Deep-End Discipleship

Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.” – Mark 10:46-49 CEB – It’s so easy to overlook the pain of others. I am in Dallas several times a week for seminary and will inevitably see the homeless individuals panhandling on the road seeking help and resources. People will debate what is the best way to help these individuals, but the majority of people will do nothing. There may be different reasons a person has to keep driving and do nothing, but it doesn’t change that these people on the fringes of society are often overlooked. When we can keep driving past someone’s pain ...

   “ Why do you confuse the issue? Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about? Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall! I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers.” - Job 38:2-3 The Message - It doesn’t take much to imagine God pointing an angry finger at us. We know we are imperfect. We know we mess up. We know we miss the mark to God’s standards so much of the time. Sometimes it is so easy to imagine that we cannot do anything to make God happy. Perhaps much like our experience of angry parents, God just seems to be making our life as hard and inconvenient as possible. Maybe this is why I love the book of Job. Job is a person who has a whole book of the Bible written about his life. He literally loses everything – including his wealth, his health & even his family! Then his friends come and try to cheer him up but just end up getting into an argument with Job about what Job might have done wrong to tick ...

“Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin.” Hebrews 4:14-15 It’s really easy to feel alone. When life gets stressful, when friends do hurtful things, when getting a “good” grade seems like an impossible task, it may feel like no one is there. You may think that no one could possibly understand what it’s like to be you right now. Even more so, you may wonder how in the world Jesus, the Savior of the World, the Son of God, could possibly understand how hard life is for you right now. But the coolest thing is that Jesus total understands. Jesus was 100% human, which means he experienced life in full, just as you do. Jesus knows what it’s like to have friends turn their backs on him. He absolutely understands what it’s lik...

“For your steadfast love is before my eyes,    and I walk in your faithfulness. I do not sit with men of falsehood,   nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers,   and I will not sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.” -Psalm 26: 3-7 ESV- The people that we spend our time with have a big effect on us throughout our lives. Friends are often our support system, sounding board, confidant, and so much more. Statistically, as we get older our friend group gets smaller and smaller. I think that this shift is probably for many different reasons. One of my guesses is because we want to focus on a few deep relationships rather than multiple surface level relationships. I also think that our inner circle gets smaller because we slowly get to know ourselves better. I feel like throughout my life I have always been one who jumped...

If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. – James 5:13-15 CEB – One of the best grades I’ve earned in seminary came in one of the hardest Greek classes. The only way I was able to do well in that class was from an incredible study group who supported and taught each other. The group was a mixture of times of serious focus and great laughter. I can’t imagine getting through that class well without those people! James at the end of his letter is encouraging the believers to come together as a unified community. Though these Christians had struggled greatly, he encouraged them to come together to pray, rejoice, and care for each other....

  “ What is the source of conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? - James 4:1 CEB - So much bubbles inside me at times, I am at times ashamed to admit how much inner turmoil and uncertain decisions lie under the surface of what might to others seem like a well put together façade. There is always doubt, angst, hesitancy & chaos right under the surface at times. We often assume or hope that being a Christian will smooth out and quell the storm within us.   Yet often it is quite the opposite. Once we pay attention to what we should be doing and what God wants from us, our hesitancy and guilt take over and create more inner voices pulling at us. Much like the classic Jedi and Sith push and pull described in the Star Wars movies, the light sides and dark sides of ourselves are at war within us. And sadly the turmoil does not just give us stress, it leaks out and can poison th...

"Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' And they answered him, 'John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.' He asked them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Peter answered him, 'You are the Messiah.' And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.' He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, 'If any want to become my followers, let th...