Deep-End Discipleship

  “ Listen, I’m telling you a secret: All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed.” - 1 Corinthians 15:51 CEB - Secrets are so great and so awful! We love to be the one with knowledge to share with someone else. But we hate to be left out of the loop. Often we are afraid that secrets shared without us are designed to hurt us or are about us or we simply do not want to be left out of the loop. Yet we can’t help but draw in close for someone whispering into our ear. Yet some secrets are so important that they need to be shared with everyone. Instead of being told in quiet corners and subtle conversations, they need to be shouted for all from the rooftops. Of all secrets the message of Jesus is needed to be told to all! Jesus lived, served, died and rose again to bring us new life. Just as Christ died, so we die to who we think we need to be and instead are allowed to be transformed into who God created us to be. Both now and forever more! The best part is t...

Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water?   You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” John 4:10-14 CEB As I’ve noted before, the Gospel of John stands out among the gospels. One of the ways that John is different is found in this chapter and the story of the Samaritan woman. From the beginning of this story in John 4:4 to the end in John 4:42, the Samarit...

“ Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a large area of level ground. A great company of his disciples and a huge crowd of people from all around Judea and Jerusalem and the area around Tyre and Sidon joined him there. They came to hear him and to be healed from their diseases, and those bothered by unclean spirits were healed. The whole crowd wanted to touch him, because power was going out from him and he was healing everyone. Jesus raised his eyes to his disciples and said: “Happy are you who are poor,   because God’s kingdom is yours. Happy are you who hunger now,   because you will be satisfied. Happy are you who weep now,   because you will laugh.” Luke 6: 17-21 CEB There is a lot of pressure in life to be perfect. This pressure can often add up to a very heavy weight to carry. Somehow we are taught to measure our life by the length of our resume, AP classes, or our GPA. This high level of success can motivate us to reach ...

 “ The Lord responded, ‘Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’ Where I send you, you must go; what I tell you, you must say. Don’t be afraid of them, because I am with you to rescue you,’ declares the Lord.” - Jeremiah 1:7-8 CEB - Maybe it is a conversation with your parents where you know what you want to say and you are afraid of the ramifications. Perhaps it is a problem you see around you that needs to be taken care of but you are unsure if anyone will take you seriously. Maybe it is a good friend that you know is making an awful decision that you are hesitant to really bring up for fear of messing up your friendship. We all have times in which we feel powerless but know there could be something more for us. Jeremiah was a young prophet that didn’t think he had anything to offer or anything worth saying. Instead God insisted that Jeremiah go where God sends him and speak what God tells him. And then God reassures Jeremiah that he shouldn’t even fear because G...

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. – 1 Corinthians 15:9-10a NIV – Over half of the New Testament was written by one man: the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul is renowned as being a great man of faith and one of the strongest early supporters of the Christian faith. These things are true. What is also true is that the Apostle Paul was once the Pharisee Saul who persecuted and ordered the execution of Christians. Jesus touched Paul’s life in a dramatic way and everything changed. Paul embraced and taught grace, but Paul knew that he was once this evil, murderous Saul. I bet most of us have never done the terrible things that Pharisee Saul did, but I also bet that most of us can think back on things we’ve done that we’re not proud of. Often when we think on these things we wish the memories could go away ...

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly,   but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 I've had this song stuck in my head for a few weeks now. It's been on repeat in my mind and it goes like this; "We walk by faith and not by sight. No gracious words have we to hear from him who spoke as no 'ere spoke, but we believe him near. We may not touch his hands and side, nor follow where his feet have trod, but in his promise we rejoice and cry my Lord and my God. Help then Lord our unbelief and let now our faith abound. Let us call on thee when thou art near, and to seek where thou art found. That when our life of faith is done in realms of clearer, glorious light, we may behold you as thou art, in full and endless sight. I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me." For the first 16 days of this new y...

“But your loyal love, Lord, extends to the skies; your faithfulness reaches the clouds. Your righteousness is like the strongest mountains; your justice is like the deepest sea. Lord, you save both humans and animals. Your faithful love is priceless, God! Humanity finds refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the bounty of your house;you let them drink from your river of pure joy.Within you is the spring of life.   In your light, we see light. ” Psalm 36: 5-9 CEB What do you do when you’re having a really, totally, horribly bad day? Do you isolate yourself, or flock to friends? Do you seek out music or movies to relate to your feelings? Do you try and keep yourself busy with homework and tasks, or do you space out and let your mind go numb? I think that this is an important thing to know about ourselves. Sometimes these outlets can be good, but other times, our coping mechanisms don’t always help us face the problem at hand. When something happens, an...