Where are you guys? I am in Chapter 7... chugging along at a sloooow pace because this is a rich read and my brain is small. One effect: where before I had to work at knowing in the Spirit, now I have to work at knowing mortally... which is not just tough when I'm driving, it also reminds me of the "Matrix" experience... or like a reverse of normal consciousness vs. dreaming...

Who Really Does Know How to Really Deal with Life, Anyway?

• pg. 134-139 ("The Brilliance of Jesus: One final look," ending at "The Law and the Soul")
  In this section, Willard points out the fact that in our modern world, hardly anyone (and (and he includes professing Christians in this category, disturbingly) associates Jesus with intelligence or competence. Being considered "smart" in our world is to be seen as one who can effectively deal with life as it "really is," and Willard points out that very few see Jesus as someone who has the knowledge and skill to to do this. I don't have too much to comment on with this, but just wanted to pose a few questions to help us come to grips with who we have seen as "smart" in our lives.
• 1. Who do we think of when we hear the word "smart," "intelligent," or "competent"?


• 2. Who have we looked to and learned from in dealing with "life as it really is," as Willard puts it?

3. If we are to make progress towards giving Jesus this primary position in our minds, what will that look like? What steps do we need to make to lay a solid foundation to be His disciples?

I included a cover of Economist Magazine, because this is a publication that I frequently look to as an "intelligent" source of information about current events. I'm going to mull over how I can demonstrate in my life that I truly believe Jesus' thoughts on current events is much more intelligent and competent than anything I could read in Economist.

Actually "be good," not just do random good things

Reading for July 14-21: Ch. 5, pgs. 129-134 ("Master of Moral Understanding", ending at subtitle "The Brilliance of Jesus: One Final Look")

Before moving on to the content of chapter 5, I wanted to share how God challenged me this morning regarding what Bryan posted last time about misfits and outcasts. Yesterday, a judge in Hawaii sentenced a young man named Keli'i Acasia to 30 years in prison for killing an older gentlemen who intervened when Acasia and his friend Ben were in the middle of a botched burglarly attempt and assault in Waikiki.

(http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090714/NEWS20/907140351/Nakoa+s+killer+gets+30+years)

During my 2.5 years at the Detention Home, I worked periodically with these boys (now young men). I can't recall if I ever heard this from them, but I can remember plenty of other kids like them referring to me, usually under their breath, as "f-ing haole") To be totally honest, I am very glad that Acasia will be kept safe from society for a very long time.

However, God also challenged me in the following way this morning: is my experience with His grace so concrete that I could still naturally approach Acasia and joyfully share with him that God's forgiveness, love, and strength is available to him, and that God could renew him and give Him an incredible meaningful life. Moreover, do I have the capability of feeling joy at the prospect of enjoying eternity with Acasia if he were to repent and become a disciple of Jesus? If not, why not? Do I think that Acasia is beyond Jesus' reach. If I have the courage to keep being honest, I'd have to question whether or not, in my heart of hearts, I've wanted to do physical harm to those who have wronged me. The answer is yes. This leads me to really desiring to grab a hold of the next chapter: how do I become a "good" person at my core, and not just settling for the "righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" which settles for appearing good on the outside, but being filled with crap on the inside. I can relate.

Now for Chapter 5:

Here are the key quotes I found:

• He (Jesus) plunges immediately into the guts of human existence: raging anger, coentmept, hatred, obsessive lust, divorce, verbal manipulation, revenge, slapping, suing, cursing, coercing, and begging. It is the stuff of soap operas and the daily news--and real life.
• His aim is to enable people to be good, not just talk about it.
• We want to be good but are ready to do evil, and we come prepared with length justifications.
• But the centuries-long attempt to devise a morality from within merely human resources has now proven itself a failure.

You may wonder why I put a photo of Gerry Lopez on this post. Basically, Willard is going to develop an argument that that it is very, very important that we truly believe that Jesus is the smartest, most competent person in the history of man to ever teach on morality and what constitutes what it really means to be a good person. Moreover, He is the only one with the real answers of how to achieve this. I thought that a similar comparison would be if one wanted to learn how to master surfing Pipeline. Gerry Lopez was the very first guy in the '70's to ever ride this wave and single-handedly mastered the wave. Humbly admitting that Lopez is the "Pipe Master" and trusting in his guidance and teaching would be a sure way to learn how to ride pipe. Similarly, it crucial for us to trust in Jesus as the absolute most competent teacher to ever speak on how to become a truly good person and live in the flow of the Kingdom of God.

Here's my question for consideration for this reading:

What are the area(s) of your life where you absolutely know you need to be a good person through and through, and not just have right actions?

aloha,

Matt

“I’m an outcast, but don’t count me out.” June 30-July 12 Ch. 4 Reading:

“What Jesus Really Had in Mind With His Beatitudes” through the end of the chapter.

The first several pages of this section are basically an expansion on our reading from a couple of weeks ago. Here Willard goes into greater detail and anecdote on the true message of the Beatitudes: that God’s grace and blessing is available for ALL. “Thus by proclaiming blessed those who in the human order are thought hopeless, and by pronouncing woes over those human beings regarded as well off, Jesus opens the kingdom of the heavens to everyone.”`

So… what? How do I respond to the Beatitudes? One obvious response is to “jump for joy” because His grace has been extended to me! “Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven” (Matt. 5:12a). The other response, the external response, is described to us in the last few pages of this chapter: since God’s grace has been extended to everyone, I should do the same.

Who are the outcast, downtrodden, misfits in my circles? “Who would you regard as the most unfortunate people around you?” Willard lists several possible examples; one in particular caught my attention.

Confession time: I can be a very judgmental person. If I’m not walking in the mind of Christ at any given moment, I can find myself thinking all sorts of degrading things about those around me (especially when driving…). If I could pick one “vice” that I tend to react the most to in a judgmental way, it would probably be obesity. I’ve never been an athlete, but I’ve been blessed with a metabolism that has never really allowed me to get too far behind the ability to stay in decent shape. And I know those days are coming to a close, so I’ve strengthened my resolve to stay fit as I get older. So, without checking myself against the mind of Christ, I have little mercy (at least in thought) for those who have not been as blessed as I have with general physical fitness. What right do I have to look down on anyone else for this or anything else? Absolutely none. And it makes no sense logically either - I have close friends who are at least a bit overweight and not in the best shape, yet I don't think twice about it with them!

Father, help me to see and love everyone around me as you see them and love them, just as they are. Remind me of your grace extended to me that I may extend it to everyone around me, no matter how “unfortunate” they may be. “I am just a man with a heart and sinful hands… Lord, show me the way. I ask of you Father, let my words be Your words. Let my thoughts be Your thoughts. To You, I give my praise.” (–“Redemption,” ABR)

Who are the “outcasts” in your circles?

How can I/we foster a Christ-like attitude and response to them?

Any other insights out there?

Finally, gents, in the interest of the 4th of July holiday, this post and reading will take us through the 12th of July. The reading is only a little bit longer than previous ones, so it fits well and lets us conclude this chapter.

Brace for Impact June 22-28 Ch. 4 Reading: “Dealing With the Soul in Depth” up to “What Jesus Really Had in Mind With His Beatitudes”

I think the last sentence of this section pretty much sums it up: “By showing to others the presence of the kingdom in the concrete details of our shared existence, we impact the lives and hearts of our hearers, not just their heads. And they won’t have to write it down to hold on to it.”

This seems to have more implications for those of us who teach or preach than the others, but it can surely be applied to all of us in how we live our lives as a living lesson of God’s character to those around us. Goes back to Richard’s comment from last week: have you seen the Kingdom lately? Now we take it a step further: Where? How? What did it look like? How can I get me some of that?

As an example, one of the lessons I’ve learned in my life that I think comes close to being impacted the way Jesus intended to do with his teachings has to do with trials. I have never really been through any serious suffering in my life – I’ll be the first to admit it. But for some reason, through a few different times of emotional stress in high school and college (and beyond), I feel that God has given me a good deal of insight into how tough times are good, even great for me, how I’m tested and strengthened by them, and how much better I am for them on the other side. These thoughts and ideas on trials are now an integral part of my way of thinking, where before I had no idea. My “life flow” has been impacted, “leaving a lasting impression without benefit of notes, recorders, or even memorization.”

Though the parables described here are used as examples of how Jesus teaches, they all have a common theme: What does my heart look like? Or, how would it respond to these scenarios? What hit me particularly in that I’d never realized this before, is that the priest and the Levite in the Good Samaritan parable would be risking ritual uncleanness to help the man. We always scoff at those two, but with that variable thrown in, if I were in their shoes and completely honest with myself, I’d probably keep on walking by the beaten man as well. Where is my heart?

May we be truly impacted by Jesus’ teachings and his life as he intended to impact us.

So…

Where is your heart?

What lessons have you learned in life (or from someone’s teaching) that have truly impacted you?

How does your life and/or teaching impact those around you?

I thought I knew… but I had no idea… June 15-21 Ch. 4 Reading: “The Puzzle of the Beatitudes” up to “Dealing With the Soul in Depth”

Willard’s book here is continuing to do what I hoped it would: change my way of thinking. I’m sure I have a ton of erratic ways of thinking about God, myself, others, and just about everything. The trouble is that I’ve thought and lived these ways for so long that I don’t even know they’re wrong. Psalm 139:23-4, anyone? “Search me, O God…”

In these few pages, I’ve learned that I, probably like most Christians, have been thinking about the Beatitudes all wrong (if not you, then more power to ya!). According to what Willard writes, at least, which seems pretty solid to me – it certainly resonates. It makes me wonder: how many other crucial passages of Scripture (especially Jesus’ words) are out there that I’ve grossly misinterpreted?

It’s also a relief to be reminded again of what I should always be aware of: I bring NOTHING to the table in my relationship with God. He provides EVERYTHING. I cannot try to live the Beatitudes and thus achieve God’s blessing. As I’ve learned in these pages, that wasn’t even what Jesus meant with these words! How peaceful it is to be reminded of my freedom from the false gospel of salvation by works.

How thrilling to remember that if God’s grace and blessing extend to even the downtrodden described in the first parts of the Beatitudes, it certainly covers over me! Hallelujah… Reminds me of Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel, another book that changed my perspectives big-time (was that all the way back in High School when I first read that?). “’Jesus totally has this thing for ragamuffins…’”

A quote that resonated with me: “Those poor in spirit are called ‘blessed’ by Jesus, not because they are in a meritorious condition, but because, precisely in spite of and in the midst of their ever so deplorable condition, the rule of the heavens has moved redemptively upon and through them by the grace of Christ.”

So, now, what do the Beatitudes, or at least this one discussed, really mean?

Are there any other passages of Scripture you know of that may have been so skewed by our modern interpretations? Can you share your insight with us?

Aloha, BG

Conspiracy… the Resurrection!

Soo… some of us may have figured that once Fatty became a father, this blog would fall by the wayside. And who could blame him? We all understand, especially those of us who are parents as well (I think that’s almost all of us…?). Life is never the same again… mostly in good ways.

Well, I’ve enjoyed reading this book and everyone’s thoughts enough that I asked “his incredible HURT quadruple-marathoning swiftness” for permission to carry the torch for a bit, until some sense of normalcy returns to the Stevens household. Oh, wait – that’ll never happen (just kidding, Matt – don’t worry, you will survive!). So I’ll take a crack at putting up a post each week with a section of the book to read and some corresponding questions. Matt and I plan on passing the baton (yet another shameless running allusion) back and forth every month or so for the time being.

Before I take on this honour, however, I must inform everyone that I have a different version of the book than what I assume most have – mine is paperback, and from the UK. My page numbers probably don’t correspond with yours, and I have to deal with funny spellings of words like “colour”, “honour”, and “cheque”. But don’t worry, the chapters and headings (and the words, most importantly) are the same. So I’ll just call out the readings by headings, for example, from “Life in the Dark” up to (but not including) “Word from a Different Reality” in chapter 1. Just to keep us all on the same general thought as we read and post comments. If you want to keep reading, of course, no one’s stopping you (overachievers)!

I’ve just finished chapter 3: “What Jesus Knew: Our God-Bathed World”. So this week I’ll be starting on Chapter 4: “Who Is Really Well Off? – The Beatitudes”. Next week I’ll post the “assigned” reading and a few questions or quotes that got me thinking and/or praising. Forgive me if I don’t get a posting up on a like-clockwork regular basis – my reading time is pretty limited with two rugrats of my own, but I will do my best.

So, now that I’ve laid all that out, I’ll share some of my thoughts from the remainder of Chapter 3. The overwhelming thought that kept going through my mind as I read through this chapter is that I have not even scratched the surface of understanding how deeply involved and present God is in our world. I particularly have been challenged by the truth that the kingdom of the heavens is not some far-off cosmic place, but it is actually here as the “kingdom of the heavens.” This has started to change the way I pray, especially in, “Our Father, who art in Heaven…” and thus right here with me!

Space has always intrigued me since I was a kid, and as I've matured I've found it to be one of the most vivid manifestations of God's presence in our universe. Thus Willard's demonstration of God's truth really resonated with me - space is anything but empty! The picture above is not computer generated at all; it is a picture taken by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope of the Orion Nebula. God is the ultimate artist.

What are your thoughts? Here’s some questions to hopefully get us going again:

How do my common ways of thinking prevent me from fully realizing God’s presence in this world?

How can I combat these worldviews and experience God more fully?

Let's talk again! Aloha, BG