Caller not Calling

A friend and great Bible teacher, Michael Bennett, last night spoke about John the Baptist and how we can look at his life to help us understand our own callings. I remember reading Erwin McManus' thoughts on John, and how John had this awesome calling to prepare the way for Jesus, then ends up in jail...wondering if he was wrong all along...and then gets beheaded. Its an intense picture about how our lives, with Jesus, are no longer ours to live...as Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, we've also died and been raised INTO Him. It's not ridiculous to say that God could ask you to do something radical, like for example give up all of your possessions,or move to a foreign country....or pray for your professor.
One thing that stuck out from these thoughts about John, was the encouragement to worship the Call-er not the Call-ing. Just like we might say worship the author not the book, or the Creator and not the Creation, there are many things seeking our attention and our worship. But those other things we worship leave us hungry and thirsty for more--we've all experienced that. But the beauty is that when we come to Jesus, we won't ever thirst again and we won't ever be hungry again. Yea. God is good to us.

F.A.I.T.H.--T

F...
A...
I...
Trust
H...

Trusting is another way to say having faith. I heard it a while back, our faith is not whether or not God exists, or whether or not Jesus lived, died and was resurrected... that's just pure fact. Did you know we have more documentary evidence for the resurrection of Jesus than we do for the murder of Julius Caesar? Theres actually more written evidence that Jesus lived than there is evidence that Julius Caesar lived. So if it isn't existence that we have trust in, what is it? Its the faith and trust to believe what God says. Much of it comes down to faith and trust in Jesus' words on the cross IT IS FINISHED.
When I think of praying for forgiveness of sins, and my own right relationship with God, I used to think I was appealing to God's sense of mercy. It was, "hopefully God is still patient and won't zap me this time I messed up" time and time again. I've heard it now said, and it makes more sense now, that when we pray for our right relationship with God, we are actually appealing to God's sense of justice. An example: If I were taken to court and found guilty of a crime...lets say robbery. What if, someone walks in from the back of the court room and says "Nope, I will actually take that punishment onto myself, I'll go to prison for him instead." The judge then sends the guy to jail and he serves out the sentence. It is not the judge's mercy that sends the other man to jail and keeps me free. If the judge were to later send me to jail that would be violating justice. Next time you pray for forgiveness, realize that you are TRUSTING in God's justice. Since it is finished, and the price has been paid, the penalty has been placed on Jesus, we no longer have anything left to do but to trust and place our faith in what was done on our behalf.

Following Jesus vs. Cargo Cult

I had never hear the term prior to a few days ago, "Cargo Cult." I found out it refers to people from islands, predominately in the South Pacific, who saw military personnel arrive on the islands and then receive cargo drops from airplanes. The natives believed that by recreating and doing everything the military did, the airplanes would arrive and drop cargo to them. The natives would dress in camoflauge, organize around camps, and even built runways for airplanes to land at. These natives beleived that by recreating everything, airplanes would arrive and drop off cargo to them. They simply saw what the others had did and did the exact same things, hoping to illicit the same response. What the natives didn't realize was that although they did everything right, saluted, built runways and dressed in camo -- they didn't have a connection to the source of the cargo.
Following Jesus isn't about getting all of the actions correct. Often we think in the same ways as the "Cargo Cults." If we do X, Y and Z then God will do A, B and C. That is a view of God that limits us and limits God. The beauty of following Jesus though, is that we have the connection to the source. The 'Cargo' so to speak, doesn't arrive because we go through the right actions and motions, but instead because that's what happens when you are connected to the source.

Jesus told them "I'm the bread you want"

^{John 6:32-35} Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.

Come to the person of Jesus, the One sent from heaven and you'll never need anything else. It's not come to church, not come to the bible, not come to small groups and missions trips...but come to the person of Jesus. ALL of those things are good, the gathering of God's people (church), the record and story of God and His people (the bible), discipleship, relationship and going to the ends of the earth to share Jesus. But at the center of it all is the fact that it is only in the person of God that we can be fulfilled. Its not something to earn, or something to attain, its a Father to know.