Basic Discipleship

As we journey into looking through basic discipleship "stuff," I hope it does not come all out of our heads, through our ears and wind up an insignificant mess on the floor for our waitress to clean up. I want coffee, friendship, and to connect with the "basics" in a new way.

Why do we call them basics anyway? What's basic about it? I believe that we'll find...I hope that we will find that we never want to leave the "basics" and move on to "advanced" Christianity.

The God of the weak

As i have been reading recently, Luke 6 and 7, Les Miserables, etc, i have been seeing more and more how much God cares for the weak, the poor the destitute, and how much they are drawn to him. I have even seen how, in some cases, this faith that we try to live out would make a lot more sense to them, and would be a lot more appealing than to a person whose life was together.

In Luke 6, Jesus speaks of the poor, the hurting the hungry. We take these as figurative a lot, the poor in spirit (as matthew 5 says) the "hungry for righteous" as matthew says. But i think Jesus cared just as much for these physical needs as the spiritual.

I have been thinking of what it means to be a new creation. We see taht a lot as a dying to self, and a rising up in Christ. But to us, taht involves sacrifice, like the rich young ruler. When we are happy with parts of who we are, new creation is not always a pleasant thought. But to one who is destitute, tot he Jean Valjean's of the world, new creation is a promise. A way out of a hopeless life. (i recognize that a wealthy man's life is just as hopeless in reality, but it doesnt seem that way in me moment)

so, questions:

1) why is it so easy for us to find "hope" in the things that make our life seem pleasant and good?
2) Why does the gospel appeal to the poor and hurting more than the able and strong?

Jesus draws and repels

The thing that I was struck the most by is how Jesus is attractive to some while others find him as a threat and try to get rid of him.

I see Jesus being attractive through the way that crowds gather to him Luke 5:1, 15,19,29 6:17. We also see in these two chapters that Jesus attracts fishermen and tax collectors to be his disciples, and that the leper, paralytic, and man with the shriveled hand. Jesus also attracts questions from Johns disciples.

Jesus is seen as a threat to the Pharisees as seen in his dealings with the paralytic, and when he heals on the Sabbath. The Pharisees even try to look for ways to get rid of him 6:7.

What is it that causes Jesus to be so attractive and why is he attractive to some by not others? How are we attracted to Jesus or how do we see him as a threat?

luke who?

Hey guys,
I know we have not been incredibly consistent with blogging our thoughts on here, but i still think its a good idea if we can get in the habit of it.

This isnt really about chapters 5 and 6, though i did read through them, but what i have really been thinking about is the submission of Jesus to the Father through the first few chapters.  This ties in, kind of, with what were have been talking about with the humanity of Jesus, but it is just really sticking out to me right now how much he seems to make a point of doing things based on the Father's authority (and his submission to is as a man) rather than playing the "I am God" card and using his own strength.  

I almost feel like we need to spend some time catching up and getting on the same page, maybe reading some of Luke together this week.  I want to know how you guys are processing through it and how we want to move forward.  I think we are past a lot of the out-of-town stuff for a while.  

Do y'all have any thoughts for this week?

Here are a few thoughts that I had

In reading Luke 4 I felt like the theme of the chapter could be described as an unveiling of Jesus's ministry. We see his temptation and interaction with the devil, people rejecting him in his home town, healing and casting out of demons, and Jesus moving from town to town with his message.

So, how tempted was Jesus? This question ties well into the discussion we had on how human was Jesus. The temptation that struck me the most was the second. To me, it would seem that this would be the most difficult out of all the temptations. If Jesus were to accept, his ministry would be over and he would have gained all the wonders of the Devil's kingdom, but he would have lost his father. More than being tempted to gain what the devil had to offer, there was the temptation of an easy way out. In many ways the temptation of Jesus dealt with his identity. Jesus responded in ways that show who he is because the temptations struck at who Jesus is.

This chapter is good to talk about the responses that people and demons had to Jesus. We see demons stating who Jesus is, the son of God, home towners rejecting and even wanting to kill him, people being amazed at Jesus casting out, people trying to keep him from going on, Simon's mother in law serving Jesus after being healed. Why so many responses and why so vast? How does this relate to how we can respond to Jesus?

See you tomorrow.

Week 3...i think

Good to hear from you Billy! Sad to hear you are not going to be there this week, but i hope you have fun in Dallas.

I think Luke 4 would be enough to talk about this week, so thats what i am going to write about.

1) I was reading the temptation of Jesus and wondering how this fits with James 4:7, "resist the Devil, and he will flee from you"...or at least how does this fit with how we interpret it? It seems we yell at Satan a lot and tell him to go away, and we expect him to tuck tail and run away scared... Jesus seems to just stand firm on truth, not letting Satan choose the battle. And Satan doesn't seem to run away, but rather he waits "for a more opportune time". Do we have our ideas of how authority and submission work in terms of "resisting the devil"? Jesus' way seems much simpler and less draining...just stand on truth, and Satan cant move you.

2) I find it interesting that Satan starts 2 of his temptations with "If you are the Son of God...", like what he was really attacking was Christ's identity, or his confidence in his identity. I wonder how often he tries to get us insecure enough to "prove" our identity or God's power.

Jesus just seems so solid, and i wonder sometimes if we are so adamant and loud in our "rebuking" of spirits, our declaration of who we are, etc. because we are trying to convince ourselves.

That's what i got for now...i might post more later in the week.

Back in Body - Soon to be in Mind

Hey guys, sorry to use this to drop a line, but thought I'd give you an update. My trip was great, but could not get the time to sit down and add to the blog. I planned on being there this morning until our flight was bumped in Newark another 4 hours. We got in at 2:30am. Next Friday, I'm in Dallas for a conference - so I feel a bit like the ghost participant. I'll hit up the blog soon on my deep and profound thoughts.

In Grace.
>BH