John's Road

Who did Jesus tell us to invite to dinner?

2011-04-20T10:31:00.004+09:30

Read from the beginning of Luke 14 to see the full context

Luke 14:12-14 & 21-23 NIV

¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

(skipping down to vs21 same time but Jesus telling a story)

²¹ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

²² “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

How is it that it is often the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame who are often the forgotten in our Churches yet Jesus calls us to be inviting them to our feasts? When was the last time you ate with a person who has a disability or homeless or poor or disadvantaged or disconnected?

How can our churches be much better at connecting with people with disabilities and those who are disadvantaged and disconnected in our communities?

Check out this video from CBM's Luke 14 initiative

Faith in Action

2011-04-18T20:47:00.002+09:30

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

One thing I notice about this passage is that there is no mention of believing in a doctrine, or placing your faith in someone or something. And I am not saying I do not believe in being saved by grace through faith in Jesus, but that since our works are the proof of that faith then if we truly are saved by faith is it not the works of this passage that show our true faith by which we are saved. Feeding the hungry, giving a drink to the thirsty, befriending a stranger, clothing those in need, looking after the sick and visiting those in prison are not things to do to enter the kingdom like a check list of a test. They are the acts of a disciple of Jesus whose heart beats in sync with God's and cannot help but act.

Help us oh God

2011-04-18T20:13:00.003+09:30

Amos 5:21-24 NIV

²¹ “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
²³ Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
²⁴ But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

I am convinced more and more that God is not impressed with our songs, our liturgy, our lip service. But that His heart burns for those affected by injustice. I am convinced that God is not impressed with our inaction, our ignorance, our heartless giving, our tick box living.

When will our hearts too burn with anger at injustice in this world?

When will we wake up from our slumber of apathy and realise we have been missing the heart beat of our God?

When will our lives reflect that of Jesus?

The man who had no place to lay his own head and called us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, look after the widow and the orphan, to love our enemy, to love God and make disciples for this kingdom.

When will our churches become people of "do" instead of people of "don't"?

Help us oh God to have hearts like yours and to live the lives you have called us to.

What is written

2011-03-20T23:26:00.002+10:30

Who will read what I have written?

Who will see what it is?

Will it mean anything?

Words will come and words will go

The question is will they flow?

Or will the sentence stop mid

The life we live has been foreseen

The love we give will change our being

If all things stopped would my heart still be beating

If he is here is there still meaning

When does this happen that everything changes?

How will it be when I have written those pages?

Will life be turned upside down?

Or will it be spun around and around?

How many questions will then I be asked?

How far away is this task?

Is life still worth living if it comes to an end?

Or will there be an encore with a friend?

How many days till you are there?

Standing in my way with this stare?

My eyes look away it's all too much

All I really want is your touch

I walk this road that bears my name

I'll follow you bearing no shame

Your love awakens me to the world I see

It seems so big but to you just a pea

Your grace it has captured my soul

An filled this heart now made whole

The whole world is sitting in your hand

but where do I sit in your plan

Is there a way that I can see

the next step that is in front of me?

I shuffle my feet off the edge

stumbling along the ledge

Will I jump or walk away?

Is it this question that I face today?

New Life

2009-05-25T23:03:00.004+09:30

New life
Knowing Jesus
Serving Jesus
Glowing Jesus
Hope in Jesus
Healing in Jesus
In the love of Jesus
Following Jesus
Allowing Jesus to love and change you
Joy in Jesus
Faith in Jesus
Faith of Jesus
Peace of Jesus
Speak in Jesus
Speak of Jesus
Disciplined in Jesus
An heir with Jesus
in Jesus

"Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life." Acts

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Romans

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Corinthians

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Galatians

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you... 1Peter

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Revelation

Expect

2009-05-13T18:08:00.002+09:30

Expectations
Expectations mean trying to be someone you are not
Expectations mean being stuck with who you have been instead of who you want to be
Expectations mean setting yourself goals to reach for
Expectations suck
Expectations are helpful
Expectations don't make sense from your perspective
Expectations show what you think is important
Expectations allow for disappointments
Expectations are used to control
Expectations bring clarity
Expectations what are your Expectations?

When things don't make sense

2009-03-24T20:31:00.003+10:30

When things don't make sense, when you can't find the reason, can't find the answer what makes other people think they have the answer, or can work out the reason, or can make sense of it all?

Not everything is rational, not everything is within reason, not everything has an answer.

For starters God isn't rational, does ridiculous things, and gives way more questions than answers, of which our answers are often totally inadequate.

John's Road

2008-07-29T23:39:00.001+09:30

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