Life. Faith. Jesus.

WARNING :: Brace yourself for the following post

Yesterday I read a post from someone about the idea of Haiti relief funds. Basically, he was upset from seeing all the Haiti relief signs and was expressing his discontent about such activities. His premise is that why are we so focused on Haiti when we could be helping the people in America.

What followed his post were a couple of other people who approved of his comment. 5 People “liked” his post, while 3 others approved by their comments. One of them actually gave a hearty “Amen.”

Basically, he was disturbed that there are Red Cross signs asking for Haiti relief, and was wondering if Haiti had signs asking for American relief funds.

This disturbed me. Quite a bit, actually.
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I’ve put a lot of thought into this idea

Recently, since I’ve found a new job, I’ve had the opportunity to share the Gospel a LOT! This is awesome! I never expected to be able to talk about Jesus and the Scriptures so much in my new workplace. What makes this even more interesting is that I had determined to not just bring up the topic of Jesus right away to new people I haven’t met. It turns out, though, that they are the ones who brought it up to me.

This seems very suspicious.

I wonder if God is doing this. I mean, come on… I resolve not to saturate my co-workers with Jesus, and they end up being the ones who ask me about it—all the time! I have no idea why these people would think I would have some kind of answer or insight to spiritual things, but for some reason they ask me questions. Most of them are not Christian and are opposed to the Bible, and one of them is actually a word-of-faith guy. All of them really need a better understanding of Jesus and the message of the Bible. I hope God does something through my brokenness to bring about change and influence in their lives.

But today has topped out all other days.
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I was recently involved in a discussion via email.

Ultimately, it was over the topic of the purpose of the Gospel, the New Covenant. The way it lead into a conversation-debate was because the other party asserted that refraining from pork was an absolute necessity for honoring, thus maintaining, the New Covenant. The outcome of this perspective is seriously disturbing—not because I simply don’t like it, but because it stands in stark contrast to the message and promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the outcome—according to this other party—for eating pork unrepentantly?

You go to hell

And I am not just talking about Sheol, or the “common grave.” I am talking about the Lake of Fire. That’s right, eternal separation from the Father.

I received an email with Read more

So, I met with a Pastor
This morning, at a whopping 8:30 am, I met with a pastor who has been pastoring for over 30 years. He has pastored several churches and has been in many places. His first church pastoring experience was at the age of 29 years old. We talked for a while about what it takes to pastor and what preaching is all about.

Why Preach?
The conversation started out with him asking me how I prepare my sermons. A bit odd, I thought, but I shared. He then shared with me how he prepares his sermons. That was neat. He shared with me an effective way to get meaning out of text and how to apply it to people’s life. It felt very kind and loving and encouraging.

After that, he asked the question, “Why Preach?” At first, I think, “I’m being tested.” Then, I figured I should answer, so I did by saying “Preaching is one of the main ways we are to be sanctified and to evangelize.” To this he asked “what do you mean sanctified?” I said, “The gospel that saves you is the gospel that sanctifies you, so the preaching of it is a way in which the church is sanctified by the encouraging, equipping, and challenging them into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.” To this he mentioned a few other things, while affirming what I said.

He mentioned that we must make it applicable to the people in the church so that it is relevant to their life. Also, he encouraged me to have a picture formulated of what kind of people I want the church to be. By having this mental picture, I will know more of how I want to deliver my sermons and move my people from one stage to the next.

I liked that, because he mentioned that preaching is in some ways a part of discipleship, to which I agree. While it is not discipleship in its most adequate form, it is an aspect of discipleship in a way that it encourages people to move in a direction of growth in Christ and gives them tools to get there.

The meeting ended well and we have scheduled another one for next week where I will probe him of his pastoring experiences. As for now, I have been left with challenges to schedule my life revolving around the following concerns:

- Prayer
- Bible reading
- Family time
- Serving in the church
- Serving the people outside church
- Witnessing for Christ

- Jonathan J.