45 Days in the Gosepls: Day 10

Matthew 23-25

- The Seven Woes of Religion. Jesus wasn't a fan of the Pharisees. In fact, He spent all of Matthew 23 warning them of their sin.

Now, I'm kind of an idiot... but I don't think making a public fool of the religious leaders who are already attempting to kill you is the best way to make peace. Jesus clearly isn't backing down from His position against the Pharisees.

I find it interesting that Jesus is so harsh with the religious leaders of His time, and with the "sinners" Jesus is so forgiving and loving.

I think this reveals something about God's nature. Scratch that... I know this reveals something about God's nature.

God HATES religion. God HATES all religion. I am sure that if you are reading this that you are aware of the phrase "Christianity is not a religion... it's a relationship."

I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing this, because I'm sure you have heard it enough to have a grasp on it. If not, just google it. In fact, I just did... and the search results came up with a t-shirt.

If we claim this all the time, the question I have is why am I so religious then? Why do I still try to earn God's love? Why am I so "holy" in public and so un-holy in private?

I think the answer for me (and maybe you are either always perfect or "love freedom in Christ") is that religion is easier for me to understand. Religion is a natural result of my sin nature.

It makes perfect sense that I should act a certain way and do rituals for God to love me and (the word Christians use when we mean the exact same thing) bless me.

Someday I will stop being religious, but that day will be the day I die.

- It's the end of the world as we know it... Jesus describes the end times for the entire book of Matthew 24. And from this chapter, the book of Revelation, and a few other chapters in Scriptures... we have 2000 years of books being written and sermons being preached about "the most exciting time in history."

Think about this... how is it possible that Jesus gives us a very vague description (at least before we have hindsight) of the end of the world. And we write theology books and novels and movies and just about anything... filling in the blanks for ourselves.

We will argue with Jehovah's witnesses of their interpretation of Matthew 24:13, but we use the same verses to prove when Jesus is coming back... EVEN THOUGH verse 36 is in there.

I guess my point is... speculation is all we have. All we do is speculate. The Jews speculated for 2000 years before Jesus came and then they completely missed Him, because He wasn't what the expected.

I pray that we don't make the same mistake. I pray that I don't make the same mistake. I think we need to get our focus off of what is going to happen in the future and get our focus on today. We need to not worry about what God is going to do in the future... and worry about what God is doing today.

Not that we shouldn't study end times... but our obsession with it is what I think we miss. Think about it... when is the last time that God did what we expected Him to do... the way we expected Him to do it?

- What are you living for? Jesus makes it very clear in chapter 25 that life will end someday and we will give an account of our time on earth. The question is... what are we doing with our little bit of time?

I was listening to a sermon this week and the pastor made a comment that hasn't left my mind. He said "A lot of people don't get me. They wonder why I am the way that I am. And if you were to cut me open to core, the reason I am what I am, the reason I live like I do... all I want in life is to hear 'well done, my good and faithful servant.'"

To be completely honest, I don't think that is true of me. If you look at my life, I don't live like eternity is all that matters. I don't live as if God is the only thing that matters. And that is a sin.

I want to be able to say that eternity is all that matters. I want to be able to say that God is all that matters. But I can't say that.

I know the right answer. I have really, really good theology (some 5-pointers might not agree). And as much as I talk about surrender to God and giving up everything to God... I haven't.

I keep holding on to my life. I live like my life is worth something.

For 24 years, I have been "a good Christian." And I have gotten really good at faking people out. I am one of the most religious people that I know. To be honest, I am a fraud...

I'm not all together. I haven't given everything to God. I do just enough to make people think that I am close to God.

I need so much prayer. I need God to break me. I need God to take over my life.

If holiness is my pursuit, then I am still at square 1.

Matt Chandler is right... the Bible is very easy to read, but it's very difficult to let the Bible read you. Pray for me.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 9

Matthew 21-22

- Hosanna to the Son of David. I have grown up hearing this word, Hosanna. I have heard Bible stories with it being used. I have sung songs with this word in it. But it wasn't until senior year at Cedarville that I knew what it meant.

At Bible conference, they brought in a special worship leader (very controversial... btw). And we didn't sing the Lion of Judah 42 times. In fact, we didn't sing it at all. But we did sing the Paul Baloche hit "Hosanna."

And after the 2nd or 3rd session, I realized "I have no idea what I am singing." I knew the word comes from the Triumphal Entry narrative, but what does the word mean?

So, I did what any good Bible college student would in my situation... I googled it. It means "please save" or "save now."

I had no idea. I thought it was a praise word, such as Hallelujah.

So, the people are actually lining the streets crying out to the Son of David that He is their Savior. They are begging Jesus to save them.

Ironic, that just 5 days later they are nailing Him to the cross and spitting on Him and mocking Him.

Isn't that our natural reaction though? We cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" on Sunday. Then for the rest of the week, we drag Jesus' name through the mud with our lifestyles. Ironic... don't you think.

A little too ironic... yeah I really do think.

- I bet Jesus wasn't a fan of Fig Newtons. The story of the fig tree withering is one that has always made me wonder. Why did Jesus wither the tree?

And I could steal PD's message about our fig leaves, but this blog is no place for plagiarism or sermonizing.

The main reason is that the tree looked like it was producing fruit. It's leaves were plump and exciting. On the outside, the fig tree was spectacular. But on the inside... Nothing.

This story reminds me of pretty much every interaction between the Pharisees and Jesus or John the Baptist.

- Only Jesus can not answer a question and sound wise. If I were to have people asking me questions all day and all I did was ask them a question in response, people would think I didn't know the answer.

Jesus on the other hand, almost never answered questions directly and He was the wisest Man ever.

The reason for this is that Jesus' response (usually a question) would always expose the motives of the man or woman asking Him. I think it would be nice to be able to know what people are always thinking and their motives.

Then, maybe I could sound wise. But, I don't think that ability would make me too many friends. It didn't seem to work out well for Jesus in the friend department.

- Jesus knew He would be rejected... and still He came. Do we ever think about this truth? Jesus knew that His creation would completely reject Him, and He still chose to come into the world to save them.

I think the story that we usually here is that Jesus came to earth as a cute baby that everyone worshipped and gave presents to. But we forget that every baby in the area was murdered because of His birth. They were trying to kill Him.

We hear stories of how thousands and thousands of people flock to Jesus to hear Him speak and be healed by Him. But we forget that His own brothers and sisters and friends that He grew up with... did not believe that He was the Messiah.

I think too often we think of Jesus as this nice guy that everyone liked and was really popular for 33 years... then all of a sudden a couple of "haters" put Him on a cross, while everyone cried.

This isn't the story of Jesus' life. People were trying to kill Him from the day He was born. People rejected Him from the day He was born.

God in human form spent 33 years being rejected by His creation. While the entire time, all He did was love them. All He did was serve them. All He did was give Himself for them.

- GC-squared. Love God... Love People.

I have heard/taught enough messages on these three verses to fill an entire book. The implications of the greatest commandments are endless.

Every single act you do in life revolves around and reflects the Great Commandment. Every act shows whether you love God or not. And every act shows whether you love people as much as yourself.

So the question is... who do you love?

45 Days in the Bible: Day 8

Matthew 18-20

- Cut it off. Jesus has a weird sense of humor here in Matthew 18. He says it is "better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire."

Weird sense of humor... unless He's not joking. I think Jesus is talking directly to 2009 Christians on this one. We play the "God-and" game.

We want God and a nice house. We want God and a cool car. We want God and a loving family. We want God and a good education for our kids. We want God and to hang out with our friends.

We say I want God... but I also want ___________. Even last night at small group someone made a joke... you have to choose between something and God. And the person chose both.

It was a joke... but the idea is the same. We want God and we want our own lives.

And we completely miss who God is. If I want "God-and," then God isn't enough. If my faith in God is based on the fact that He blesses me with health and wealth, then I'm not truly loving God... I'm loving God's stuff.

Playing the "God-and" game is like saying... I want all of Bill Gates money (God) and a Happy Meal (my life). And we only want God, IF we can get that Happy Meal. Do you see how ridiculous this is?

So why do I hear all the time? I trust God, but I really want a husband/wife. I trust God, but I really want that job. I trust God, but I really want out of this marriage. I trust God, but I love my boyfriend/girlfriend too much to break up with them. I trust God, but I really want my kid to get a sports scholarship. I trust God, but ME ME ME ME ME ME... I want my Happy Meal!!!!

Jesus says... if it is keeping you from having all of God... CUT IT OFF!

- Forgiveness is a sign of repentance. I talked yesterday about the fruits that a Christian should show. Forgiveness is a huge one.

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant is a prime example. Here's the story... 1 guy owes his master millions of dollars. He can't pay it back... and the master wipes clean the debt. AWESOME!!!

A 2nd guy owes the 1st guy a couple hundred dollars. He can't pay it back... and the 1st guy has guy 2 thrown in jail for not paying it back. (Which he has ever right to do according to the Law)

The master hears about this and gets very angry. He throws guy 1 into jail, because guy 1 isn't thankful or forgiving.

Obviously (at least I hope), this is a story about the gospel. God saves us from a debt that we have no chance to pay back on our own. He completely wipes it out. Shouldn't we also forgive others who in no way owe us as much as we owed God?

Has anyone on earth ever hurt you so much that you were forced to send your One and only perfect, sinless Son to die as a sacrifice for their sins? And completely rejected you from the day they were born? And continually reject you even after you have forgiven them?

I don't think so. Maybe we should be quicker to forgive and less quick to hold grudges.

- Jesus loves the little children. I think the most overused verse in the Bible is Matthew 19:14... Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me...

This verse is written on my nursery and children's ministry rooms than any other verse. And this verse is quoted by more children's workers and pastors than John 3:16 (or so it seems).

And every time we use this verse is to prove that Jesus loved children MORE than adults. Really? Is that what this verse is about?

I know Jesus loves children. I know God created and formed children. But in a society that completely rejected children as worthless, Jesus did not reject children.

This verse does very little to prove that Jesus preferred children or loved them more than adults. In fact, Jesus interacts with children very few times in Scriptures. Which children's ministry professors fail to see.

Ok... END RANT.

I do love kids and ministering to children. But their ministry is not the "most important ministry in the church." (weird since I teach children every Sunday...)

- Money vs. God. If you had to choose right now between $100 million and spending eternity with (while being in poverty on earth) what would you choose?

And don't say God just because you know the right answer. Seriously think about your life... what would you choose?

And now more importantly, what have you chosen as you look over your life?

For me too often, I have chosen money. I have chosen the world. God is really working on me about this lately. Pray for me. I need to choose God. God is enough. But I still need prayer.

- First shall be last; and the last shall be first. God has a weird way of doing stuff. It's almost like He took human logic and flipped it upside down.

I'm pretty sure my logic says the first shall be first and the last shall be last. That makes sense to me... but then again I'm not God. (and there was much rejoicing)

All throughout Jesus' life He demonstrated this. He is God is human form. And He chooses to be homeless, born in a barn, have no money, be rejected by almost everybody, killed in a terrible death, and the whole time all He does is serve people.

Jesus is the most selfless human being in history. And He had every right to be the most self-absorbed. (After all Jesus is God)

Maybe God's logic doesn't make sense to me, but if I want to be Christlike... maybe I should try to follow His logic.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 7

Matthew 15-17

So... it really is day 22 and I just finished Mark, but my blog is waaay behind. I'm trying to catch up but weekend blogging almost rarely happens and I seem to just fall further and further behind.

It's all good though. Going back through it has been... therapeutic. Let's keep going with today's blog post.

-It's what comes out of a person that makes them unclean. This is one of Jesus' more interesting statement/dialogues.

The Pharisees are accusing the disciples of being unclean for not washing their hands before they eat. And Jewish tradition says wash your hands. Most people would agree that washing your hands is necessary before eating.

But for some reason the disciples are not eating with washed hands. And the Pharisees call out Jesus for allowing "uncleanliness" to enter the disciples.

Jesus makes a comment that almost completely ruins the Pharisees' way of life. He says that following traditions made by men over following the Words of God is sinful.

And the disciples in verse 12 crack me up... "Jesus, don't you know that was offensive to say to the disciples?"

I think so often I/we/the Church have our traditions that a "sacred." We can't miss our traditions. But really are they anything more than traditions?

Have you ever wondered when church became a building? Have you ever wondered why communion is so quiet and "sad?" Have you ever wondered why we have Sunday school? Have you ever wondered why we pass out bulletins?

Are any of these Biblical? Are any of them anything more than tradition? Churches are groups of believers in the Bible. They did not have buildings. In fact, they got stoned and tortured in religious buildings in the Bible.

Communion is a time of celebration of Jesus death, burial, and most importantly resurrection. Why do we treat communion as if we are in the cemetery placing flowers on Jesus' grave. He has no grave. HE IS ALIVE!!!

Sunday school was originally a time for churches to teach literacy by using the Bible as a form of evangelism. It is now a discipleship hour. It was never mentioned or even alluded to in Scriptures. Why does every church do it? Simply because every other church does it?

Bulletins. Are they anything more than another form of announcements? But once again, every church hands out bulletins. Maybe it is a souvenir for visitors to remember the church. There has to be some reason we keep that tradition alive. (Please don't tell me it is just to keep the club members attune (is that the right word) to the happenings of the "lodge." Then we become "Jesus group.")

- It's like deja vu all over again. Do you ever feel like the disciples would learn to trust Jesus? Here's the scene...

Jesus is teaching. It's late in the day. There's 4000+ people listening to Jesus. They are starting to get hungry. Jesus says "let's feed them." Sound familiar?

And what do the disciples do? They start to try to figure out how they are going to supply all these people food with some bread and fish. Seriously, they did it again. Some people never learn.

Wow... those disciples. Let me tell you. I can't believe that after everything Jesus is doing, they still don't get it. They still try to do it on their own. They still don't realize that Jesus has it under control.

The problem with the Bible is... me. It's too easy to read a passage and look at the disciples being idiots or whoever is not trusting God and saying "hey, idiot God is in control."

Then, I look at my life. And the saints that have gone before are looking at me saying "Hey, IDIOT God is in control!" (They yell at me... I'm much nicer to them then they are to me... because I need to be yelled at more)

Over and over and over and over again in my life I don't trust God. I try to do it my own way. I fail the tests. Sometimes it feels like I'm about to finish Kindergarten and then I fail an easy test.

Those disciples aren't idiots. They are human. Just like me... they don't get it. They are learning. They are growing.

And then, I love what comes next. They cross the lake and don't bring bread and Jesus says "beware of the yeast of the Pharisees." And guess what, they still don't get it.

Welcome to the real world, Brent. Maybe someday you will get it.

- Peter has the right theology, but living it out, that is another thing. Peter is an American Christian. He has to be. He is loud. He is a show off. He wants to be the best. He speaks without thinking. And here in Matthew 16, he plays a perfect American Christian.

Jesus asks the question "Who do you say that I am?" Peter jumps up first and yells... THE MESSIAH/THE CHRIST, the Son of God!!! You are the One! You are God in flesh!

And his theology is perfect. He knows exactly who Jesus is. He believes all the right things about Jesus. He makes one of the most beautiful declarations in the history of the world.

He knows that Jesus is the coming Messiah. He knows that Jesus is the Son of God.

And then, Jesus starts to talk about His death. And Peter (the word the Bible uses is) "rebukes" Jesus. And Jesus says "Get behind me, Satan."

Where does Peter go wrong? He knows the truth. He has the correct theology. But he doesn't live it out. He still is trying to tell the Son of God/Messiah how to be the Son of God/Messiah.

Crazy Peter... when will he ever learn.

And the scary thing is, this is American "Christianity." A bunch of people who know the right facts about Jesus, but it doesn't change their lives. They know the stories. They may have even prayed a prayer... but they are not changed.

Billy Graham once said that he would guess that about 5% of the church attenders in America are truly saved. How can he say that? Well think about it...

If you look like a apple, smell like an apple, taste like an apple, and feel like an apple... what are you? An apple.

If you look like the world, smell like the world, talk like the world, listen to and watch the same things as the world, dress like the world, and go to church on Sunday morning... what are you?

To verses that should keep you up at night... Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.

Correct theology does not get you to God. Knowing the right facts about God does not get you into heaven. It is all about faith and repentance.

- You just saw Jesus revealed in all God's glory... DON'T TELL ANYONE!!! Here's the story... Jesus takes Peter, James, and John on a trip up the mountain. He leaves the rest of the disciples back "there."

They go up the mountain. Jesus starts to shine. Moses shows up. Elijah shows up. Peter, James, and John just stand/fall prostrate there watching and worshipping Jesus.

It is the most amazing thing that any of them have or will ever see. They just saw Jesus' "God-ness." And Jesus says... don't tell anyone.

I don't know what happened when they returned to the group. It must have been really weird to have this awesome secret. And it must have been really weird to be left at the bottom of the mountain wondering what is happening and then trying to figure out the secret.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 6

Matthew 13-14

- Jesus spoke in parables. Well duh, Brent! Of course Jesus spoke in parables, everybody knows that. But the real question is, what were the parables about?

Jesus always spoke about things people knew. His parables were always about farming (which in an agricultural society is very common) and fishing (what jobs did the disciples have?). He would always speak in terms that people understood.

If I were to talk to the teens at church about farming and fishing, they would be completely lost. They don't farm or fish. So, I need to make the Bible parables relevant to their lives.

This is one thing I love about Brad's preaching. He doesn't speak from an ivory tower using big theological words and deep theological ideas. He preaches to us on a level that we can understand.

He makes the Bible relevant in 2009. He brings in real-life examples that helps us to grasp the Bible. This is something I continually learn from him.

- Jesus was rejected in Nazareth. Have you ever noticed this story? We kind of skip over this one, because we don't really get it completely.

The best way to describe it is kind of like a kid who grew up in the 'hood and everybody knew as a gangster. He had a reputation and somehow got out.

He comes back home a couple years later and is a completely changed person. He's no longer a gang member. He's got an education. He has a career. But people still see him as the old troublemaker.

This is what Jesus is dealing with. He grew up as a carpenter's son. He probably didn't go to school. He never did miracles (Wedding at Cana is the first... He is 30). And now Jesus is a huge celebrity who is healing people and preaching.

Everybody thinks He is a fraud or something. And they completely reject Him.

- John the Baptist had a terrible ministry. I know I talked about this just yesterday, but I think it is worth repeating. John's ministry was probably the most "unsuccessful" ministry of all time.

He is born being told he would be the greatest prophet. He is called the 2nd Elijah. He is preparing the way for the Messiah. And how does he spend his life?

John lives in the desert. He where's camel skins as clothes. He apparently eats a lot of locusts. He gets thrown into prison. And he eventually gets beheaded... (more or less) just because some girl is a good dancer.

This isn't the ministry that "the greatest prophet" dreamed of growing up. In fact, very few pastors and ministers today would sign up for that ministry. They would probably rather work at McDonald's than follow God's leading into that ministry.

- You feed them. Jesus has an amazing sense of humor. These disciples were worried about the 5000+ people's well being, so they asked Jesus to send them away to get food.

And what is Jesus' response? "You feed them." So, the disciples get together and quickly realize that they have enough food for 1 maybe 2 people.

I can almost see Jesus laughing as He gives them this task and they start to scramble. They come up with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (which we find out in John is from a young boy). And Jesus feeds all the people with that little food.

There is an important lesson here. Give Jesus what you have and let Him do His thing. This is a lesson I have learned (and failed to learn) sooo many times in my life. I constantly try to do it on my own.

- Lord, save me! How come every time we preach and read the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water we miss the most important part? We are so enthralled with the fact that they are walking on water that we miss the point.

Jesus did miracles all the time. Peter does miracles all the time (just read Acts). It's not weird that a miracle is happening.

The story here is a story of faith. And a very honest story about faith in God.

We usually get the part of Peter stepping out of the boat. At this point, (I think) Peter is just showing off for the disciples. We all know Peter is the "kiss-up" disciple. He is always the first to open his mouth and is always trying to be "the best disciple."

That is what I think Peter is doing here. And it works... at first. But as Peter starts to look away from Jesus, his faith is gone. He starts to drown. And he yells the 3 most important words ever spoken in Peter's life. "Lord, save me!"

He realized that the only salvation is in Christ. The only salvation is in Jesus. He isn't walking on water on his power. Only Jesus can save him.

Don't miss those three words. And the question is have you ever spoken those three words? And more importantly... and meant them?

I think it is so easy for us to think we are relying on God even though we are relying on our own "goodness." That's what Peter was doing. It wasn't until he realized that he needed Christ that he cried for help.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever come to the place where you NEEDed Jesus? You couldn't do it on your own. You were no longer good enough to make it on your own.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 5

Matthew 11-12

- John the Baptist wasn't sure. Chapter 3... John declares that Jesus is the coming Messiah. Chapter 11... John is in prison and not so sure anymore.

Have you ever noticed this story here? John the Baptist (the coming "Elijah"/prophet) starts to wonder if Jesus truly is the Messiah. This truth is essential to understand to understand any of the Jews in Jesus' time.

John and every other Jew reads the Old Testament and is expecting the Messiah to come and to "free them." They are expecting God to save them through this Messiah. They are expecting a King to come and to rule over the world.

Enter Jesus (the Christ... the Messiah). Jesus is a homeless guy who does miracles. Jesus is not a King. Jesus is not overthrowing Caesar. Jesus is not freeing the Jews and ruling the world. He's just a homeless guy who hangs out with other homeless guys.

Things start to go bad for John. He gets put in prison. I don't think this is the ministry he thought the "Elijah" prophet was going to have. He's probably thinking that he was supposed to be Jesus' right hand man for global domination.

This whole idea doesn't really fit into American church doctrine too well.

- Jesus is more of a figurative guy than literal. Listen to Jesus' words... "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

I have heard this verse my whole life and this has never, ever, ever made sense... unless Jesus is speaking about eternity.

Jesus' says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Last time I checked, Jesus suffered possibly the most painful and humiliating death in the history of mankind. He was rejected by his family. He was betrayed by one of his best friends. He was denied by his strongest partner in ministry.

Sounds easy to me... or is He talking about eternity. Is that why God calls it "My rest?"

I don't think that life on Earth should ever be easy for Christians. If it is, then we aren't living for Christ "hard enough."

I think Americans miss this one too. We hide behind our freedom of religion and avoid any persecution. In fact, we have no idea what persecution is. We think that having a Democratic President who wants universal health care is persecution (oops... I'm not talking about politics).

- Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Have you ever noticed that we have swung the pendulum to the complete opposite side of the Pharisees when it comes to the Sabbath?

In Jesus time (and in the Old Testament), Sabbath meant you do absolutely nothing all day, except go to the temple. That was it. You aren't even allowed to blink. Ok... that may be a stretch (which they weren't allowed to do either), but you get the picture.

And in 2009 America, Sabbath means go to church on Sunday morning... unless I stayed out too late on Saturday night. Sabbath = an hour at church.

I might get called legalistic for this comment, but I think it is Biblical. If not please let me know why it isn't...
Christians need to get back to what Sabbath was intended for. It was intended to be a holy day each week in which you (a) didn't work, (b) focused on God, and (c) sacrificed something to God.

How did 24 hours of meditation on God turn into 20 minutes of singing and 40 minutes of preaching?

- A house divided cannot stand. This is one of the most quoted phrases by Jesus that most people have no idea the context of.

Jesus is being accused of driving out demons, because Jesus is Satan. So, Jesus makes the comment that if Satan was driving out his own demons, he would be hurting his own cause. Then, Jesus says the famous quote "a house divided against itself will not stand."

Somehow this has turned into a sports joke for people from opposite colleges.

The truth here is that Jesus is being called Satan. Jesus makes it very clear that He is not Satan and that if He we Satan, He would be an idiot.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 4

Matthew 8-10

- Jesus touched the leper. This is something that Brad talks about all the time, and for a very good reason. Jesus touched the man with leprosy.

Leprosy is a skin disease that was believed to mean that someone was cursed and contagious. They were ostracized (big word that means "kicked out") from the towns. They had to leave their homes and their families.

They would yell "UNCLEAN!!! UNCLEAN!!!" so that people would know not to go near them. They were literally "untouchable." If you touched them, you would also join in "their curse."

Jesus touched this man. Jesus touched the man who was "untouchable." Jesus joined in the curse. This is 100% an example of the gospel. It is a beautiful picture.

- Jesus healed the centurion's servant. This story may be more amazing than the leper story. Think about it... this Roman (not-Jewish) centurion hears about Jesus and believes. And he doesn't even want a "magic show."

99% of the people who followed Jesus wanted to see miracles and magical stuff. This guy just wanted his servant to be healed. He didn't even think that he was worthy of having the Messiah in his house.

This centurion has a respect for Christ and His power that very few Christians (even today) have. (Maybe especially today is more appropriate)

- Jesus doesn't want just anyone. Matthew 8:19-22 (and the same passage in Luke) has always been a crazy, "non-American church" passage.

People come to Jesus wanting to follow Him and to become disciples. And what does Jesus do? He tells them "thanks, but no thanks." He sends them away. He gives them reasons not to follow Him.

Jesus would be a terrible pastor. He tells people not to join His flock. The point He is making is something that we too often miss. Jesus doesn't want to be an add-on to our lives. He doesn't want to jump in trunk off our car and become our own little trunk monkey to fix flat tires and ward off road rage.

He wants (and demands) to be the driver. And if you think about it, He made the car... so He knows best.

- The disciples still don't get it. 8 chapters into Matthew and the disciples still don't understand who Jesus is. The believe He is the Messiah, but it amazes them when He calms the storm. Those guys...

sound eerily similar to me. 24 years into my life and I still don't get it. I still try to do life my own way. I still don't trust God to handle situations. I still think I am in control. At least the disciples had only been with Jesus for a couple months/years at this point. What's my excuse?

- Healthy people don't go to the doctor. Jesus is hanging out with Matthew's buddies (who happen to be liars, cheats, and prostitutes) and the church-goers don't like that. And what is Jesus' response? He says "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

If churches really believed this, I think it would completely change the way that we did life at church. But when church is about me and my wants and my desires and my preferences, I think I miss the point.

(One quick example) What kind of music do teenagers listen to? Hip-hop. What kind of music is put out by 90% of Christian musicians? Pop/Rock music. I know of 1 hip-hop/rap artist who puts out Christian music (that is good enough for me to recommend to teens). 1... that's it. I think the church is missing something here...

- Demons were real in Jesus day. Luckily, Satan and his demons no longer attack us. They no longer cripple people. They no longer make people insane. Demons haven't been around in 2000 years. Or have they?

Why do we ignore the spirit realm so much? Are we too weak as Christians to ward off Satan and his demons? Are too weak to even acknowledge their existence? Do we think that if we ignore it, that Satan doesn't exist?

I think that Christians (especially non-Charismatic ones) are very ignorant of the spirit world. The Bible talks about it all the time, but (in our literal translation) we don't take those parts literally.

- Jesus describes the life of a Christian. Matthew 10 is Jesus' description of what it means to be a Christ-follower. This is how Jesus describes the church. This is what Jesus expects of His followers.

Read it... seriously, do it. Does that look at all like my Sunday morning hobby? HECK (I don't think heck is a strong enough word) NO!!! We have so missed the mark. We are so far from what Jesus describes.