John, Chapter 11

John 11

In summary --

It is difficult to imagine that after raising Lazarus from the dead, there where still people that would reject the notion that Jesus was indeed the long awaited Messiah. But what we find is that the religious leaders (who are also the national leaders) aren't as concerned with seeking God as they are with protecting their place of local authority under Roman rule and their national status under Roman rule. The present consequence of recognizing Jesus as God (thereby denying Caesar as god) caused them more fear than the future eternal consequence of rejecting God caused.

My favorite verse --

Yeah, it's that one -- the shortest verse in the Bible.

35 Jesus wept.

Jesus felt the pain of  Martha and Mary. He knew the sorrow that surrounded them and understood their grief. He was troubled because they were troubled.

Something to think about --

Is there a fear that you may have to change the way you think, feel, or live if you decided to follow Jesus?
Does the thought of having to admit you were wrong keep you from following Jesus?
Or are you open minded enough to ask questions and learn from the answers and evidence?

If you would like some materials to read, if you wouldn't mind investigating the evidence for a Creator and Savior, drop me a note and I'll share some books that you might enjoy.

John <><

John, Chapter 10

John 10

In summary --

Jesus uses a familiar picture to explain the kingdom of heaven and his role as its gatekeeper.
The large pens (folds) where the sheep were kept at night were places where the sheep would be safe from animals and thieves. During the day, the shepherds could keep watch over them as they grazed. At night, he would put them in these high-walled enclosures that were only open at the gate, where he would sleep. The people of the day and culture understood the role of the shepherd.

My favorite verse --

30 "I and the Father are one."

Again, Jesus plainly tells them he is the Christ.

Something to think about --

It's good to have firm convictions about what you believe. Even so, it is also good to be able to look at new evidence that may challenge what you believe. Looking at new information with an open mind is difficult, but the Truth and God are always up to the challenge.
Letting go of what you know in favor of the truth is always more important than standing your ground in a wrong belief to win an argument.

John <><

John, Chapter 9

John 9

In summary --

There are several things that I love about this story of Jesus giving sight to a man that was born blind.
This first is that Jesus contradicts the assumption that the man's blindness was caused by sin -- either his or his parents' sin. Jesus rejects their belief that his blindness is the result of sin and uses the moment to glorify God.

Once again, this miracle is used against Jesus.
Some insist that Jesus cannot be a man of God because he doesn't keep the Sabbath. Others say that a sinner could not perform such signs.
People question whether or not this man was blind. He is questioned. His parents are questioned. And then he is questioned again. I love the man's innocence. When the Pharisees ask about Jesus' whereabouts, the man asks if they want to become his disciple, too!

My favorite verse --

From the blind man's perspective, the miracle was simple to explain.

25 He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."

Something to think about --

We often complicate simple things when there is a simple explanation. Sometimes the answer is as simple as giving God credit for the good things in life; as simple as knowing that God loves us and Jesus died for us.

John <><

John, Chapter 8

John 8

In summary --

There is a lot of really good stuff in this chapter. It begins with the familiar story of the church lawyers bringing a woman that had been caught in adultery. I think they were looking to trap Jesus into either disregarding the law by showing mercy or to make him be as legalistic and unmerciful as they were. Jesus gives them the freedom to judge her by the Law if they are guiltless under the Law.
In the end Jesus tells her that he won't condemn her either and tells her to go and sin no more.

Then there is more stuff of the Jews condemning Jesus and saying his testimony of himself is no good. Jesus continues to warn them that the signs are coming when they will know. He even hints at how they will kill him in verse 28 -- ..."When you have lifted up the Son of Man..."

The Jew try to discredit Jesus by mocking him. They say (verse 41) "We were not born of sexual immorality. ..." They know that Mary and Joseph were not married when she became pregnant. They were saying more than they were not born from immorality. They were saying that Jesus was and so his words carried no weight.

My favorite verse --

58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
Jesus, again declares that he is God -- the Son of God.

Something to think about --

In this chapter Jesus challenges the religious authority of the Jews. He asks, "Which of you convicts me of sin?" (verse 46) He's asking if he's done nothing wrong, why don't they believe him?
They are having a difficult time because this is different than what they expected from God.
I wonder if we sometimes have a difficult time following Jesus because we thought it would be different. I wonder if our preconceived ideas of God -- our God biases -- make following more difficult. Maybe we've been conditioned that God is legalistic and judgmental rather than full of grace and mercy. Maybe we are legalistic and judgmental because we think that's what God expects of us.
Maybe we're wrong.

John <><

John, Chapter 7

John 7

In summary --

In this chapter we begin to see some of the confusion going on about who Jesus is.
It is the time of one of the three major festivals of the Jews. Because of the Jewish leaders plotting against him, Jesus has stayed away from Jerusalem and been preaching, teaching, and performing miracles near his home in the north. When the fall festival time comes around, his disciples want to go to Jerusalem where Jesus can make his claims before all the people.
Jesus says it's not time for that and encourages them to go on without him. He later went quietly, but was soon teaching in the temple.

The text shows us that there were many that thought he must be a prophet or messenger from God. Some argued that he was not and was leading people astray. Some were afraid to say what they thought because he was a pretty controversial person and they didn't want to take sides or were afraid of repercussions (kind of like politics today).

Most people were confused by the teaching of Jesus because (like last chapter) he speaks of eternal things and they hear with their earthly minded ears.

My favorite verse --

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

Belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior fills our spirit and flows from us.

Something to think about --

There are some things that haven't changed in the past two thousand years. Following Jesus, believing that he is God, and understanding him can still be difficult. Far greater minds than mine have disagreed over who Jesus is. Great theologians disagree on how we are saved and how we should live. Some people are still afraid of taking a stand because of what others might think.

We want Venues High on Sunday morning to be a safe place for you to ask questions, to vent your frustrations about not understanding, or to voice your thoughts on what you believe or doubt about the Bible and its teaching.

I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

John <><

Coffee time!

Yeah, I know.
It's always coffee time!

This morning I'm at Kingdom Coffee (personally, I think it should be Kingdom Koffee). I've heard about this place from friends and since I was downtown this morning I decided to drop in.

I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to good coffee. I'm typically a black coffee, no sweetener, no flavoring, or an Americano, same way. In general, I prefer a medium roast to a darker roast, and will occasionally have a lighter roast.
This morning (at the barista's recommendation) I'm just having a cup of black coffee, their house roast. I haven't asked about it, but I'm guessing a medium roast and possibly a Guatemalan blend. It's good. It has an earthy taste with a maybe light chocolate notes and a hint of spice towards the end. I would definitely buy this for home if I was in need of more coffee.

Right now, I'm set at home since I just bought some coffee at The Dancing Mule.
I was there on Wednesday with Hannah and had an Americano. It was nice to sit and visit. I always enjoy coffee with my girl.

Both of these places seem to have their regular community of coffee drinkers. Wednesday there were several customers that knew each other coming and going from the place, and this morning it is obvious that the guy at the cash register knows many of the customers. There is a buzz of conversations between customers, as well as a few of us that are on our computers or phones. It is a very young crowd and I'm old enough to be the dad of just about everyone in here. It has a nice energy for a dreary Friday morning.

I generally have good coffee at home and rarely venture out to a coffee shop for my morning elixir. Maybe I'll need to make a weekly habit of riding for a cup of coffee when it warms up this spring. I could try the many coffee shops of Southwest MO, or maybe not. I do enjoy my morning quiet time at home.

Life is hard.
Imagine how difficult it would be without coffee!

John <><

John, Chapter 6

John 6

This is a long chapter and a difficult one.

Here's a little pro tip for understanding the Bible:
When it makes sense to read it literally, read it literally. When it no longer makes literal sense, read it figuratively and look for the hidden meaning.

In summary --

The chapter begins with a couple of familiar stories -- the feeding of the multitudes and Jesus walking on water. Then the crowds of people come looking for Jesus. Jesus says they are following him -- not because of the miracles and the lessons he teaches -- but because they are poor and he fed them!
Then he tells them that they shouldn't be looking to fill their bellies, but to fill their spirit (food that endures to eternal life). From here on you can pretty much read bread, flesh, and blood as a metaphor. (Remember Sunday's lesson -- meta-phor?)
Again, Jesus gives the simple message (verse 40) that whoever looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life!

My favorite verse --

I'm going to give you two.
In verse 28 the people ask, "What must we be doing to do the works of God?"

29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent."

The second is;
63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

Something to think about --

At some point, we need to understand that Jesus is more concerned about our spirit life than he is about our physical life. He certainly cares for us and understands our physical struggles (he got tired, he got hungry, he got hot, and he knew pain), but Jesus came that we would become spiritually alive and know God and know eternal salvation.
He healed illness. He fed the hungry. He comforted the grieving and he raised the dead.
But he came --not to save our bodies, but to save our souls.

John <><

John, Chapter 5

John 5

In summary --

There is an initial story of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath and the leaders having real problems with Jesus and persecuting him because of his apparent disregard for the Law.
But the real point of the chapter is that Jesus makes the claim that he is one with and equal to God, the Father.

He does the work of the Father.
He has the authority of the Father.
He has the testimony of the Father (through his works).

Again, the divinity of Jesus is made clear in the gospel of John.
Jesus is God.

My favorite verse --

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

This is the second time we hear Jesus give this simple instruction about eternal life. (John 3:18)
Belief in Jesus and belief that he is sent by God -- that's the ticket!

Something to think about --

It seems that many religious people were putting their faith in what they believed the Scripture was telling them, but their understanding of the Scripture was wrong. In fact, the Scripture had become their god, it was their religion. They were consumed with following the Law and not with following God.
It seems that many religious people are still doing the same thing today.
Are we more about being "Christians" than we are about believing the words of Jesus and following his teaching?

John <><

John, Chapter 4

John 4

John 4 contains one of my favorite stories in the Bible and has been a go-to story as I have traveled and preached in churches around Missouri. If you are a regular reader of Out of My Hat, this may sound familiar today, as I posted something very similar a couple of years ago.

In summary --

The story of the Woman at the Well finds Jesus breaking many of the social and cultural norms of the day.
As a Jew, he shouldn't be associating with Samaritans.
As a Mideastern man, he shouldn't be speaking with an unaccompanied Mideastern woman, especially one with a poor moral reputation.
And he never should have accepted their invitation to stay in their village, eat their food, and live with them for several days!

I'm not going to go into much of the underlying story because I'm sure that many of you have heard it. If you need more background, send me a message or leave a comment and I'll get back to you.
But Jesus uses the one person in town with the lowest status or reputation to reach an entire community with the message that God loves you and the Messiah has come!

My favorite verse --

42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

Too often, we have the idea that we need to convince other people that they need Jesus. I think that we need to take this simple woman's approach and bring them to Jesus and let him do the talking and convincing. She went to the people and said, "Come and see a man that told me all that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
The people came because of what she said, but they believed because of what Jesus taught.

Something to think about --

I know that talking to people about our beliefs in God can be difficult, but we don't really need to convince them of anything. The woman simply told what Jesus did for her! We can do the same.
Students can tell what they're learning about Jesus in their Sunday classes. If friends have question that you can't answer, use the woman's approach -- Come and see for yourself. There's an old guy in our class that might be able to answer your questions!

For parents, adults, and all of you reading this, the same goes for you. Introduce them to Jesus the best way you know how. Invite them to church. Invite them to coffee with you and your pastor (or me if you're in southwest MO).
And if you have questions -- ASK!
Be like Nicodemus from yesterday's story. The teacher of Israel asked questions of Jesus.
Together, we can search the teachings of Jesus to find your answers.

John <><
Note: If you want to check out that previous post, you can find it here.

John, Chapter 3

John 3

Wow! There is so much to the third chapter of John. This chapter could cover several day's devotions, but we are only doing one -- for now.

In summary --

This is the story of one of the Jewish leaders coming to Jesus in secret to question him. Jesus tells him that we cannot even see heaven unless our spirit becomes alive. We have to be spiritually born to enter heaven. We must believe in Jesus as God (or the Son of God) in order to have eternal life.
I could stop and write a lot about this.
Jesus explains to this teacher what he must do to have eternal life and the teacher is having a difficult time understanding. He basically says, "Wait! How can this be?"
The teacher of Israel is the one asking questions.
That could be the greatest lesson of the chapter -- Don't be afraid to ask questions about salvation!

These first few verses are certainly the main takeaway from this chapter, but there are plenty of other good lessons as well. I'll cover a couple of them in the rest of this post.

My favorite verse --

John 3:16 is probably the most well known verse of the Bible, but I think my favorites are the two verses that follow.

17 God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, ...

If God didn't send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, then why do we often find those that claim to follow Jesus condemning others? That's not our job!
We haven't been tasked with condemning others, nor have we been tasked with saving others. Jesus simply tells us to love others.

Something to think about --

Towards the end of the chapter Jesus and his disciples go into the countryside and are baptizing new followers. John (the Baptist) is also baptizing in the area and some come to him and say that more people are going to Jesus than to him, (Students, remember Sunday's lesson? Comparison kills compassion.)
But John handles it well. He basically says, "It's not about me. It's never been about me. I told you that I am not the Christ. From now on, it's all about Jesus. As he becomes more, I will become less."

It is hard to set our own desires aside and to always put Jesus first. Let's face it -- we want to have our way. It is unrealistic to expect that we make the sudden and drastic change of completely surrendering our will over to God. But it is not unrealistic to gradually let Jesus become more as we become less.

What is one way that you can be more like Jesus and less like yourself -- today?
One thought. One action. One word of encouragement or love. One way that Jesus becomes more and you become less.

John <><