Category Archives: Jesus

Bringing back the gospels

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We’re talking about the idea of favoring the gospels over the epistles, considering the statement: “I take Jesus way more seriously than I do Paul.” Let me speak first in favor of the proposition.

I believe that we need to preach Jesus more than we do his church. I think we need to preach Jesus more than we do doctrine. People need a Savior.Believers and non-believers need to be pointed to Jesus, urged to imitate him, follow his teachings, do the things he did.

Historically, many Christians have neglected the gospels; this has harmed the church. In a group on Facebook, some people were discussing the Nicene Creed. The creed basically says that Jesus came to earth, suffered, and died. Nothing is said about what he did nor what he taught.

As I mentioned yesterday, many in churches of Christ have wanted to begin with Acts 2. The only important things about Jesus were seen to be his death, burial, and resurrection. Life? Teachings? Minor points. Part of the “Old Testament that was nailed to the cross.” We’re New Testament Christians; that stuff doesn’t affect us. That was the teaching.

That’s wrong. Very wrong. The New Testament church focused on becoming like Jesus. It’s hard to become like him if we don’t know what he did. (which is why the “red letter” movement is equally off base; it takes away importance from the life of Jesus and the things he did)

We need to restore the gospels to their rightful place in the church. So if we’re willing to modify the above statement and say, “I take the gospels as seriously as I take Paul’s writings,” then I’m in full agreement. But if we choose to take away importance from the epistles in order to give more worth to the gospels… I’ve got a problem with that. I’ll take about that in the next few posts.

Inside Out Blog Tour by Jennifer Rundlett

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13639689_10100670053310301_590207559_oOver the next couple of months Peter Horne has coordinated with a great group of church leaders and writers to explore some of the practical applications for individuals and churches of living Inside Out. We believe you’ll be blessed and challenged by their thoughts, so please make an effort to check back to this blog throughout July and August to join this Summer Blog Tour. Today’s article is by Jennifer Rundlett

Questioning authenticity ~ historical accuracy ~ contextual studies ~ foundational truths…these were the watchwords of my youth.

And there too, how many times had I practiced making statements that disqualified my faith? Statements such as:

“We can’t really know the actual day of Jesus’ birth.”

 “There must have been a logical explanation for the star that led the wise men to see the baby Jesus.”

“Since we have no recorded image of Jesus, we can’t know what he truly looked like…”

Which then led me to other kinds of statements such as:

“Of course, I don’t really believe that God created the world in a literal 7 days.”

“Perhaps there was a logical explanation for all those miracles Jesus performed.”

And even when I suspended my skeptical ways to believe all the accounts of the Bible…the angel’s visitation…Jesus’ virgin birth…

I would hear myself saying:

“That was then and this is now and those are stories of a by gone time.”

However, at some point I realized that these kinds of statements were not cultivating my inner eye of faith. These statements did not develop in me the fruits of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, patience and kindness. Instead they produced in me the fruits of skepticism ~ scoffing ~ cynicism. As a result my personal dreams became small and my inner fire extinguished.

Recently, my imagination was captured as I gazed at these pictures of The Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes that sits on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, in a place called Tabgha, Israel. This beautiful stone church boasts the actual spot Jesus performed his miraculous feeding of the 5000 with only a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.  This event was so iconic in the ministry of Jesus and resonated so deeply with the Jewish people, that it has been recorded in all 4 of the gospel accounts of his life. (Matthew 15: 29-39, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9: 10-17, John 6: 5-13)Pic - courtyard

Amazing to see these people living by faith and celebrating this as the actual spot where Jesus performed his miracle of abundance. (You can read a description of a Spanish pilgrim from 380 A.D. by clicking here.)

Letting my mind wonder, it was easy for me to imagine how this spot might have been preserved through the centuries.

Pic - Table and Stone

Knowing this, I began to postulate on how important this stone might have become to each passing generation. Thinking on them, I can see how this stone must have invited them to gather and to partake of the communion feast. United by their faith, the many would become one, as they dedicated their lives to God and asked for him to, bless and multiply their offerings to represent his glory throughout the world.Pic - mosaic

If I stop and silence all the voices inside my head teaching me to be logical and distrust these kinds of things…

If I step out of my comfort zone and grab hold of the thought that maybe it is true…

I can also begin to imagine what it was like for those people who traveled a great distance to sit on a hillside to see with their own eyes the miracles of Jesus. I can then become curious about their individual lives. Who were these people and how were they changed as they witnessed Jesus’ miracle? Why did they leave the comfort of their lives to seek and to hear the voice of Jesus? And if I resolve to bring the scene even closer… I might even begin to imagine myself sitting among them?

These are the kinds of spiritual exercises that can help me to grow in my faith and when I take time to do this, I am led by the Spirit to say with strengthening conviction that God is all powerful and that Jesus became human and dwelt among us performing many great signs and wonders while teaching us how to live transformed lives.

Yes! Jesus died and was buried and on the third day he rose again!!

And because I have allowed my mind to travel back and experience his miracle of abundance, I understand with a deepening faith that these things happened in a real time a place.

This week as you think about your own impossible… let your experience of this miracle fill your heart and let Jesus feed your inner eye of faith with his Spirit so you might live and shine his light outward into your community.

~~~

CIOTo promote the Summer Blog Tour, we’re also giving away one set of Church Inside Out, both book and workbook. Just leave a comment below then enter over HERE.

03 Jennifer Rundlett - picJennifer Rundlett, M.M. is founder of God thru the Arts ministry and author of My Dancing Day: Reflections of the Incarnation in Art and Music. From over 15 years of college classroom experience, she has crafted an inspirational reflective approach to the arts that has inspired her classes as she shares her vision of the loving nature of God.

Now with her new book The Joyful Sound: Reflections on the Life of Christ in Art and Music, she has carefully chosen and arranged over 20 celebrated masterpieces that invite you to encounter Jesus more fully. Through these spiritual exercises you will walk among the first disciples and hear your voice join with the chorus to make a joyful sound. As a special thank you for reading this blog when you follow that link please feel free to use the insider promotional code SWG5K64H. Thank you!

Captions

Picture #1: The Courtyard of The Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha Israel. (Photo public domain, attribute David Shankbone)

Picture #2: The stone under the altar inside The Church of Multiplication. (Photo is public domain no restrictions.)

Picture #3: 5th century Mosaic of Loaves and Fishes placed in front of the altar. (Photo public domain, attribute Berthold Werner)

Parties and temples

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The wedding feastJust wanted to share a thought from a Bible study a few weeks ago. We were reading in John chapter 2. The chapter begins with Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding feast. Later he clears the money changers out of the temple.

We noted that Jesus seemed more at home among the partygoers than he did the templegoers.

I’m afraid we today might have gone into the wedding and cleared out the revelers while leaving those in the temple at peace.

What do you think?

Illustration courtesy Sweet Publishing

The Sword-Bearing Prince of Peace

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Since I’ve discussed Romans 13 at length in the past, I don’t really see the need to go back over that passage. So let’s turn our attention to the Book of Revelation. When seeking to refute pacifistic ideas, many look to Revelation 19. There we see Jesus in a robe dipped in blood, killing His enemies with a sword.

The word “dipped” can throw us off here, for, in Revelation, the martyrs have previously washed their robes in blood, but it wasn’t the blood of their enemies. It was the blood of the Lamb, the blood that won the victory over Satan. However, in Chapter 19, Jesus is “trampling the grapes of wrath.” In Chapter 14, when these grapes were harvested, it was said that the blood flowed as deep as the horses’ bridles. Whose blood? Probably a reference to God’s enemies, though that’s never made clear.

But no matter where the blood on His robe came from, Jesus’ intentions are clear. He is there to “strike down the nations.” This is a time for vengeance.

So there we have it. Christians are called to exact vengeance on God’s enemies. Or are they?

Let’s back up. Revelation is written to a group of Christians who are about to undergo persecution. The message to them is that they are to patiently endure, overcoming by being faithful witnesses. There’s a reason why the Greek word for “witness” became the English word “martyr,” for Jesus is held up as the example of what a faithful witness is. The mighty Lion of Judah turns out to be a lamb that was slain. He conquered on the cross, by dying for His faith. Now He calls His followers to be unafraid to risk the same.

The promise is that God will exact vengeance on their tormenters. Just as Second Thessalonians promises that those who persecute the Christians will be punished by God, so Revelation emphasizes that Christians are not to seek to bring about “justice” by their own hand, but they are to leave vengeance to God.

(By the way, did you notice what sword Jesus is using to strike down the nations? The sword which proceeds from His mouth. It doesn’t take much knowledge of apocalyptic symbolism to see that the judgment against the nations will be exacted by the Word of God. The scene is that of ultimate judgment, the final defeat of evil. The weapons are spiritual ones, just as the armies are heavenly armies and not earthly ones.)

So how did early Christians read Revelation? Did they see in it a call to arms, a summons to exact justice on the Romans via the sword? No. They saw it as a reminder that they were to submit to the authorities, honor the king, and leave vengeance to God. To get Revelation to say something else, you have to strip it from its original context.

(Do I really have to address the numbers question? Probably, because it always seems to come up. “Christians didn’t fight back because there weren’t enough of them. Had they had a chance of winning, God would have told them to fight.” Should you be clinging to that idea, might I suggest a quick perusal of the Old Testament? Stories like Gideon, Samson, David vs. Goliath, Jonathan and his armor bearer vs. the whole Philistine army… God doesn’t need numbers to win a battle. If violent resistance had been the answer, God was more than capable of enabling His people to triumph.)

I’d like to hear your thoughts, comments, questions and suggestions.

Freedom’s Sacrifice

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In the midst of it all, let’s remember the One who died for our freedom.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.” (Psalms 20:7-8)