RIP Crocodile Hunter
You will be greatly missed
i cried

organic kingdom...part 2

2. The gravel people:

The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn't go very deep. It's only another fad, and the moment there's trouble it's gone.

Ok, my thinking immediately goes to youth camp. If you’ve never been to youth camp, youth convention, youth revival, whatever…then you are, in a way, lucky because you haven’t experienced this phenomena. However, God really did get my attention at these events so I don’t want to totally bash it.

See, I grew up in traditional church here in the South. I HAD to go to these events. And if you have ever been to one of these things, you can sympathize/identify with me. You see, these events, and I’m trying not to be cynical, usually has three main components: an energetic motivating speaker (think loud and funny but can cry at the drop of a hat), the most current up to date Christian influenced over energetic cover band (think MTV Total Request Live idiot fans around a mediocre talent), and emotional roller coaster (seriously, with “you have to be this tall to ride” signs and everything). I mean, the speaker would close the preaching part and the band would play and the lights would go down and the emotional high addicts would light up their emotions like a fatty…then we would all go around the front of the room (called an altar…bad name because nothing really ever was sacrificed by the majority of folks), and we would sings and lay on hands and people would be called to Uganda to live with pygmies and lots of spiritual crying and people talking in strange guttural sounds and etc. Now, why am I somewhat cynical about this experience? Because I have been a youth pastor and I have seen that while this experience can be (and has been) beneficial, it means nothing without a long term life change. That’s the problem with this type of ground…i.e. person. They love the emotional high, and are addicted to it, so much so that when they come down from it there is no substance to the faith. I have seen it over and over and over again.

Jesus identifies these people plainly. The Greek language implies here that these people receive the Kingdom Message with joy, but when they are tempted or tested they fail because they have no root. The Greek word for fail, or fall away, that’s used here is aphistemi. The root of this word means: to leave, withdraw, abandon, to revolt or mislead.

I am a bit taken emotionally with this type of ground because it was me. My family, like I have said over and again, grew me up in church. My experience was very surface with no root, but I was there all the time. The moment something challenged my faith or I got my feelings hurt, I started living in contrast to the Kingdom Message. Not because I hated Christ, but because I couldn’t withstand any temptation or problem because I had no real depth in my Kingdom Relationship. I think there are a lot of people who get very cynical about church and they write God off and start a revolt almost because they have never really had the relationship in the Kingdom…authentically. Jesus pegged me on the head with this one.

organic kingdom...part 1

1. The road people:

The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved.

What does this look like? Is it like, the people that are flipping channels and hear a televangelist preaching and then all of the sudden the program ends in mid sentence? Like maybe a good phone connection and then the call gets dropped?

I really want to believe that these superficial arguments I have heard (like the good person taking the death penalty for the murderer stuff) are ridiculous, and that there is some real meat in this passage.

Let’s think about this…Jesus said these are people who hear the WORD…hear about the Kingdom…the life…the promises…the love…and as soon as they hear it, the Devil comes along and snatches it. No offense Jesus, but it sounds like Gollum in Lord of the Rings to me. Devil snatch it? What? Looking at the original Greek writings of this, it says that Satan takes up the root from their heart, Greek word kardio-gnostes, or seat of thought and emotion.

Kardio-cardiac

Gnostes- thought and logic and philosophy

Basically, they don’t get to struggle or think about the Word of God. There is no debate, no arguing, and no philosophy. See, God wants us to question and think through his Word. But for this person, they hear the message, but the message doesn’t become a part of their learning process…these people hear and keep moving…it’s like, they hear and ignore. No thought, no emotion, no engaging.

organic kingdom...basic overview

Jesus told very effective stories. We have all probably heard most of them. Our Western minds don’t make sense with a lot of what Jesus says; with all of Scripture, for that matter. You see, the Bible is an Eastern book. It resembles the Quran more than it does a Billy Graham novel. The writers and the participators were distinctively Eastern Arabs. So, we Westerners see things very linearly: we see timelines and schedules and lists very well. The Eastern mind sees things as full circle: more of a dance than a game of “Red Rover.” When Jesus told a story, it packed a very powerful, even sarcastic and “told ya so” type of punch.

This parable is greatness: it tells us very clearly that the Kingdom of God is organic. It tells us that the Kingdom, personally, has to have time to grow…it isn’t an instant maturing process to producing fruit (which is what the Kingdom of God is all about).

Let’s read the parable before we go any further:

Luke 8

1-3He continued according to plan, traveled to town after town, village after village, preaching God's kingdom, spreading the Message. The Twelve were with him. There were also some women in their company who had been healed of various evil afflictions and illnesses: Mary, the one called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's manager; and Susanna—along with many others who used their considerable means to provide for the company.

4-8As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn't have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.

9His disciples asked, "Why did you tell this story?"

10He said, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren't going to get it:

Their eyes are open but don't see a thing,
Their ears are open but don't hear a thing.

11-12"This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved.

13"The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn't go very deep. It's only another fad, and the moment there's trouble it's gone.

14"And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.

15"But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there's a harvest.

Now before we go into the story Jesus told, I included the first portion of the scripture specifically so we could grasp the context of this thing:

1. Jesus continued traveling from town to town spreading the Message
2. The disciples were with him
3. There were also women traveling who Jesus had healed of sicknesses and demonic possession
• Mary Magdalene: 7 demon spirits cast out
• Joanna: the wife of Chuza, Herod’s (THE KING) manager (over finances and kingdom expenses
• Susanna:
4. These women, along with others, took care of the ministry financially out of their own pockets…so, they were in constant dialogue with Judas, right? Oh yeah, women supporting men? Taboo for ancient Jewish culture…Jesus seemed to always validate and bring women right along in leadership…

And this parable is not really about seed or planting, it’s about the ground that it lands on. Jesus uses four examples for different types of ground in this passage:

1. The road
2. The gravel (or on rocky land)
3. The thorns
4. The rich earth

Now Jesus explains the parable and says that the purpose wasn’t really to do anything other than show the disciples that not everyone will “get” God’s kingdom…the disciples have special insight (um, Jesus himself), but other people need to hear stories. Then Jesus says, even with stories, some people will miss it. This story about the soil and the seed is about SOME of those people.

If Jesus were going to tell this in our context, I wonder what kind of metaphors he would use. I wonder if some of the seed would be burned away by acid rain, or if some seed would fall on rich earth and a company would build a parking lot over it. Or how about this one, the farmer is actually a landscaping company that meticulously plants seed in a landscaped pattern that is held to only produce a crop in a confined area…say…beside a driveway. And the seed desires to grow more, but the landscaper (farmer) keeps coming and cutting the crop down to stay within the limits of the area. Ya know, the seed and the weed eater/edger story. What would that be a symbol of? Maybe organized tradition? I am reading into scripture here.

Ok, so Jesus tells the disciples that the seed is the Kingdom of God. And that the seed represents four types of people. This is so interesting, Jesus himself says, “um…ya know, not everyone will ‘get’ this message about God…not everyone will buy into it…” See, the Kingdom of God will not be accepted by some people. If we go by the analogy, three out of four people will not do anything with the Kingdom of God in the long run. I don’t think Jesus was putting forth a poll or projection of percentages of receptivity, but I do think the language and methods Jesus was using here was a communication tool saying to the disciples: “hey guys, I am right here…you see the Kingdom in front of you…other people will need stories…others will see stories and even see me and wont buy into this thing.”

So the obvious question here is, what is the Kingdom of God that Jesus kept revealing to the disciples and telling stories about?

The most common themes are diversity and uncommon love. Both of these things drove the religious leaders nuts. They couldn’t wrap their minds around these concepts. I mean, Jesus’ main statement about the Kingdom is summed up in the Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

Mark 12:30-31:

“‘And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these."

Matthew 28:19-20:

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

More on this later…gotta talk about the types of soil (people)

ricky bobby

So, I am seriously in love with Will Ferrell's movie Talledega Nights. However, some of my friends, whom I have preiviously considered very humorous people to be around, have, quite honestly, not made the curve to finding that every part of this movie is hilarious.
I am disappointed.

How can you not hear the line "wrestle it like a demoned cobra" and not die laughing? Many people agree with me that this movie is hilarious, but not like I had orginally thought. Anchorman was funny, and is funnier every time I see it, but this movie; it's brilliant. there is no better satire of the south and the culture of NASCAR than this movie; it is perfection: botched up storyline and all.

Perfect.

Jesus' story about the lost son in luke 15

There’s a story in Luke 15 about a father and a son and a brother. This story has a few popular titles: The Lost Son, The Prodigal Son, etc. this story, like most of Jesus’ stories, packs a great message and translates well into any setting. The synopsis is this: a younger brother wants his share of his father’s estate (basically, his part of the inheritance). The father gives it to his son. The son goes off and parties all the money away. The son hits rock bottom. The son soon realizes that he should return home and seek to be his father’s servant rather than live destitute…good survival instinct of college students: go home. The father welcomes his boy home and throws a party and forgives him. The older brother is mad and that’s how the story ends. Common themes: independence, hitting rock bottom, and forgiveness. Great one-two punch from the King of Kings, no?

The reality is that this story, when studied in Jewish culture, packs better punches that leave us a bit uncomfortable but grateful.

Here's the passage for the story:

1-3By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story.

Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.'

12-16"So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

17-20"That brought him to his senses. He said, 'All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father.

20-21"When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'

22-24"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.

25-27"All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, 'Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.'

28-30"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!'

31-32"His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'"

Luke 15:1-2; 11-32 (Message)

Ok, let’s correctly get the setting of this story. Jesus is hanging out with people of “doubtful reputation” and treating them like “old friends at meals.”

Last Friday night Shauna and I went out on one of those “married people” dinners with some good friends. We got to the restaurant around 7pm and didn’t leave until like 9:45. We laughed and told stories and made fun of people; it was great. I told the story of how my family packs and does weird things when we used to go on vacation together. You don’t need the movie theatre when you have friends like this.

So is this what was happening here? Was Jesus laughing so hard sometimes that the wine came up through his nose? Did they snort when they laughed? I don’t know, but it was obviously making the religious people mad (mainly, jealous).

You see. If Jesus really is the “Messiah,” that he claims to be, and that the Jewish people had been waiting for so long…then why would he be palling around with people of “doubtful reputation?” I mean, let’s be honest, these people were probably prostitutes, thieves, government thieves, and probably a sex pervert or two. No wonder the “religious people” were angry. “Messiah was supposed to come and vanquish the world of these heathens!” I bet the heathens even enjoyed radiohead now and then.

So Jesus then goes into three stories; we’re going to focus on the third.

We call this story “The Lost Son”, but it’s really about people’s reaction to the “Lost Son.”

1. First thing in the story: the younger son wants his independence.

What’s so wrong with that? Dad, I want the family jewels so I can be independent. For our culture this is basically a rite of passage, right? But in Jewish culture this is a slap in the face of his family.

That statement says this to the Jewish family:

• Dad, I want what is coming to me from your will. Basically, I wish you were dead so I could have the $$.
• Also, the inheritance was basically land. So, the boy sold the land and took the money. Land was how the family was identified and gained their wealth…so, basically, it’s like: Dad, I know this property is valuable to you, but I don’t want to be a part of it. I want to make my name for myself and I am going to sell it. I know everyone in town will look at our family in disgrace because I am doing this, but I plan on getting out here, anyway.
• Dad, I know all of this stings, but I don’t want to be in this family any more. It isn’t important to me. I want MY life, here. I don’t want to be identified because I am your son, I just gotta be me! Peace out!

How heartbroken must dad have been, huh? When Jesus told this part of the story, I guarantee you all of the Jewish males in the area became angry and infuriated with this younger son. See, the younger son brought disgrace and no honor to his father or his family. Father’s were treated as kings of their land and family. Most of the time, a son would be frightened to make this kind of request to a father in the ancient Jewish culture. The dad had every right to deny him the request, and send his own son to prison because of the shameful request.

But if you were an ancient Jewish person, and if you knew the Jewish book of Wisdom, The Sirach 33:19-23, says “To son or wife, to brother or friend, give no power over yourself while you live; and give not your goods to another so as to have to ask for them again.”; then you would know how un-wise and detestable this decision will be if the father says, ok.

Now, to everyone’s dismay and amazement, the father complies. This is huge and unlikely. The story has a twist. So, the younger son sells the inheritance and takes the $$ and goes away. Many interpretations say he went to a far away country…we’ll go with Australia…makes it a bit more exotic, right? So now the son has wasted ALL of the money; I wonder how long it really took him to do that?

And to top it all off, now there is a famine…El Nino. No food, no money, no job…

2. Second thing: the younger son hits rock bottom.

Now the younger son finds work from a local citizen…in a barn slopping pigs. Not horrible, right? Well, if you consider Jewish culture, pigs are considered unclean. Jewish people weren’t supposed to even touch a pig, much less clean them and feed them and be with them all day long. Ceremonially, this boy would have had to do a lot of crap just to be considered clean again.

At this point in the story, the Jewish religious leaders were probably really listening. Everyone there detested this boy at first, but now he is really without any help at all! I mean, he is really unclean…can’t be fixed, really. No one back home will talk to him because of the disgrace and now he is feeding Hell’s animals? This is rock bottom!

It’s at rock bottom the boy makes some decisions:

· My dad feeds his servants and treat his servants way better than this

· I am unclean and detestable in this pig slop

· No one cares for me, but maybe my father would take me back

· I’ll admit to my father that I have sinned against him and god

· Maybe dad will take me back as a servant

So the boy decides to go home.

3. Final thing: the father welcomes his son and the brother hates the younger son.

The father sees the son from a far way off. So, is the father looking for his son? I think so…the indication here is that the father is looking, right? The father runs to his son and embraces him. Happy reunion…great ending.

Shocking ending for a Jewish person hearing this story: the father ran to meet the son. The father, even in every day situations, usually waited for the son to address him with respect before even paying his son any attention. This calls for the father to ignore the son a great deal while the son begs for forgiveness, no? The father’s love for his son is exceptional…even with the disgrace and humiliation of his son saying “I want my money even if you aren’t dead…separate me from you.” The Father forgives the son.

The older brother gets mad and jealous and wants to be loved also…and misses the point of how happy the father is that his “son was dead and is now alive.”

Jesus put a lot of heavy symbolism in this story, too:

• The younger son was a symbol of a sinner/gentile/alien/ungrateful Jew/ “dishonorable reputation”
• The older son was a symbol of the religious leaders/ religious fanatics who don’t practice what love truly is…
• The Father represented God and his immense and crazy compassionate love for his child

You see, we can identify with the three main points in Jesus’ story:

1. Independence: almost, and sometimes blatantly, disrespectful and love-less
2. Rock Bottom: Where we know we need God
3. Forgiveness: so many levels here…God models true love and forgiveness

Maybe you have hit rock bottom and maybe you haven’t, maybe you have scrapped for your independence and hurt another, or maybe you need to forgive…this story has lots to look into.

You see, forgiveness, mixed with all these other factors, is one of the hardest things to grasp. Whether you are forgiving, and you finally worked through all of that mess to be able to forgive…or you are being forgiven…it packs a very powerful punch.

Jesus’ main point was that forgiveness from the father is perfect…his love is perfect.

Think about your own situations and your life…what are you going to do with this information, now? To hoard it and abandon it would be the action of the religious leader of Jesus’ day. To work through some stuff of your own and work toward healing would be the way of the Father.