John 4:16-30

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20  Our fathers worshiped on  this mountain, but you say that  in Jerusalem is  the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her,  “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know;  we worship what we know, for  salvation is  from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father  in spirit and truth, for the Father  is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that f Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, ghe will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her,  “I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then i his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man j who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Chr

Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading Grace Walk: What You’ve Always Wanted in the Christian Life by Steve McVey. I highly recommend it to those of you who are looking to break away from the chains of legalism that has so entangled all of us  in modern day Christianity.

There are several relevant points that McVey makes, but the point that really is driven home is that we do not work for God and we cannot do something for God. It just isn’t possible.

What a relief to discover that God isn’t interested in what we can do for Him. He can do anything that He needs done!… When Christ is allowed to express His life through us, it will be a ministry of supernatural life, not a religous routine, which leaves us frustrated and unfulfilled.

This is so true, and yet so hard to put into practice. As humans we like to do things, to keep busy and feel productive. God doesn’t want that. He wants us to surrender EVERYTHING to him and allow Jesus to live through us. Otherwise we just exhaust ourselves doing stuff that doesn’t really matter to God. Unless we surrender everything to God nothing we do matters because it is truly self serving.

Jesus taught love, not rituals  and requirements. He lived life to the fullest and expects us to do the same. We cannot do what he requires unless we surrender our lives to him and turn away from the rules that have imprisoned us.

John Piper on the prosperity gospel…

I saw this video several months ago,  and came across it again on Facebook thanks to Eric Barton. It is better every time I watch it.

Have you ever been in the following situation?

One day you are out mending your nets and are quite tired after a long, unsuccessful day of catching nothing. Then this guy walks up and tells you to take your boat out several yards into the sea and and begins teaching this huge group of people about who he is. After the lesson he tells you take your boat back out and to cast your net. You of course are exhausted.  You were out all day with no luck. You did everything you were supposed to do. You used your years of experience as a fishermen to do what you do best. Catch fish. Nothing. So at first you are like, “really, who is this guy?”. Well you know who he is since he has been hanging around and teaching for several days now, but what does he know about fishing?

So reluctantly you head back out, cast your net and catch fish. Lot’s of them. Huh? How did that happen? Oh, that’s right, we really can’t do anything without Jesus. Someday I will remember this…

(And then to top it off, he tells you to drop everything and go with him and you do… )

Luke 5: 1-11

We talk about how Jesus was, and still is radical, but I have not really ever heard him referred to as disruptive. When I typically think about things that are disruptive, I think of bad marketing that gets in the way of someones conversation, or when someone discovers a new technology such as the Internet. 

On Wednesday we talked about how when Jesus died on the cross the curtain of the temple was torn. Everyone now could go to God directly instead of having to go to the priests make the bull and lamb sacrifices. Think about how this could have totally disrupted the sacrifice and priest trade. At that moment when Jesus died, that industry was no longer needed. Jesus was the new “technology”. 

The problem at the time was that many people kept on with their way of life, and ignored this disruption. I wonder why. Do old habits die hard? Were people trying to preserve their livelihood by ignoring this huge disruption?We read about the curtain tearing, but how many people knew this at the time? I imagine very few did. Also, think how many people in the sacrifice trade were willing to admit what had happened, and the significance of the tear, or were even knowledgeable enough to know what the tear meant.

What happened on the earth that day changed everything. If you look at Hebrews 9, you see that Jesus changed the world, and if people would admit to what happened, they would not live the same way. He entered the Most Holy Place, once and for all, for all people. The blood from the goats and bulls no longer mattered, they maybe along with ashes had the ability to cleanse externally, but now only Jesus could truly cleanse. 

Just like how the Internet has drastically changed the flow of communication, Jesus’ death and resurrection drastically changed the flow of bulls and goats through the temple. I do not know enough about how individual lives changed when they no longer had to sacrifice animals to be cleansed. I imagine most found something else to do, and went about their lives. 

How do we react when Jesus disrupts our lives? Do we realize the gift and opportunity that He has given us and follow Him, or do we ignore his sacrifice and continue to make our own worldly ones?