Weak Little People Preferred!: Beatitudes Part 3: Matthew 5 Cont'd

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”

Doesn't seem to work in our day to day, does it?

Everything in adulthood seems to scream “Take Control of Me.” When something goes awry in the office or home, the first job is to assign blame, the same goes with life. No one wants to be blamed for allowing things to get out of hand.We carry the huge temptation to be lord over our own lives but Jesus wants to rule.

Someone will sit on the throne of our hearts, needing to be in control all the time, says its you.

Jesus will assuredly do a better job seeing to your affairs.

Meekness, is not something you put on your resume, it is patience in the face of insults. Barnes' Notes on the Bible puts it this way:

“Meekness produces peace. It is proof of true greatness of soul. It comes from a heart too great to be moved by little insults.” These are individuals that hold to the truth of the entire Bible, they believe in Romans 8:28. They have faith that God will do what He promises.

-Jean-Marc

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Dear Christians: Drink Up, On Me

I didn't ever really believe I was a legalist. I just thought I wrote about them.

I sat there, surrounded by ministry leaders, being stared at, for what I decided to share:

I didn't drink around unbelievers.

“Why?” The first pastor asked with a bewilderment akin to if I'd told him I impersonated dalmatians on Tuesdays.

“Well, I just...(crap, I need an answer)...I wouldn't want it to effect my witness.” Pleased for a millisecond, I inched backward, hoping to recline once more in the comfort of my black leather seat.

“But, why would that ruin your witness?”

Damnit.

Oops. Fiddlesticks.

“Well...I...”

My eyes searched frantically for something, anything to ground my mind, so it'd run to the answer. I mean, there had to be an answer, like, I'm one of the most calculated and logical people I know, there had to be an answer.

Crap.

“....wow, I guess...I don't know”

I hated the vulnerability of being unsure, this is not the Jean-Marc I had hoped to present. I wanted to speak in tweet-able phrases, I wanted to be remembered as a theological rock of wisdom. I didn't want to be the kid that needed to get his act together.

So...I was...and I wasn't.

The room lit up with story telling and thought provocation. Our understanding of Scripture was tested both extrinsically and introspectively: us and ourselves. Discussion was good, but in all frankness, I am still licking my imaginary wounds.

Oh how I need to be right in the eyes of man, how I thirst for their validation. That is why I kept my Sabbaths, to be seen as good before men.

I am a brother to Pharisees, my religion killed Jesus, and it still does.

I still don't understand grace, I admit this with shame. I do not understand how actions do not make me better in God's eyes. Surely, He was keeping score all this time. Right?

Were they right, is it hypocrisy to say that wine with dinner at home is OK but drinking in public was different?

I won't even touch that bomb.

Let's just continue to do what we do to the glory of God.

Oh God, quell this judgmental spirit within me.

Show me how much you love me.

Save me from choking myself.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

-Psalm 51:10

In Him,

Jean-Marc 

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Why You Only Smile In Photographs

 

I saw your picture the other day, you posted it online.

The whole thing is pretty dumb, if you ask me. Just because we're “friends” the computer thinks I want to know your every activity, but I'd rather not.

It was good to see you smiling, I was unaware you were still capable, or perhaps that's just with me. Maybe I just upset your stomach, I seem to have that power lately.

What I will say is that I hope you're doing fine. What I won't say is that I will make it my concern. You are in God's hands now.

I can not stop you from putting yourself in danger's way, I am not your Savior. I am a beggar, telling another beggar where the food it is. I'm not hosting the feast, its God.

Do you get that He loves you? DON'T NODD YOUR HEAD LIKE YOU KNOW THAT ALREADY! He actually invested His life into yours, and He's asking you to stop making yourself a plaything when you are His child. You don't have to eat left overs, there's a feast waiting for you, with delicacies you've yet to try.

I was praying for you once, I'm going to start up again. I have faith our relationship can be rebuilt, that you can be rebuilt. You are not junk, you are jewelry.

Turn back to Jesus.

I long to welcome you Home.

"Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together."
-2 Corinthians 7:2-3

In Him,

Jean-Marc

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Comfort For Those Mourning Loss: Beatitudes Part 2: Matthew 5 Cont'd

Matthew 5 Cont'd

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”

Mourning is a part of life, as all things must eventually end. The kind of mourning being referred to here is godly sorrow that brings repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). This is regularly occurs in the life of a believer. What usually happens is that a person thinks they have everything together God-wise but discover a habit that separates them from Him. This process of being perfected by the Holy Spirit is called sanctification, and its not all happy, as we've grown up to understand happy. We're letting go of things we've allowed to define us: relationships, attitudes, even things we thought were godly like “sanctified gossip.” This sorrow is not hurtful but relieving, a necessary surgery for the soul. With the loss comes a release of pressure, we only just became aware of. Tears may come, but they are the tears of life, for mourners shall be comforted.

The word for comfort here means to come close to or to summon. Our Comforter and his associate comforters are summoned to our side when things get difficult, and even before.

We are comforted by the very presence of God and His grace. The fact that God corrects and pulls us out of our mistakes, demonstrates His knowledge: that we will soon be perfect. We are also comforted by those empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so, as was Paul, by Titus in 2 Corinthians 7. In community we find the presence and comfort of God.

Christians are people that laugh and love deeply because they cry deeply. Christian community is to be a place in which this is an acceptable practice. So empty, will be our good moments on this earth, if that is all we seek. In order to be a stern-faced Stoic, one must obsess over the details of reality, to be a hedonist, one must divorce them completely, the follower of Christ does neither.

There should be no need to fake emotions in the company of believers.

Questions:

1. Do you see emotional authenticity among the community of believers?
2. How can we be better brothers and sisters to those in a season of mourning?
3. Have you experienced godly sorrow? How did God comfort you (through His presence or other believers)?
    
   
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Poverty is the Goal: Beatitudes Part 1 (Matthew 5)

Matthew 5

The Beatitudes

A crowd eagerly fills the hillside hoping to hear this new teacher--but there's something different about him—he has the power to heal, starting with their hearts. The mass mood turns ecstatic as the word gets around: he might address the crowd. His figure rises to a high place carved into the hill. He takes his seat like a rabbi about to teach, with all the authority of a king declaring a change of law. He is the king of an invisible kingdom soon coming, and if these people are to bear his royal crest upon their hearts they must follow His statutes.

The Beatitudes are not lovely sayings to read when the inclination strikes, they are the statutes of Christ's Kingdom, what every Christian is (impossibly) to supposed to be. When read in this context, the believer understands why they must rely heavily upon the Holy Spirit, in this life especially.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

First off, the word “blessed,” as it is used here, refers to an internal satisfaction, not necessarily a physical gift or provision: free cars, boats, planes, jewels, coffee but the sense of a “free” Heaven. This is our major frustration with faith and religion at large isn't it: how the physical and spiritual intersect? How our relationship with God effects life as we live it?

Jesus shows us how we except the truth of the Gospel, His work done on the cross for us—recognize we're spiritually bankrupt.

A well-loved pastor is fond of saying that most folks like to consider themselves “spiritually middle-class,” admitting they can't be considered rich because of some 'awful' past sin, but won't acknowledge their utter depravity...they only have 'character flaws'. Though the truth is, we are all corrupt.

Our spiritual life is a home in which Christ is invited or excluded. When He sits at your table and asks: “What do you have to offer me,” so often, we respond foolishly, showing off. “Oh Lord, check out my vast Christian music collection, look at my lengthy prayers and Bible readings, oh, oh, and let's not forget that I don't drink, smoke or engage in premarital sex.” These may be good things, but incapable of making us right before God. They're just filthy rags we've sprayed with perfume (Isaiah 64:6), an unfit gift for a king.

The idea of somehow evening the score with God, creates a multitude of evils for the believer. Take for example, the pastor or ministry leader, according to the heresy of self-justification, they have somehow ascended the slippery ladder of morality that others are 'too weak' to grab a hold of. In their mind, sinning is a near impossibility (for a 'CEO-level Christian,' like themselves), thus building their taste for it, underneath the gloss of superiority. It becomes desirous and forbidden fruit. Being at the top becomes so lonely,to choices seem to either alienate one's self or...take the dive.

Matthew 5:3 begs us to be honest with Jesus, that we have nothing to offer the One who created Heaven and Earth, that we are in need of His complete support.

Questions:

1. What do you need Jesus for daily?
2. What does being spiritually middle class look like in your life?
3. How can you rely on the power of the Holy Spirit more?

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From Routine Day Job to Following Jesus: Matthew 4 Cont'd

Jesus Begins His Ministry

When Jesus heard John had been imprisoned, He went to Galilee, likely to continue John's work: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” sound familiar? Another instance in which the Savior of the world backs up ordinary people.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John. Jesus selects the least likely to be his “co-pastors,” not those already set-up for the task at hand but those with potential. God has no great need for qualification or skill, simply a willingness to obey, which they showed. The word says they left “immediately.” Had it been most of us, one would imagine a bit more protesting and doubt. No consideration for job security or safety, just an uncanny trust in the Word, Jesus Himself (John 1:1).

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

If you've ever seen one of those coming-to-fame movies, then you'll recognize the “woah” moment. Its the point when people discover how talented a nobody is, and so they make them a celebrity, a somebody. Their simple life is gone, because people won't allow them a moment's rest. Jesus' early disciples must have had a few “woah” moments of their own when the healings began, one can imagine they felt proud to be associates of Jesus (thank you very much), but Jesus would not be their celebrity. He wanted to be their Lord and King, a less popular miracle.

Questions:

1. What does it look like when Jesus is Lord over someone's life?
2. Does your life look like that? Why or why not?
3. We see the disciples of Jesus leave everything to follow him. If you were one of their co-workers what would it look like, their abrupt exit? How would you have advised them?
4. What makes it difficult for you to follow Jesus wholeheartedly?

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Tempting Jesus: Matthew 4

Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

Have you ever had and obligation to see someone you didn't want to? Perhaps a strained relation from your past: a past coworker, an ex-lover, an estranged relative? The meeting likely put a strain on you before either of you met. Now imagine having to meet them for a boxing match, at your complete physical lowest. Unfathomable, but Jesus willing to endure these types of battles for us.

Jesus was fully God, but fully human: he felt the light-headedness of not having eaten for over a month. He experienced the extreme weight loss and a near-death faintness. At this point, catabolysis, or the breakdown of muscle tissue for energy, would have occurred. The vitamin deficiency could have easily caused anemia or scurvy—Jesus was in a bad way. Heaven's king on the way to his first earthly, stumbling over himself. But God shows He is master over all circumstances.

Two early symptoms of starvation are submissiveness and apathy, but Jesus demonstrates neither when Satan meets up with Him. By the way, notice one of Satan's favorite tactics is to devour people at their weakest, and for human beings this state is brought on easily, just remove something significant from us. However, in spite of his humanity, Christ did not squeal, He took control of the situation.

“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Are not moved by similar thoughts? “If God was real, He'd miraculously fill my wallets with cash, or save me from the consequences of my actions.” Without eyes set upon the cross of Jesus and ears tuned into the Word of God, we are easily led astray. “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” We think its the things we earn and receive in life that sustain, when, in actuality, its God.

Questions:

1. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down ...”
   How do you know that God cares for you when things get crappy?
2. And he [Satan] said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Can you spot the lie in that statement?
3. Satan, in this passage, demonstrated an ability to take Scripture (the Bible) out of context. Think of Jesus' responses to him. How can we guard against using Scripture wrongly?

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Coveting on Facebook for Dummies

Ever heard the story?

The boy wishes he were a teen because he has autonomy (after all, he drives, right?),

The teen wishes he were a twenty-something because he gets to drink and go to college,

The twenty-something wishes he were a middle-ager because he is relationally and financially set,

The middle-ager wishes he were the old man because his life is peaceful,

And the old man wishes he were a boy, to do it all over again.

Coveting, or envy, is beyond circular, its redundant.

That's why not doing it its a commandment. (Ex. 20:17)

Due to the limitation of space, time and experience, there will always be things outside of our reach, always mountains we gaze at in wondrous envy, never to climb. The point is not that you would climb every mountain or clear every obstacle on Earth, but that you would clear your own.

Don't get me wrong, you didn't come up with the idea you needed a version of the iPad that hasn't even come out yet, by yourself, the world runs on keeping you dissatisfied. With every new technologically advent, comes a way to pump in more advertisements and therefore covetous seeds in our minds and hearts.

So all the singles wish they were dating,

All the daters wish they were married,

And half of the marrieds wish they were dating,

While the other half wishes they were...uh oh.

May we dare ask God to make us content. May we dare to congratulate others when they get better things than us. And may we not be tempted to break the windshields of parked vehicles, fancier than ours. Oops. Honesty.

“Two things I ask of you [God];
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.”

-Proverbs 30:7-9

In Him,

Jean-Marc

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Community of Liars Redeemed

I was going to gripe about the extortion that is JFK's AirTrain, $5? Seriously? But instead I'll talk on something more close to my soul.

We sat there eating(or tasting) Schwarma (since I was full), talking about God, manhood and women. We didn't agree on everything, in fact, we (I), disagreed openly on some minor theological crumbs, though we still broke bread well.

Why the tolerance? Because we are brothers--family. That is what we are.

The first biblical instance of the word "community" is seen in Genesis 28:3.
It was in reference to a blessing, spoken upon a liar's life.

Community was never sinless, doomed to imperfection upon this earth. It was created to help us (that sin) live closer to the way God fashioned for us. It was created to make us more like Christ, though we aren't there yet.

 We will still cry and make others cry. But we'll laugh and rejoice. We will love and struggle together to the glory of God. That's what its about.

My brothers hail from different islands, cultures and parentage, yet we have the same Heavenly Father.

The years have tested us in numerous ways, but we're still on the same path. Its just amazing, to see our transformations over the years, I hardly recognized these guys and yet they were just like me...slowly and painstakingly being perfected.

And as I sat in their company, the night before I'd fly off to my Southern whereabouts, I knew we'd stay close, stay in community and stay family, all by God's grace. Best men for a wedding years from now.

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."
-Ecclesiastes 4:12

In Him,

Jean-Marc

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Stop the Car and Turn Around: Matthew 3

Matthew 3

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

About thirty years have passed and we now meet a relative of Jesus, John the Baptist, he's an interesting fellow.

You can imagine how awkward it was at first, say you're about to retire for your evening meal one night in Jerusalem when you just start hearing this noise, like a man screaming—the thing is it keeps happening, day after day. You ask your neighbor if he hears the same thing and he agrees—at least you aren't crazy. But why is this guy yelling? Tired of the mystery, you and some of your friends in town visit this raving preacher living in the desert.

He looks sorta like a caveman, but his ideas are cutting edge: your vague associations with “God” won't cut it and you can't just live off family faith, you need your own. All of your rituals, you know, the annoying ones you thought would win God's approval, haven't brought you closer to God, they've just irritated Him.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” 400 years of silence from God was been broken by a man, who if it weren't for folks being drawn by the Holy Spirit and his voice, would only have had rocks to preach to. Now the word “repent” is not a popular one but it is not a term to fear. In Greek it is metanoéō, (from metá, "changed after being with" and noiéō, "think") (concordances.org). Its a change of direction.

Its like the picture of someone driving to an appointment they're already late for, and they haven't seen anything close to civilization for 30 minutes...its time to turn around before the gas runs out. Repentance is how people come to faith in Jesus, they tire of having the same dumb issues with the same dumb people, doing the same dumb things and finally admit that they don't even know where they're going.

“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance,” or “don't just talk the talk,” the goal is not to look sorry but to actually be sorry and repent. Aren't we aware of when people only apologize to be polite? God sees the heart (true intentions) of all people. Why would anyone try to fake out God?

Questions:

1. How have you tried to fake out God?
2. John the Baptist was willing to follow God even when it meant living like an outcast. Followers of Christ don't “belong” on earth. How can we live more like outcasts?
3. Think of all the stuff in your life you've chased after for better or for worse. What is the difference between chasing after those things and chasing after God? Which honestly satisfies you, and how?
   
   
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They traveled far and wide...

Ordered Steps: Matthew 2 Cont'd

The Flight to Egypt

So Joseph would receive yet another warning from the Lord, about Herod this time, as he was about to start having children killed in a fit of immaturity. The power monger's rage led him to murder several boys two and under, though due to Joseph's faithfulness, Jesus was not one of them. Per an angel's instructions, the family relocated to Egypt (another Roman province full of Jews) for a time.

It is noteworthy to mention that each person's actions, from Herod to Joseph, all fit into prophecy, meaning God's specific plan. Joseph may have thought he had randomly chosen to settle in Nazareth, but prophets called it many years earlier.

Questions

1. Moving is a big decision, but Joseph decided to do so with his family because the Lord told him. Does this seem radical to you? Could it happen today?
2. Proverbs 16:9 states: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps,” how do you see that playing out in this narrative? 
   
   
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Unemployment, Frustration, Insanity and Trusting God

I don't want to write about it, so I guess I'll type. Because someone needs to talk about it.

Looking for a job sucks.

Add my voice to the collection of audible daily anger out there, but it does.

The most excruciating thing these days is that I am attempting to walk unencumbered by the past.

Y'know I said something like this over BBQ sausage and ribs at some overrated smoke spot in the West Village:

"Its like most people spend their entire life being pushed by things  they can't see, all the stuff that behind them"

And that's what stinks about the job search: not the lack of call backs or lengthy denial e-mails with "Thank You" in the subject line, but that sitting there on the screen of my laptop, beside the blinking cursor of death, is what I'm supposed to have done with my life.

"Now that's not fair", I'm eager to scream, "I'm more than someone's assistant! in the year 2011"

That half year hiatus between the university job and the professional gig I held, represent a whole mess of growth in my life: I went from having no way out of occupational slavery to no way back in.

I wonder if that's how people with tattoos feel: "I wanted to express my new-found freedom and faith," I'm sure they would say, though all I see is the imprint of a decorative cross or a butterfly.

The phrase I hate most, sounds most true at this time: "It is What it Is"

Your actions are what people have  access to: your cold hard crappy actions, only you know your own heart. Employers can't read my potential off the page, they read the black and white of what I've done.

But God is not like that. If He was I would be worse than dead right now.

He put me on this foggy path and He sees where I'm going. He calls to me through the haze, biding me come forward. Each step I take is further from what I know, though closer to Him.

I am going to have start living by faith and not by sight.

Hmm...sounds familiar.

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Wisdom in Disobedience: Matthew 2

Matthew 2

The Visit of the Wise Men

Does it sound familiar? Like a song you usually sing around Christmas time? Well forget that for a second.

They are sometimes called the“Three Kings,” though the most literal Bible translation refers to them as 'wise men,' magoi, or magicians, these were learned men: either devoted philosophers, pagan priests or astronomers from the eastern lands of Persia or Arabia. These men were not professing believers in the God of the Bible yet were more aware of His signs than the Jewish priests and scribes. May there never be any misconception: there is one God, any other is a fake and a demon (1 Corinthians 10:20), and God will use whomever He wills to accomplish His purposes. He is not a God in need of people with the right credentials, but the right heart.

The wise men's quest for the “king of the Jews” put them at odds with the man who found his identity in being king over all Judea, Herod the Great, as he we was fond of calling of himself. Historically, this Herod was a paranoid figure, totally willing to kill his own wife and child, if he felt threatened, which was often. So, Herod, knowing he'd have to kill yet another child, attempts to trick these Gentiles into helping him feed his psychosis and keep the throne. Thankfully, the wise men, like Joseph, receive a warning from God and decide to ditch the crazy after worshiping Jesus.

Questions

1. The wise men were seekers of Truth, they found ultimately led to Jesus. How can this encourage followers of Jesus to dialogue with others about him?
2. Herod's lust for power led him to fulfill his dreams in horrible ways. How can the obsessions in our lives lead to unhealthy behavior?
3. The wise men didn't necessarily believe in the God of the Bible yet God was able to led them to Himself, through His creation. If God can make Himself known in this way, couldn't God speak to each of us in ways we understand? What do you think? Can you back this up with scripture?
4. The wise men were willing to disobey Herod when God told them to. Have you ever found yourself at odds with others over something you believe God wanted you to do?

Jean-Marc

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"Who's Baby Is That?" and Withholding Judgement : Matthew 1 cont'd

Matthew 1 Cont'd...

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Now Jesus was born to a young(likely teenage) girl named Mary, the Holy Spirit(God) gave her a baby but it didn't occur at a convenient time for her. Mary was betrothed to young man named Joseph. Betrothal occurred after the engagement but before sexual intimacy, the couple was technically married but hadn't done the official ceremony just yet (ie. Verse 16: “her husband Joseph”). Can you imagine? Your wife showing up pregnant with a baby, claiming that it was from God?

The Bible says Joseph was a “just man”(verse 19), dude, he would have had to be in order to divorce her quietly. Joseph had every right under the law to have Mary put out before the people as an example. They would have dragged her into the town square, exposed her, beaten her and killed her, and even more so on this occasion, as she would have been an adulteress and heretic. Its good to note, that even when he likely thought she did him wrong, he provided her a dignified way out.

But then came the angel of the Lord, warning Joseph that Mary had not betrayed him—this was a God thing. And Joseph believed what God said, marrying her without a prenuptial agreement.

Questions

1. Consider how Joseph initially responded to Mary's news of being impregnated by God? Are there times when judgment should be withheld?
2. Consider the time period Joseph lived in, and imagine you were his sibling and he shared Mary's story, how would you have advised him(honestly)?
3. Both Mary and Joseph had to show great faith, a belief that God is telling the truth, in their situations. What do their stories show you about true faith? How dangerous is true faith?
4. When you believe that someone close to you has done you wrong, how do you react? How would you like God to help you change in that regard?

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Last thoughts on a Plane Colliding with Infinity

Something I regularly practice whether in a plane or car, is dying--I know it may sound morbid, perhaps it is, but it blesses my soul.
I'm flying at 36,000 feet and somehow the plane's wing starts tipping and--KA-BOW!--the right propeller-engine thing blows out. Galeforce winds send it straight for my section: 31D. The young woman two seats down (that gave me the dirty look) is gone, however, I still hold on.
The jet's nose plunges, breathing heavy negative space, we're traveling too fast for words: cloud, tower, tree--gone. Am I ready for that? I ask.

Can I let go of my dreams, my will...I think I can.

The only thing that matters about me in the moments before I cease, is my eternal soul. Every funny joke I ever made, every dollar I ever earned will fade from relevance.

All I have in that breath are the two things that have ever mattered: my God and my soul.

May our time on this earth be spent with a disproportionate focus on both.

In Him,

Jean-Marc


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The Upside-down Kingdom: Matthew 1

Matthew 1

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Let's be honest off the bat shall we? This was likely the part that made you question why you in the world you even tried to read the book of Matthew in the first place, but there really is a lot of good stuff going on here.

You see, Matthew's intended audience was the Jewish people we referred to earlier, they were no newcomers to Scripture or God for that matter. Matthew immediately starts off his gospel by calling Jesus “the son of David” and “the son of Abraham,” both of these men were common figures in Judaism. In ancient Palestine, your faith wasn't just a weekly ritual thing but an imbedded reality of life: it affected what you wore, celebrated, ate and who you hung out with, so these men were icons. Abraham was the spiritual father of Judaism (read about him from Genesis 12) and David was their great and powerful king (read about him from 1Samuel 16). So what Matthew does here is give Jesus major credibility with the people, something he'll need to present him as the expected Messiah, or king.

Matthew also uses it to introduce the running concept of the Upside Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, where once conventional wisdom doesn't cut it any more. Women, once regarded as second class citizens, are here, given equal footing with men...and not necessarily the best of women. Of the five women mentioned, two were harlots (Tamar and Rahab), one an adulteress (Bathsheba) and one was a Gentile(non-Jewish,worldly) (Ruth). Matthew chose to associate them with Jesus, the Son of God

Questions

1. Grace is God's undeserved favor and forgiveness. How does Matthew's genealogy demonstrate that?
2. Answering that, think of a current or past sin and struggle in your life(only mention it if you feel comfortable), do you ever find it difficult to accept God's concerning it? How so?
3. Though Abraham and David are held up as godly examples here, the Bible also shows that Abraham lied regularly and David not only lied, but had an affair and had the woman's husband killed. What implications does this have for our own sins?

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Gungor:God Is Not A White Man

This song blew my mind when I first heard it, but its so basic!

Francis Chan: I Dare You to Pray This

I Dare You to pray this indeed. How it so goes against everything I've been taught and aspire to!

When Its Not All Sunshine and AppleJacks

….............

Have you ever felt an anger too real for words? One you couldn't even express if you wanted to?

I get worse than angry sometimes...livid when I doubt God's goodness.

I don't want today to be one of those, I would rather be steel, typing 'Hallelujah' after every word littering this piece with words like 'victory' and 'assurance,' but I feel neither.

I mean, I could lie and tell you its all Sunshine and Apple Jacks on my side of the beach, but I won't.

What I will tell you is that no matter how badly people discount your very existence, God affirms it.

Jesus doesn't ignore your prayers, His answers are Yes, No and Later.

When your doctor refuses to see you for lack of funds, count it as joy and his loss.

When security gives you the extra up and down, remember that yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.

And when you don't a fancy comeback to the question “What do you do?” Be encouraged. God already knows what you're going to be, and that's perfect, a perfect reflection of His Son Jesus Christ. Maybe not today, but soon.

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-Romans 8:22-39

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Robbing Ghetto Dwellers: An Intro to Matthew

A PROLOGUE TO MATTHEW

The Gospels: An Exclusive Sneak Peek

Also known as the“Good News,” the Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, their focus: following the earthly ministry of Jesus from inception to culmination at the cross. The common misconception is that these books were primarily written to spread the message of Christianity: Jesus being God, modern research cries foul. The truth of Christ's teaching and resurrection lit up the continents, a hungry blaze built in the souls of men and women, which the apostles could not feed alone. There was no way they could physically teach all these converts in all these new places, the New Testament text and its reproduction became a necessity. The Bible would last longer than the apostles ever could.

What about Matthew?

Do you ever find there's this soul-sucking side to you, this jerky person that uses people to get what you want, gladly justifying said behavior? Well that was Matthew 24/7. Matthew, one of Jesus' original disciples wrote the book of Matthew , but that doesn't mean God was always at the center of his life...he was once after shinier things. Matthew was a young Jewish man working as a tax gatherer on behalf of the Roman government.

Tax Collector...Not So Bad Right?

Uh...it kinda was. By 167 B.C. the Roman government had become so wealthy off its profits from Spanish mines, it didn't charge taxes to Italian landowners, though everyone else suffered.

In the 400 years between the last Old Testament book Malachi and the first New Testament book Matthew, God had been silent, and his people, the Jews, had been oppressed by four different regimes, Rome made five.

Abraham's children had already been forced into the lowest paying jobs, but that wouldn't keep the empire from using them as an ATM Machine. Provincial governors encouraged tax collectors to glean their holiday bonuses from the people's sweat: loaning money with high monthly interest rates and corroborating with local officials to buy out the food source of grain only to sell it back to the needy many times the original price during a shortage. Their evident class earned them the designation: traitor and sinner

The people of Israel were fed up, they were still praying and offering sacrifices, but no God-action. They reread the Hebrew texts several times over, hundreds of prophetic assurances that had turned out to be useless. Among them, Malachi 4:1:“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts” What happened to that? Where is the Messiah-King that would slaughter the Roman horde?

They had no idea God Himself was coming down to use it all for His glory: Roman despotism, the religious lost and a greedy little man were all about to have their world rocked forever.

Welcome to the New Testament. Welcome to the Book of Matthew

Jean-Marc

P.S.-More to Come...

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Stop Loving:Learning to Kick the People Habit

There is dark side to love, its rarely talked about, but its there. In Christianity there is a tendency to love things into oblivion, though we don't always know why or how that looks.

One day in high school, I awoke to find my older brother asleep on the couch downstairs. My home, having always been a shelter and community center of sorts, always gave me plenty of random roommates. I regularly found myself sleeping on the floor, the couch was a lucky break.

I made my way into the kitchen with a few others, right next to where he slept, out cold, the typical mean-spirited teenage banter ensued. We weren't aware of what we were saying, therefore we could not be offended, but he arose, incensed, on our behalf apparently.

“You guys need to love!” The angry words were hard to decipher from the grog of recent dreaming. “You guys need to learn how to love!” Power so richly emanated from his fists, a fireball would have been overlooked. “You're so angry and mean!” His knuckles pounded what his words failed to express, the wall again suffering for our familial rage. We laughed about this one for years. Its truth only now touches me.

He felt half crazy: another person, another day.

“I can't stand them anymore,” said the young disheveled artist as we scurried the city streets, he had to be more extroverted than I was. “I like them, then I get them to like me,” he sounded like...a people addict...like me, “then they love me, they invite me everywhere,” he looked miserable, “and then...,” I waited patiently, “I can't stand them anymore.” His world was so dependent on what others said, it drove him mad.

Dependency is real, it occurs right at the moment we'd rather die than offed someone, rather smile than speak out, rather condone than correct. Its no fun. One learns to seek approval at the hands of people, like a pup seeks kibble. Its demeaning. And its not who Jesus was.

The same Jesus that asked us to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) also turned over the tables of thieves at His Father's House (John 2:15).

The solution is to love in context of the Gospel, to express grace and truth with balanced strength, to speak softly when comfort is needed, but pound your fists when its time for folks to wake up.

May we be prepared to hug or kick at all times.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

-Matthew 10:16 

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Why Waste Your Time With God?

Why God?

Let's start from the beginning: you are a human being. You have a sense of self:your personality, why you love what you love,etc.--this is called a soul, without it, you'd be a toaster. Now with it, you have a sense of right and wrong, most call this a conscience.

This is where the debate begins, because different people in different places define morality differently right? Not really. You see, there is no society on the planet living without a system of morality. The best way to think of it is that we are all attempting to fulfill the same list of virtues but just define them differently.

For example, two men from two different cultures could find themselves at war with one another. Though when one is surrounded by the enemy, he quickly takes his life, while a man from the other culture will choose to endure imprisonment. Both men show the virtue of Courage, neither wishing to be labeled a coward, the wrong they wish to avoid.

The Truth About Right and Wrong

The idea of right and wrong could be easily explained as some evolutionary instinct if it didn't inconvenience us or endanger our own well being. Imagine a women in her 90s, slowly pushing a shopping cart full of groceries down the sidewalk, as you drive your sports utility vehicle. As she struggles to push the heavy cart, she trips over an untied shoelace. Her cart launches into the street, groceries spilling all over the pavement, as she falls directly into the path of your vehicle. Do you brake or drive on? Do you stop to help or take a detour, with the fallen woman in your rear view? Regardless of your choice, there is an inner confirmation that you did right or wrong. Stopping to help, provides you zero benefit, in actuality, it makes your life more difficult. Why is that want to do good there?

The same reason, the universe exists, it was put there. The best science we have confirms that our universe began in a great explosion, emphasis on the word began. You know, the same sort of thing happens when a car starts, a mysterious explosion brings the engine to life but there must be a key and a hand behind it. God is the reason the universe (and you) exist.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that humans can't do good all the time...its utterly impossible. Don't agree? Sure you do. When's the last time you felt safe walking the city streets alone or going to sleep with the front door unlocked? Unless you live on some family farm compound in the middle of utopia, probably never.. Anyone who's attempted to follow a fad infomercial diet, realizes there is a gap between what we want to do and what we actually do.

See, God created the world perfect but,where things go well, you can always expect haters. Satan, God's jealous ex-employee, decided he would devote the rest of his life to corrupting everything God created, and that includes all of us. By tricking us into thinking that rebelling against God would be to our benefit, we did, and now rebel instinctively. Even the good we want to do gets corrupted by selfish motives. That stuff we do against God both knowingly and without knowing is called sin.

But God is a personal God. He talked to men and women for thousands of years, trying to develop relationships with them so He could set them straight. God even came down to Earth as the person of Jesus Christ, to complete the deprogramming process.

Jesus is God.

Why Should You Care?

Because as we've discussed, Jesus opened this establishment called Earth. Its full of folks that try to listen to what he says and those that refuse. Any store or business owner that finds visitors behaving inappropriately: wrecking their stuff, cursing them out and hurting others, has the right to take action when necessary. God has refrained Himself for years, sending multiple representatives to warn the rabble-rousers to listen up before they get in trouble. He has been kind in handing out warnings for centuries, but soon, He'll close shop and oppose them to their faces. God will reward the ones that changed their ways with a paradise called Heaven, however, sentence those that thought he was 'full of it', to an eternal pit of torture called Hell. He would rather not send folks there, but their abuse will no longer be tolerated.

As a part of God's current grace, He provides us a handbook for living called The Holy Bible.

Why Study the Bible or the New Testament?

Because God Wants To Love You: God doesn't just want you to obey Him, but to know Him. The Old Testament was God's way of introducing or revealing Himself to humanity, and the New Testament is the story of the crazy lengths to which God will go to save humanity from sin, death and themselves.

Because of its historical accuracy: Of course Christians would back up the Bible as true, but what about those that have not accepted Christ's message? For the last two millenia, much of the Bible's historical data has been proven true by non-Christians: atheist archaeologists like Sir William Ramsay who spent 25 years investigating the book of Luke and Acts, the ancient Jewish work the Talmud and ancient historians Josephus, Tacitus and Pliny the Younger (Ramsey became a believer by the way).

For the New Testament alone, there are over 5,000 manuscripts in Greek, 8,000 to 10,000 in Latin and 8,000 more in other languages such as Slavic and Armenian, totaling to about 24,000 nearly identical manuscripts. When compared to ancient works like Homer's Iliad, with 650 manuscripts or the writings of Plato with 30, the New Testament remains the best attested writing of antiquity.

Because folks couldn't make this up: The Bible has some good things in it, though often relates some messed up stories. Why? Simple: God knows people are messed up, and He wants to show humans that messed up people change when they follow Jesus . No one has to stay God's enemy, we can now choose to be His friends.

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."

-John 15:15 

In Him,

Jean-Marc

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I Make A Horrible God

I awoke to a call for prayer so urgent, the inquietude exorcised me out of bed.

My first thoughts of the day were apprehension. So I prayed, for cousins led astray, learned in the dark arts of spiritual ignorance, luminaries of stupidity.

They couldn't see they were driving glass cars, twenty miles over the speed limit into a forest of brick trees. To be frank, I was certain they would all die soon. I prayed indoors, until driven into the open air.

I petitioned to Heaven, while occasionally staring at the mess which was the front yard: a patchy dry assortment of dead greens and rusty browns, its crowning shame a dilapidated tree-bush hybrid thingy centerpiece. It would conform to my shears in a few hours.

Have you ever been consumed by some activity for a reason beyond yourself? I snapped branches with a fascinating ferocity some would mistake for passion. And why was I passionate? Because I wish people were like this tree: that they would just stand still and let me fix them already.

I have a Savior-complex. Don't you?

My yen is to be the harbinger of their success, the answer to their problems, I really wanted to be their god.

I wouldn't be very gracious, but I would a good god, maybe, at least I think so...OK...OK...I would be a horrible god...and that's the point.

We aren't saviors, just support for the real one, Jesus. We don't ensure the warranty, we're just customer service. So when the problems of others consume you, remember, you are there to help, but God does the healing.

God help us to remember, we aren't you.

“As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

-Luke 3:15-16

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To the Guys Smoking Night Herbs Outside My House

Part 1

They're sittin' in a circle on their driveway, puffin' away white clouds into the night sky. You can see Cumulonimbus exclusively next to my house. This is just another day in a minority neighborhood.

“Oh great,”I mutter under breath exhausted at their sight, and I just came from an awesome class at church, my thoughts moan.

“I won't even look at them,” and upon that note exit my car, shut the door behind me, pop the trunk, retrieve my school bags from it, slam the trunk shut and scuttle up the familiar brick driveway.

Halfway, to the door, I consider what we talked about earlier in class: what in life makes us feel acceptance, that on which we pride ourselves—all the concepts were so illuminating.

And then I asked a dangerous question concerning my loser neighbors:Why can't I stand them? Sure, the inconsiderate parties until dawn and the ridiculously loud music throughout the day don't help...but is that why I disdain the sight of them? Then truth tagged my brain like a toddler off Ritalin: I dislike them because they remind me of everything I'm not doing.

I've dropped gospel-bombs on that driveway and their impact has been unimpressive, thank God for that, because if they actually showed interest in the gospel, I might have to befriend them.

Oops.

Part 2

I'm a sunny person by disposition but my family has historically struggled with depression (even that was hard to type). So being who I am, I've made it my crusade to pull them out of it.

It's like I'll have these moments when I think I've got a good hold on them before they're completely consumed by this pit, and then they slip right through my phalanges.

“Why do I feel so bad about them feeling low?” The second hard question of the same night. “Because I find my acceptance in being their savior.” God pats me on the head.

“You couldn't save them if you wanted to,” He explains.

“But...you might drop them Lord” I justify.

“That's where you're wrong, I do the heavy lifting, you're here for support. He ends the conversation, there will be no discussion.

I will have my faith in God's strength tested over the next few months.

Please pray for me.

Part 3

By the second watch of the night, I'm humbled out, like a pup put in its basket.

My cell phone vibrates violently.

An email from another publication to which I've submitted my writing: “We would like to thank you...,” your typical denial letter: way too long. They don't seem to get that a two page long “No” is still a “No.” They could've just saved us both time.

I reply back to the e-bag man: How could my submission be improved upon—don't even think that's grammatically correct.

He graciously responds, though my instinct is not to respond with grace, but I do, by God's grace.

To build your life upon men, means your comfort moves when they do.

But God is not comfort: He is more than that.

God is the soundtrack of grace that is to play in ours ears each day, reminding us that big good things are coming.

For all the “no's” and rebuke I received last night, I received three big BIG “Yes's.”

To write them out for you here, right now, would be foolish, but, essentially, EACH of life's major questions have been answered in one night.

And that is the kind of God we serve, one that makes pleasure out of our pain.

You aren't going to drown, you're just in the perfect place to consume the glorious flavor of God's new wine.

And it is Good.

“Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

-John 2:6-11

In Him,

Jean-Marc

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