A Lesson From Disney

Last week my wife, Janae, and I took our 2 boys, Joshua(4) & Reid(1), to Disneyworld and we had an amazing time.  We know a number of people who had been in the past, but this was the first time for us as a family.  Based on what we had been told we had very high expectations in terms of guest service (especially in terms of doing anything possible to accommodate guests when needs/concerns/problems arise), the attitude of employees while doing their job, and a general desire of all employees to create an enjoyable stay for all guests.  We did the full service stay: we stayed in a Disney resort, used the meal plan, and went to all the parks; so, during our stay we came into direct contact with at least a couple hundred employees and cast members, probably even more than that.  Of all the hundreds of people we came into contact with during the week we only had two people that didn’t meet up with the expectations we had for our experience.  To only have 2 sub-par encounters out of so many excellent encounters is a testament to the way Disney trains and values their employees.  It is also testament to the level of belief in the product that 99.9% of Disney employees seem to have and actually, even more than all of that, it is a testament to the level of ownership that exists in the hearts of the employees of this monster company known as Disney…and its all for a Mouse?

The reason I am writing about our experience in Disneyworld is because as I was driving the long drive home to Northeast Georgia I couldn’t help but wonder: “If people will believe, buy-in, and take ownership in a company with that level of commitment day-in and day-out…with such a tiny number of sub-par employees (who probably don’t last very long anyway)…for what all comes down to a paycheck; why do we as Christians find it so hard to give that kind of commitment to our Lord and God and the Mission and Vision of His Church?  Why is it that the Church and Christians as a whole have acquired a reputation that turns people away, that is labeled as hypocritical, and in some cases that even repulses people?  If people at Disney who are simply working for a paycheck can have that kind of belief and ownership in a temporary company that will one day cease to exist; why is it that those of us who believe ourselves to be saved from an eternity of pain and torment in hell and saved to an eternity in heaven with the one who sacrificed himself on our behalf can’t have at least that same level of belief and ownership?  Truthfully, we should be outdoing Disney!!  We have something far greater than wishing upon a star!!  We don’t have to wish for our dreams to come true; we know THE REAL TRUTH!!  If we believe in Jesus as Savior and are continually being transformed in all areas of our lives to be more like Him our eternity is set.  We don’t need to wish, we know our eternity is secure!! 

Please don’t misunderstand; I loved every minute of my time at Disneyworld with my family.  They do an amazing job there.  Our boys had a BLAST and Janae and I had a BLAST watching them.  We will go back…we will return to that magical land in central Florida.  But my prayer is that all of us who call ourselves Christians can come to realize that if we are to fulfill the mission given to us by God we need to buy-in, we need to believe, we need to take OWNERSHIP that as Christians we exist to “lead others to a life-changing connection with Jesus” and “we are a church that is on a relentless pursuit of people where they are.” 

Day 6 - John 6: Provision, Sovereignty, Challenge...Desertion

In John 6 (Read Chapter here) there is A LOT that takes place.  This chapter is 71 verses in all, but it is broken up nicely into 4 different sections.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand (verses 1-15)
     This is a miracle of Jesus that is talked about very regularly.  All four Gospels give an account of this particular miracle which gives a clue as to the level of amazement and impact this miracle had on Jesus' followers.  You can find the other accounts in Matthew 14 (includes Jesus walking on the Water), Mark 6 (also includes Jesus walking on the Water), and Luke 9.  It is rare to find an event in the Life of Jesus where ALL four gospels talk about it so this particular event was extremely important to the gospel writers.  
      In short summary of this account, we see Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee and a crowd of people follow him, these people had seen him do a number of miracles and healings and are amazed enough by Jesus to walk away from home, work, family, responsibilities, etc to watch Jesus do more miracles.  Jesus notices the crowd and sits down on a mountainside.  He decides that he and his apostles need to feed the crowd, but the crowd is at minimum, numbering 5000 because that is how many MEN were there.  This number doesn't include women and children; so the number could easily be 10k-15k.  Think about trying to feed that many people a decent, filling, lunch...very expensive Philip told Jesus it would take 8 months of wages to pay for everyone to simply have a bite; let alone a full meal.  Then Andrew brings a boy he found who has 5 loaves of Bread and 2 small Fish, but this can't do anything to help feed 5000+ people.  Jesus tells the people to sit, he "gave thanks" then distributes the food and there is enough to feed all the people so they "all had enough to eat".   Then the disciples gather 12 baskets full (like bushel size baskets is my understanding) of leftovers.  
      The people there who witnessed the miracle talked amongst themselves saying this guy is the real deal, he has to be from God.  And Jesus knew that they wanted to make him their King so he slipped away alone.  
     One thing that I wanted to point out was that Jesus provided.  This wasn't something the people asked for.  They didn't come to Jesus saying we're hungry, please feed us.  Jesus saw the crowd coming, the other 3 gospels tell us it was late in the afternoon, late in the day, and becoming evening; so seeing that these people were probably hungry he decided to feed them.  They had a need and he met it.  
     God delights in providing for his children just as most parents delight in giving their own children what they need.  There is great Joy in being a dependable provider for one's children.  There is a sense of fulfilled responsibility and purpose, "a job well done" kind of feeling...except there is a deeper more personal emotion attached to it that creates a deeper feeling of Joy than simply completing a task.  Providing for one's children could easily be described as a labor of Love.  Jesus shows us in this miracle the fulfillment of one of God's primary promises to us throughout scripture, "Provider".  

Jesus Walks on Water (verses 16-24)
     So Jesus has disappeared on the apostles and they are probably thinking, "not again" cause he tended to do this to them from time to time.  So they are making their way across the sea to Capernum and they had gone, John says, 3 or 3.5 miles and the water would starts getting rough and the wind starts blowing and they are rowing hard fighting the waves in the dark of the evening; then they see this guy walking towards them on the water.  What would your first reaction be?  FEAR is a good word for it.  But he spoke, telling them it was just him, Jesus; their fear was eased and they let him in the boat.  Then interestingly the boat immediately reached the shore where they were heading.  We don't know if they were actually really close to the shore at this point or if there was a divine transport to the shore, but much like Jesus walking on the water, we don't necessarily need to know everything to have faith in the sovereignty of God.  
     The next day the crowds realized that Jesus and his disciples were gone so they hopped some ship that had just arrived and went to Capernum looking for Jesus.
     
     This section is heavy on the Sovereignty of God; meaning God has power over all things.  Nothing is outside of his abilities.  God created the winds and the waves and so he can do with them what he wants, walk on them, stop them, start them, etc.  Jesus as God's son has this same sovereignty over all things and he shows it here by doing this great feat of walking on the water.

Jesus the Bread of Life
     In the Old Testament, God provided daily food (Manna) for the Israelites while they were wondering in the desert/wilderness on their way to the land God promised would be theirs to begin a nation in.  Jesus tells the crowd once they find him that yesterday he gave them bread that filled them for a few hours, but they need to eat of the bread of life, bread that allow them never to be hungry again.  They want this bread, of course, and ask how to get it and Jesus says, I AM that bread, but you don't get it.  You want more miracles and signs from me to "prove" that I am the one sent by God.  Then Jesus goes into this really weird bit of talking where he literally says I am the bread that has come down from heaven (meaning I am of God), unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you are will not have eternal life.  
    There are 2 Major problems here for the crowd: 1) By saying he is the bread of life come down from heaven, he is claiming divinity and specifically he is claiming to be the son of God.  These people knew Jesus from his hometown, they knew his parents, some probably watched him grow up and now he claiming to have come down from heaven.  They can't bring the 2 ideas together and reconcile that the sovereignty of God could allow something like this.  Plus the Jews fully expected the coming "Savior" to be a "knight in shining armor" kind of character that would throw down the Roman Government and reestablish the Jewish nation as a the power of the world.  So you can probably see the problem they have with a poor carpenter's son who hangs out with fishermen and tax collectors claiming to be the Divine son of God.  2) By telling the people they must eat his flesh and drink his blood, they really think he intends for them to become cannibals and gain eternal life through eating his body.  But the problem is that this crowd has so deceived themselves that they can't listen to what Jesus is trying to plainly tell them because they are so caught up with what they want to hear.  Jesus is speaking very basic metaphors and they are listening with literal ears.  Jesus is trying to compare the manna that gave daily nourishment to the Old Testament Jews in the wilderness to him as Savior who gives eternal life.  They hear flesh and Jesus is speaking spirit.  They are actually asking some decent questions, but because Jesus already shot down their attempt to make him king, they have began to turn negative against him and "can't see the forest for the trees."  No matter what Jesus says here they are caught up in their own personal ideas of what the "Savior" will be and are blinded by themselves to the Savior who is right in front of them.  These people are asking for signs and miracles from Jesus to prove that he is of God as he says he is when just the day before he fed a ridiculous amount of people front nearly nothing.  Miracles he gave them, but they weren't really looking for a Savior all they wanted was a free meal and a show. 
    Ultimately what this interaction does is begin the downward spiral of Jesus' popularity as he increasingly reveals who he is as the Son of God, Savior of the world, Messiah, etc.   

Many Disciples Desert Jesus
     After this discussion that seems to take up most of the day and the reality that these people aren't going to see any more miracles they decide Jesus isn't what they were hoping he was and he definitely is not what they were looking for and they leave.  Jesus' disciples comment to him saying, Jesus, this hard stuff for you to say, and he basically responds by saying "if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen."  And a number of his disciples desert him.  Jesus then turns to his 12 apostles and says do you want to leave too?  And Peter despite his often thoughtless comments makes one of the most simple yet profound statements I have ever seen; he says, "LORD, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."  In other words, what other option is there?  We believe you are who you say you are and so therefore, where else could we go?  This is a major statement of Faith by Peter.  BUT...
     Jesus takes this response and says, you may believe I am who I say I am, but remember something: I chose you, you didn't choose me.  These people were trying to choose me as king.  I am not campaigning for a position here, I am teaching with words of truth.  These people have seen me do many miracles and yet they still can't believe my words.  I chose you and the father gave you the ability to believe in me.  I chose you, and yet one of you is my enemy/the devil (referring to Judas Iscariot who would later betray him).  This statement by Jesus gives some insight.  It reminds us that we can only come to Jesus when invited to come, which we see multiple times from Jesus that through the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection all are invited, but not everyone will come.  So there is an open invitation, but there also must be a response.  Secondly, that response MUST be a continual response.  Judas Iscariot responded and followed Jesus for almost his entire ministry, but he then betray Jesus to be turned over to the Jewish leaders and turned his back on him.  Salvation doesn't come just through a one-time response to the invitation of Jesus.  Salvation come through a lifetime of continual following the call of Christ to take his Gospel to the world.

There was a lot that happened in this chapter, please ask questions and make comments if something needs more details or if something leads you to a question about something else.  Any comments are welcome.  thanks.   




 

John 1 - Life Comes with & through Jesus

As I promised this is the first of a month of posts that are my reflections from the day's reading; my hope is to post most of these in the mornings, but I'm on vacation right now and so I'm not on my normal schedule; so bear with me for a day or two.
Today's reading is from John 1.  If you have yet to read that stop now, pull out your Bible and turn to John 1 or click this link for an online Bible and read the chapter.  There is a lot that happens in this chapter, so just as you normally would or should take your time, pull out a journal, and write down your questions & thoughts as you go along.  It may be that my thoughts might help you with yours, but if not feel free to comment to my blog with your questions and comments. 

The author, John the Apostle of Jesus, begins his account of the life of Jesus in verses 1-18 by telling us exactly who Jesus is and where he comes from and why this is important.  John tells us that Jesus was with God, his Father, from the beginning; in fact, not only was Jesus with God from the beginning, but it was through Jesus that the entire world came into being.  It was through Jesus that life exists.  It is through Jesus that life still exists today.  It is through Jesus that you and I have breathe in our lungs.  You see the importance of these 18 verses in John is to make it known that it was simply God the father speaking life into existence; it was God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) and God the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) who all created the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the universe, literally all things.  John is telling us that without Jesus nothing can exist.  Without Jesus nothing has life.

Then John goes on to tell us a little about John the Baptist (not the same John) and his role in the coming of Jesus to his public ministry, this takes place in verses 19-34.  The main point during this section, in as simple terms as I can put it, is that John's role was to prepare the way; to bring the attention of the people not to himself, rather to the fact that the Messiah, the Savior was coming and it was time for people to be aware and ready to accept him (Jesus) as the coming King of the World.  John says that Jesus is the one the prophets wrote about long ago and he will do everything spoken about him in the law and prophets (law & prophets = Old Testament).  Jesus was the one who came to prepare the way for Jesus to come; John came to "roll out the red carpet" for Jesus.

Verses 35-51 is a quick account of Jesus calling his first 5 apostles to follow him in his ministry.  One key verse that gives a large amount of insight into the way Jesus wants to have relationships is in verse 43.  It says, "Finding Philip...".  Jesus found Philip and asked him to "follow me".  We don't "find Jesus", he finds us, get ourselves saved and we don't get saved by our pastor or friend or T.V. evangelist.  We are saved by the Grace and Love of God offered to us and made possible through the sacrificial death and following resurrection of God's Son Jesus.  Once we come to an understanding of this sacrificial gift and accept it making Jesus our lord and master we are called to bring others to a place where they can meet Jesus and experience the same understanding and salvation.  We see this in verses 45-49, Jesus first found Philip, then Philip went and found Nathanael and brought him to Jesus and when Philip got Nathanael in the presence of Jesus Nathanael's life was changed forever.

Those are quick overviews of the three big sections of this chapter.  Please comment to this with any comments or questions you may have and I'll do my best to help.  I'm really excited about this study we are going to be doing together this month, the Entire book of John, a couple chapters in Luke, and the book of James.  So get ready, buckle up and stay committed to this cause when we are seeking God in his word he will come reveal himself to us.  So get ready to meet God this month if you take this seriously.

GO ALL IN!!!     

A NEW Savior...?

For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.  And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.  You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.        

                                                                                                                                    -John 5:36b-40 (NIV)-

It is closing in on Christmas season and at some point soon you will probably drive by or see a Nativity Scene at a church or on a street corner, maybe even in your own yard or on a table or dresser in your house.   Many people, Christian or not, religious or not, know the Christmas story in some form or fashion; yet many of those same people do not believe Jesus is who the Bible says he is. 

            The truth is, a quick look into the writings of ancient non-biblical historians will show that there was a man named Jesus who lived and was crucified by Pontius Pilate precisely when the Bible says it happened.  I don’t have time to get specific on all the history stuff, but the point is, there is not any real argument that can say Jesus didn’t live and live an extraordinary life, nor is there any argument that can really dispute his death on a Roman cross.  My point is that Jesus’ life and death are undisputed fact. 

            However, I don’t find it odd or even out of the ordinary that people today, despite historical evidence, don’t believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is or did what the Bible said he did.  It don’t find it odd mainly because the many of the people who were literally in the presence of Jesus, the people who actually watched him perform the miracles he performed couldn’t even believe that he was who he said he was.  These were people who would have known the prophecies about the coming Messiah by heart.  These were the people who were waiting for the Messiah to come.  They stood by and watched Jesus fulfill prophecy after prophecy and yet they still would not believe he was who he said he was. 

            With all this in mind; today I was reading in the Gospel of John and read the above statements by Jesus from John 5 and it hits me...its not that they didn’t see Jesus or experience his works and miracles, it’s not even that they weren’t really hoping for the Messiah to come because I believe they were still hoping; Jesus says, it’s not that you didn’t see me doing the work my Father has given me to do…the fact is you simply don’t believe that Salvation comes from me and therefore from the Father.  You have found other things to place your hope and trust in.  You have found new Saviors. 

            The problem of faith in the world and even in the church today isn’t that people don’t believe Jesus came, lived, did all he did, and died, which is what I originally thought.  I think the problem is that we have found new Saviors.  We have found other things to place our hope and trust in.   Things like money, possessions, stock market, bank account, or careers.  We have found new saviors in athletic figures, actors/actresses, music stars, college football teams, boyfriends or girlfriends, government or government figures, and the list goes on.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 that the person/place/thing that you place the most value on is where your heart will be also. 

            So, with this season that reminds us of the TRUE SAVIOR that came to the world to bring all things back to a right relationship with the Father through his life, death, burial, and resurrection; where do you place your hope?  In WHAT or WHOM do you place the highest value?  Have you found a new savior or is Jesus the Savior of your life?  Does your checkbook and calendar reflect Jesus as Savior or is it something or someone else?  As I said last month… ask yourself, To Whom or What do I Bow my Knee? 

A Sign for YOU...

Today I was reading in Exodus 12 and I was struck by something.  Verse 13 said, "The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."  The thing that struck me was the part that said "the blood shall be a sign FOR YOU."  That part had never really hit me before.  Maybe I'm slow and never picked up on it, but I just always thought that the blood that the Israelite people spread over the frames of their doors was so that God would know the people in those houses were his followers and he shouldn't kill them.  It's amazing house small we make God out to be.  It's amazing how we bring him down to human-sized intelligence and power for no real reason.  I immediately wrote a note down that says this: 

"The blood wasn't used because God needed help knowing who lived in that house.  Rather, it was a measure of obedience, a sign of belief that God was who he said he was and that he would do what he said he would do."

The blood wasn't to HELP GOD, why would the all-knowing God need help?  He knew who was in those houses and whether or not they were his followers.  He didn't need the blood to know whether or not the first-born in that house should die.  The blood was so the people could be reminded that they were making a commitment to God.  They were staking their very livelihood and future on the promises of God.  The blood is a sign FOR YOU.  The people were the ones who needed the blood.  

It's very scary how the Bible in the most odd and obscure occurrences in the history of time tells us what will happen down the road.  The blood painted on the door frames of those slaves homes in Egypt was FOR YOU.  The blood was "A measure of Obedience" for them to state that they believed in God.  Do you know what that passage ultimately reminded me as I have been reminded so many other times in scripture and just brushed it off...The BLOOD WAS FOR ME!!!  


The blood splattered and dripping down the wooden roman cross is FOR ME.  It is a Sign of Obedience, Christ's Obedience to HIS FATHER, that God is who he says he is (MY SAVIOR) and that he will do what he says he will do (LOVE ME).  The Blood is FOR ME and FOR YOU.  

Now, OUR Sign of Obedience is to seek God First.  Everything we think, speak, and do should be...MUST BE about HIM.  Because the Blood of Christ has spared our lives.  Jesus has absorbed the Wrath of God, shielding us from the Father, from the punishment that is due us, from the death that we so deserve.  And now OUR SIGN OF OBEDIENCE requires death to ourselves, death to our selfish ways, death to our self-centered pursuits, death to what we call important.  We must, "by the mercies of God, present our bodies living and holy sacrifices, acceptable to God, this is our spiritual service/act of worship." Romans 12:1.  THIS IS OUR SIGN OF OBEDIENCE: lives fully committed to the will of God which means "LOVE God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27 

God Loved us First and that was proven through the blood on the cross, therefore in response to that love; we love him with all that we have and love all people with all that we have, which in itself is another way to Love God.  So, our sign of obedience is to EXIST FULLY IN LOVE.