as a demon. Jesus loved the person and hated the demon that was bothering them. Love the people enough to rebuke other things.) So I wonder:

"Why don't we still do this?"

Saturday, July 14, 2012

5 Radical Statements - 1 Chapter: #2

As I begin the freedom to write and express whatever I want again, I wanted to start with the most important thing - Jesus. As I was reading today there were 5 statements in one chapter that I think would drastically change the way we live if we really wrestled with them. Luke 9:

#2 "A voice came out of the cloud, saying..." (verse 35)

Jesus goes up to the top of a mountain to pray taking two of his students and closest friends with Him. When He's there, His face changes and His clothes grow. Two other ancestors who were vital in the faith appear beside him (Moses & Elijah - further proof he wasn't either one of them because they were standing next to each other). Then a cloud enveloped them. It overtook them. Then we have the statement that made #2.

Most of the time, I had skipped over this section. This phrase is the set up to what was really important. The important part was what He said, right? Yes and no. Yes what He said is vitally important, but equally important is this fact: the Father God speaks to the ones He loves. This God that we refer to is not one who is distant, disconnected, or cold. He's one who is constantly engaging and pursuing those that He loves (which is all of us). I ask you: what do you expect God to be like? Honestly, what do you expect out of God?


Pause. Stop reading and think about this for a minute. Write down how you view God and what you expect from Him. I think I expect a creator God who was large and in control but didn't really interact with me. Who was "for me" as long as I was being obedient and if I wasn't then prepare for the smack down. God is a judge who was waiting to bring the gavel down on all of your worst punishments rather than a God who had already ruled that Jesus would take your punishment and now there's no wrath left for you once you become a believer. This God is desirous for you. He's not like other gods who "create you" then leave you to walk in what he gave you. He came to get you, and then continues to pursue you.


Look at the women who are happiest, their husbands came and wooed them into marriage, then they keep wooing her 30 years down the road because their extravagantly in love with her. It's the same idea that God does not come and pursue us until we're Christians and then leave us until after we die. He continues to seek us out and come find us. He is the voice in the cloud that comes down to us, envelops us, and then speaks to our core. He tells us about Jesus the one who is the ultimate man who would die for us. This is the God of the Bible, the God of Christianity. My question for you to wrestle with is:



What/how do you expect God to act and interact with you?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

5 Radical Statements - 1 Chapter: #1

I am officially back from China where I served for two years. While I was there I blogged about life and this incredible type of Love I was finding and somehow was coming out through me. Please feel free to check it out at abramsinchina.blogspot.com. I often tend to write too much, please skip over those if you dont want to read them all but dont ignore the whole blog due to some of them being long.

5 Radical Statments - 1 Chapter: #1

As I begin the freedom to write and express whatever I want again, I wanted to start with the most important thing - Jesus. As I was reading today there were 5 statements in one chapter that I think would drastically change the way we live if we wrestled with them. Luke 9:

#1 "But you, who do you say I am?" (verse 20)
Jesus poses one of the most telling statments of all. He asked who do people say I am? His discipled answered "Some say John the baptist, others say Elijah, and others say a prophet who back to life again." Good answer to the question - but then Jesus gets real. "YOU, what about YOU?" Where are we sitting? Who and what do you expect me to be?  I find this telling because many religions (not all) have a form of  a G/god they attribute worth and power to. Jesus is what makes all of them different. Many people believe in "a greater being/God/ something bigger" but the devisive part comes down to "Jesus. What about Him?" If you believe in Jesus for what He said He was, then He's the Son of God and THE ONLY way to God. If you just take Him as a teacher, philospher, good person, or prophet - then your in a completely different boat. I don't say this judgmentally, but just as a fact I want you to know - if you do not think Jesus was in fact the son of God - then you do not go to heaven. You may believe 120% in God but if you're missing Jesus, you don't really know God.

For the believers, I find this also telling and questions we need to wrestle with. "You, who do YOU say I am?" Our first, initial correct answer would be "Jesus the Son of God." My question is "really? Do you honestly 100% believe that?" Does the core of who you are know and believe that Jesus is a real man who lived on the earth during the Roman rule around the years 30AD and who lived naturally by eating, drinking, farting, teaching, getting a cold, and taking a shower and supernaturally by healing cancer, bleeding, blindness, deafness instantaneously, by shifting the whole atmosphere around him wherever he went, by commanding a storm to knock-it-out and a demon thrashing someone around to get out. If Jesus is really the Son of God, and you honestly think that's true then you're life should be 150% reflecting that or in process of it.

We have to start here because if we don't. The rest of them are just going to be nice teachings. We have to agree to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God with full power and authority by the Holy Spirit to prove Himself as God, set up God's Kingdom, and do what God was doing in Heaven, but on Earth. I challenge you to wrestle through this. Don't give a quick "oh yeah" answer but if I or anyone else could look you in the face and say "Jesus - who is He to you?", what would you honestly, from your soul, in your own words, say?