Go with him twain

Go with him twain

Matthew 5:41  "...and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain".

Caesar had instated a law that the Roman government could press any Jewish person into carrying a load for up to a mile.  So, if they (Romans) were lucky, they could go mile-to-mile 'enlisting' person after person to bear their load.   I can only imagine how this would make someone feel.  The Jews weren't just waiting around to serve the Romans... their lives didn't revolve around them.  They had lives, work, things to do, places to be.  And the Romans could at any time force them to walk an entire mile in any direction.  Imagine how incredibly inconvenient that would be, especially if you were in the middle of doing something or going somewhere.  Of course inconvenience was probably laced with feelings of anger, frustration, and being degraded and devalued. 

And then Jesus lays this down, that if anyone compels you to go a mile, go with him two.  I don't think we have to think hard to realize that two miles is more inconvenient than one.  It takes you further away from where your life and your interests are, and takes you away for a longer period of time.   So, from this we can take with us a simple command:  choose compassion over convenience.  Bear the load of others, and go with them further than what's required or expected.  Allow yourself to venture further away from your own self interests for the sake of another. 

Sounds simple, but maybe not so easy.

Remember Lot's Wife

Remember Lot's Wife

Luke 9:57-62 tells us of three consecutive conversations Jesus had with individuals who desired to follow Him:  

"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee withersoever thou goest.  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
And he said unto another, Follow me.  But he said, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  (KJV)

What strikes me here is how unapologetic Jesus is.  And it may sound funny, but what also strikes me is how serious He is.    He makes it absolutely clear the cost of following Him.   Following Him is not necessarily an act of convenience.  It does not allow us time to pack an overnight bag with items which will make us feel safe, secure, or give us comforting thoughts of what we left behind while we're on the journey.   Leave NOW.  Or don't.   Following Christ is a decision of Today... not tomorrow.   And if we should wait, if we should look back, we are not "fit for the kingdom of God."   Hard words, or just Truth?


Luke 17:32 says, "Remember Lot's wife."  We know that as Lot and his wife fled from the judgment and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah they were instructed not to look back.  And Lot's wife disregarded those words.   She looked back to her old life.  She looked back upon what God led her away from.   Perhaps with sympathy, perhaps with a longing to return, perhaps questioning her decision to leave and walk this 'new path'. 
We learn that as she looked back she essentially received judgment and turned into a pillar of salt. 
Remembering Lot's wife causes us to remember that to not "look back" is not merely a suggestion.  It's a command, and it's for real.  And, again, as Jesus tells the man in chapter 9, those who "look back" are not fit for the kingdom of God.  

That brings me back to how unapologetic Jesus is as he tells people this stuff.   And that's because the Kingdom of God is not a kingdom of compromise.  Follow Jesus with everything you are, or not at all.   And should we just proclaim that we wish to follow Christ and leave it at that?  We see in the scripture that Jesus is not satisfied with our 'lip service'.   He doesn't want our words, He wants our hearts... our lives.  For though our redemption is a free gift, given through Christ; the cost to follow Him is great.    Are you willing?

And yes, we're not perfect and won't be until heaven.  We haven't 'arrived', and shouldn't pretend we have.  And so I am thankful for the unconditional gift of grace and mercy as I follow my Messiah, my Rabbi.   But I only experience the sweet taste of grace and mercy as I press forward with my God.  As I re-orient my eyes straight ahead.  And walk. 

Finished with Luke.  We're on to the book of John.   God is good!

then Jesus, beholding him, loved him

then Jesus, beholding him, loved him

Mark 10:21-22 brings us the conclusion of a conversation between Jesus and the 'rich, young ruler' who sought Jesus for the way to eternal life.  The man seemed to follow the scriptures well enough, did the 'right' things.  What more would God ask?

"Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.  And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions."  (KJV)

The answer to the question...  everything.    We serve a God who gives all, and asks all.  And is not in the business of negotiating or compromising to suit our reluctance to give him every area of our lives.  In fact, we read that the man went away grieved, and there is no mention (in any of the gospel accounts) of Jesus trying to stop him, calling out "oh wait... let's just talk about this..."   ... "how can we make you a Christian today?" "...just do this, and this, and I'll overlook the rest.  Part of your life is fine."   Jesus wasn't concerned with quantity and numbers to validate his ministry.  He wasn't concerned with creating casual, compromising Christians.  He sought (and seeks) those who will give everything for Him.  "Take up the cross, and follow me" He says.   We should know that the cross at that time didn't mean all that it means to us now.  Currently, when we see a cross we know it is a symbol of hope, truth, salvation, forgiveness, Jesus.  But at this point in time He hadn't been crucified.  The cross meant none of those things.   At that time to speak of a cross (and to take up and carry one) meant only one thing:   death.  To die.   A death penalty for criminals.

So, Jesus asks us to take up our cross... to follow him.  To die to ourselves.  To surrender our everything: our bodies, our mind, our will, our choices, our money, our lifestyles, our love lives, our sexuality, our relationships.  To crucify our lives and lifestyles for a resurrected, pure, holy, blessed one.  To radically live and love for Him.   And we have learned that without Jesus' death, there would have been no glorious resurrection.  And the servant is not greater than his lord (John 15:20).  Speaking of individual areas of our lives, can we then expect a glorious resurrection of a pure, holy, blessed lifestyle, mind, love life, relationship, etc. unless we first lay it down for Him?

The other thing that stuck out to me about this passage in Mark are the first 6 words:  ..... "Then Jesus beholding him loved him."    Jesus shared with this man what he lacked.  Certainly doesn't seem like an encouraging thing to tell someone.  But I was caught by how the scripture says that Jesus beheld the young man and loved him and then he told him what he lacked.... what he needed to surrender and give up to follow him.     So too does God behold and love us exceedingly - and as an act of that love He exposes areas of our lives that are lacking.  Areas which we need to give up, leave behind, surrender.   It wouldn't be love if He didn't give us and lead us to what was the absolute best: Himself.   It wouldn't be love if he didn't give us and lead us to life and away from death.   Wouldn't allowing us to walk straight into darkness and death - away from Him - without saying anything or attempting to guide us out of it be a loveless act?   If God compromised simply to make it 'easier' to be a Christian it wouldn't be an act of love at all.  Quite the opposite.

All for now.  Currently reading and being blessed by the book of Luke.

THE JOURNEY

THE JOURNEY

It's interesting to think about what exactly it meant to be a disciple of a rabbi in the context of the time Jesus walked this earth.  First, we know that a disciple didn't choose to be one.  Rather, he was chosen (John 15:16).  Inspected by the rabbi himself, it first had to be determined whether or not this young man had what it took to be his student.  You see, the goal of the disciple wasn't merely to learn the ways and teachings of their rabbi. But rather, to absorb every word of their rabbi.  To follow so closely that they were covered by the very dust which was kicked up by their rabbi's feet.  To be like their rabbi.

As disciples of our Rabbi - Jesus - we strive to absorb His every word. To be like Him. That our words would be as His, that our lives would look like His.  It's no accident that we have been given four accounts of His earthly ministry.  Accounts which describe in some detail the things He said and the way He acted.  

We have had pressed upon our hearts to read one gospel account a week together.  Continually.  That we may lean into our Rabbi's own words and actions.  And learn to be more like him.  What better way than to continually immerse ourselves in his own words, teachings, and life story?   We'll be writing our reflections and thoughts (as sort of an e-journal) as we read a gospel each week.  The purpose of this is, in general, to:

1)  Help us process what we have read,

2)  As we continue to rotate through each book (of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John), to share what God has brought to our attention and laid on our hearts.

3)  Help keep us accountable.

Our prayer is that perhaps, God willing, He'd find pleasure in speaking to others through this gospel journey.  We have begun this blog at the end of week 2, as we finish Mark and move on to Luke.   Enjoy and many blessings to you.

Going to Mexico

Going to Mexico

Next Wednesday the 8th Tim will be going to Mexico with a small team of people from our church for missions work. He will be helping a church in Los Ojos Negros to install a new roof. His main focus however will be to make connections for future ministry work there and hopefully open up some doors to bring the youth group back there for a summer mission trip. Please be praying for him while he prepares for this trip and while he is out of the country. We really appreciate your prayers and look forward to updating you on the trip when he returns.

Getting out of the grey bubble

Getting out of the grey bubble

Since we moved to Seattle we have gotten in the habit of exploring. There are so many great things to see here that it feels like we have an endless list of good things to do on the weekends. In the last month we've taken our weekend outings to the extreme and have had the chance to explore to both Oregon and Idaho. The Oregon trip was really planed on a whim when we were still battling with the fleas and were making a desperate attempt at regaining our sanity by vacating our house. We checked into a really nice Hotel in downtown Portland that boasted about their luxurious pet accommodations. Since this was really as much a vacation for the dogs as it was for us it seemed like the right place to be. This is a picture of the gift the hotel had waiting for the dogs when we arrived and the smile of their faces after we ordered doggie room service on the second night. Totally ridiculous i know. While we were in Oregon we drove to beautiful cannon beach where we hiked with the dogs to a light house look out point. I dont know if you can tell from the picture but this is the same beach where Goonies was filmed. I must say it was absolutely gorgeous. After the hike we went into town and completely binged on fresh saltwater taffy and fudge that we bought from an incredibly cranky candy shop owner. She scowled at us we asked for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of free fudge samples. Maybe my judgment was a little off.
When we returned home...the fleas were right there waiting for us. Apparently all we did was successfully starve them for a few days. Needless to say we bombed the house the next weekend and it was finally over.

1 peter 2: 1-3

1 peter 2: 1-3

First things first, the fleas are gone. It was a long hard battle which included a couple of weekends away from the home..several different forms of pesticides and powders and finally we won.

Then the spiders came.

That is right. Spiders. Wolf spiders. Ive been calling it spider season here because all of the sudden they are everywhere. We were in Idaho visiting friends last weekend and in the two days that we were gone they completely boobytraped our back yard and porch with large webs (as a side note it is worth mentioning that while we were in Idaho it rained there for the first time all summer of course). I had to go out there with a broom and take care of the webs. I call it doing my daily rounds. At about noon now every day I go outside. Tear down the webs with my trusty broom and step on the giant spiders. I know its cruel but its the only way I feel safe in our yard.
moving on.
So I realize that we haven't posted anything interesting in a while. Part of this is because we don't really do much here, but mostly its because I feel like spiritually things were starting to come to a lull here. Its scary how subtle and patient Satan is in influencing our daily choices. About three months ago I found my self not really wanting to read the word as much as I had always wanted to in the past. This slowly turned into reading it occasionally begrudgingly because I felt like I ought to...then it turned into avoiding the bible at all costs. Tim and I still read together every morning, but its not been enough to actually feed my spirit and give it the nutrients that it desperately needs to stay alive and healthy. Slowly everything has been getting worse. Every Sunday I do NOT want to go to church (there are several reasons for this that I can get into later), Tim and I had been arguing a lot more consistently, Ive been feeling really distracted at work, basically everything has felt out of sync. The tricky thing was that we were doing more ministry work and being more involved in actively serving in our church and praying together than we every have before. On the outside everything looked right and good. Finally Then this weekend while I was outside squishing the spiders God got through to me and revealed to me just what a desperate condition my spirit was in. Id been basically starving it for months now and as a consequence everything was spiraling down. I say this though with a smile on my face knowing that God is faithful and he can take a weak and starving spirit and fill it with the goodness and truth of His Word and nurse us back health in no time at all. I had started looking at the Word as something that I read to increase my knowledge and
understanding and desiring this alone was not enough to motivate me to desire it daily. Anyways, read1 Peter 2: 1-3, I hope you will find it hard not to continue reading after this.

FLEAS (*&@1!....arg...&*!)

FLEAS (*&@1!....arg...&*!)

Apparently fleas live here. They thrive especially in damp wooded areas.....such as our back yard. No one bothered to tell me that in order to not get them you need to PREVENT them by treating your dogs all year round. So as a consequence...the dogs have fleas. I am so traumatised that I just had to share with all two of you who actually read this blog. I have freaked out and completely sterilized the whole house but unfortunately I don't know for sure that they are gone. I will only know if they arent back in a month. I am not doing well with this. Last night we decided that the guest bedroom was the only safe place in the entire house since we generally keep the door closed. But no. When I woke up a flea jumped off Birdy right on to me. This is war. I would bomb our house but I am pretty sure it would kill Leo. Wish us luck.

making my peace with the rain

making my peace with the rain

Let me just start by saying that this post is not another rant about the weather here. Yes the weather has been really hard for me, and yes I LOVE to complain about it, but I think God has been using it to grow me in ways I never thought possible....and now.... I'm starting to love the rain.

When we went back to Colorado last week I was anticipating ninety degree dry hot heat, dusty hikes and sweating in the car. What I got was low drippy clouds, cold temperatures and a whole lot of happy Coloradoans who desperately needed the rain. I cried. A lot.

But then I reached a point where I knew that I could not let the weather affect my attitude any more. It was about to ruin a wonderful time at home with our family and there was no reason for that. So I prayed and prayed and prayed. And God started to speak to me about it. In fact he dealt with me. Ive never been so glad to be "dealt with." I realized that although God may not have caused a cold summer in Seattle and a rainy weekend in Colorado just to teach me something important, but he sure used it. I was letting my personal discomfort get in the way of the work that God has for Tim and I out here. Something I thought I would never do. I became more concerned with my fatigue and weight gain and inability to run everyday with the sun shining on my back than the true reason we are here in the first place. I had lost sight of the path and I realized in Colorado just how long I had been sitting in the same spot waiting for God to present me with a path that "looked better" until I would agree to move on.

So last night Tim and I went to a worship concert at the Evergreen state fair. We went to see Leland and Jars of Clay. I was looking forward to the show all summer. But yesterday afternoon it started pouring down rain. I thought for SURE they would cancel the outdoor show, but of course they didn't. The rain doesn't stop anything or anyone here. They still do outdoor landscaping including mowing the lawn in all right downpours . So we attended in true Washington style, with sweatshirts, jeans and two tiny umbrellas which we couldn't use anyways. At the very first song, I stood up and opened up my hands and felt the rain fill them up. My eyes watered and I began to sob. Not because I was sad that it had rained on our concert, but because I was filled with the most unbelievable joy, the joy of freedom from my bondage. The Lord brought me into the most amazing worship right there in the freezing cold rain. At that moment it didn't matter what the weather was or what I looked like or what any of our circumstances were, all that mattered was God.

I will wrap this up by saying that God is so good to me. He has been more patient than I ever imagined and he is faithful beyond my comprehension. I feel him healing me as I continue the process of surrendering my fear and hurt from the depression that griped me after our move. And today it is raining, but I feel better than I have in a long time.

Here is a new photo of us at the rose gardens in Seattle. Surprisingly it was sunny that day : )