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Jesus:
sometimes i wonder what it was
that made people just drop their lives
and follow Him.
i mean, have you ever really LOOKED at His followers?
there are the "sons of thunder,"
fishermen who were brash and rude
and fished nude.
try THAT with today's ozone!
you will need His healing!
there was a tax collector.
far worse than today's,
they could take your money or property
and keep it for themselves.
there was gentle andrew
who played with a kid while Jesus preached
and thus found out the kid had a picnic of food
that Jesus used to feed five thousand families.
the point is that Jesus got twelve full-grown men,
men who had lives and jobs and tempers,
to simply drop everything and follow Him.
i seriously dare you to try that.
it isn't that He scared them.
heck, a lot of the time they didn't even recognize Him.
ever live three years with someone
and then not recognize them
as you walked together in broad daylight?
look up the road to Emmaus.
it wasn't that He bribed them.
He could get money when He needed it,
but it doesn't say that they got paid.
apparently He said,"follow me,"
and they did.
is there someone you would follow today? the existence of jonestown and this latest polygamous sect show that the desire to follow is still human. yet the division between church folks and non-church folks has never been more dramatic. first we separated "body, mind and spirit," which can't be separated. (that is called death.) now we separate ourselves from those who believe differently? or, worse yet, those who don't believe at all? it gets to the point where mega-leaders in the "church" don't even see some folks as human. "9/11 and AIDS happened because of 'the gays.' and war happens because of the 'terrorists' that live under the president's bed. and you are poor because you don't give your money to the church." huh?
then there are those who make it excruciatingly difficult to be "good" believers. rules out the wazoo. circles to overlap and square pegs to put in round holes and lights to "go into" and humans who get promoted to titles like "patron saint of lost socks." it makes me want to wait til i am being crucified next to Him. all that guy had to do was believe. no beads or rituals. simple faith.
Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today and forever.
so?
so death has been crushed.
so love has risen from loneliness,
light has risen from darkness,
hope has risen from despair,
compassion has risen from condemnation,
gentleness has risen from torture,
laughter has risen from tears,
courage has risen from fear,
nobility has risen from insignificance,
acceptance has risen from rejection,
the Son has risen from the black night,
rivers have flowed out from the rocks,
beauty has risen from the ashes of our failure,
life in Him has risen from existence in adam.
He knew i would disappoint everyone who loved me.
He knew i would try and fail to be like Him.
He knew i would insult and hurt His children.
and His love remained exactly the same.
exactly.
and He still says, "follow me."
and i say yes.
amen |
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