"Jesus" Tagged Touchpoints (Page 3)
The King of Hearts
“Remember when, for positive thinking, we were supposed to state and repeat the promises of God? Well, here’s one of the promises that was never included in the bunch. Jesus said, “In this world there will be trouble.” (John 16:33) You’ll never see this promise as a magnet on a refrigerator. I get the feeling Jesus’ time in the wilderness was not far from his mind when he said this. Indeed, there is trouble in our outer and inner worlds.”
It’s Absurd
“To paraphrase De Mello, it only takes a willingness to see things in a new way. This is what I like to tell my clients in AA. ‘You’re right, it’s not about willpower. Willpower doesn’t work. It’s our willingness and God’s power. If you are faced with repercussions for seeing things in a new way, you also may be invited into the ineffable presence and co-laboring nature of God, who is not anything like the master in this story.'”
The Divine Slam Dunk
“What we think may not be the authority, but it reveals what we have surrendered to. If we believe that we belong once we ask the Spirit to indwell, then prior to this moment, we did not belong. There would be prerequisites. What if we always belonged in our intrinsic nature? Changing our thinking, metanoia (repentance), is simply surrendering to the declared truth that always was.”
A So-So Sower
“This parable is about a sower who sows his Word of grace and forgiveness over all the terrain of my life. The hard-hearted times. The shallow and self-centered times. The easily excitable and flaming out times. And yes, even the good times.”
Losing It
“Found in our lostness. What a frightening and freeing prospect. So, maybe I should have a bumper sticker that says “I lost it,” rather than “I found it.” And yet, it is exactly this ‘lostness’ that Jesus is calling me to lean into, to walk into, to embrace. And to embrace not only my ‘lostness,’ but embrace all the others who society has deemed ‘lost’ and ‘irredeemable.’”
Turning Point
“Repentance is something that happens to us. It is something that changes us. God acts and we are changed. God acts and we see things differently. God acts and we turn around. Some people have said the word ‘metanoia’ means to turn around, but I think a better phrase would be ‘turning point.’”
Named and Claimed
“But here is the good news: God has named us and claimed us. Not the other way around. In the waters of baptism, we are called by name and claimed by God. In the giving of the bread and wine in communion, we are named and claimed as the residing place of God’s presence.”
No Tums Needed
“The journey of faith is not about having all the right answers, for yourself or others. It’s not about prescribing to yourself or others a certain way to act, believe, or feel. Who needs that? Frankly, I find having all the answers rather boring.”
Life Resurrected
“Let’s face it. We don’t really want a God who rises from the dead. We want a God who never would have been crucified in the first place. But if a resurrected God is what we have, can we at least have him not bear the scars of this earthly life?”
No Stopping God
“Listen to the Passion story once again. Once in history, God took on flesh and walked on this earth proclaiming love and forgiveness to all he met. And we didn’t just reject him. We didn’t just ‘not believe’ him. We killed him. We crucified him. And do you know what he said as he hung from the cross? Father, forgive them.'”
Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free
“My belief is not in my own belief, and my faith is not in my own faith. My belief and faith are in God. Everything else is idolatry. Idolatry in my ability to believe. Idolatry in my own faith. With this kind of idolatry, I end up worshipping my belief. I end up worshipping my faith. Rather than the one who is Resurrection and who is Life.”
Our Blinding Vision
“Let me give you a far-out hypothetical – let’s just say there was a deadly virus running rampant across the world. We wouldn’t be focused on where it came from, naming it after the city or country it started in, seeking to blame someone… How barbaric would that be? NO, we would be focused on stopping its spreading, testing for it, curing it… Right?!? Isn’t it nice to know how far we’ve evolved?”