ch ch ch Changes!

I've never been a wildly emotionally expressive guy. That said the following news is being delivered with little more than a blog post.

As of today the official use of this one and only Speakinglogos.blogspot.com will no longer be in use.

It's been a long road, launching many moons ago to share thoughts on Christ, engage the world personally and theologically in writing and quite honestly just throw some words into the wild world of the interwebs as an outlet for reflection and discussion.

BUT I'M NOT DONE YET - I'M SIMPLY MOVING!

Check out my latest post at absolutelyunprofessional.com where I'll continue engaging the world one post at a time! And see what we have planned for the near future to help you on your discipleship journey.

Looking forward to seeing you on the other side of this update @ absolutelyunprofessional.com.
Sincerely,
Ricky D.

Can Disciples Prevent Without Pursuit

The life of one pursuing Christ is a communal adventure of Pursuit and Prevention.

Yes we pursue alone in the quiet spaces of our lives, but we're designed to pursue together. Just as the whole body can run a race more effectively than a single thumb can, disciples will pursue Christ and prevent entrapment together more effectively and joyfully as the Church than we ever will as lone rangers.

In his first letter to Timothy in 6:3-16 we're challenged with a framework of pursue and prevent for the ongoing rhythm of discerning truth from falsehood in our discipleship to Christ. Within the context of the IN rhythm of our lives we're gifted with the ability to discern what is best and we do so in order to glorify God in deeper and greater ways.

Pursue /
...pursue righteousness...and fight the good fight of faith.

Jesus called His disciples to Love God and to Love others. Loving God requires pursuing Him and Loving others requires sharing our pursuit of Him.

As disciples we demonstrate our faith in spirit and truth when we first pursue Christ. This pursuit of Christ is the foundation of prevention and reveals itself in the Triangle Rhythm of UP / IN / OUT in our daily lives. According to Paul we seek to adorn:

godliness: taking on the character of the Father as sons and daughters
faith: a palpable experiential belief in the Son of God
love: the core attribute of God from which every other flows
endurance: obedient perseverance in our salvation
gentleness: the grace and humility of God on display in our mindset

Clothing every ounce of our being in these Gospel attributes is a demonstration of our pursuit of the One. And it's this pursuit in taking hold of the eternal life that we've confessed as believers and disciples that fosters the very Armor of the Spirit that both protects us from the attacks of the evil one & prevents our chasing after his enticements.

Prevent /
We sin. It's true. But you man of God, flee from all this.

There is a difference in living a lifestyle of sin away from the gracious forgiveness of Christ AND the lifestyle of a disciple pursuing Christlikeness who yet sins.

A lifestyle where evil has ensnared your actions, your hearts desire, the thoughts and reflections of your mind is a life that has 'wandered from the faith' and is subsequently 'pierced with many griefs.'

This is the temptation trap every disciple is commanded and so encouraged to prevent and to help our brothers and sisters prevent. Paul's challenge to Timothy was recognize and then to snuff out these evil desires.

And the church today is in just that same position to Pursue Christ and so Prevent entrapment in false teachings, cultural pleasures and social and civil movements that burn against the heart of the Father for His people

Our culture is so eager to diverge from any expression of Biblical Truth that to allow these worldly values to shape the rhythm and movement of the Kingdom here and now is to press into the very corruption that pursuing God prevents.

The intimate space of 1x1 disciplemaking and the personal space of the huddle are key avenues for modeling, sharing and training believers in this Pursue / Prevent pattern. Spending time daily and weekly with those we're discipling and engaging in direct and honest Kairos Moment conversations in Scripture and life fosters a faith-ownership worthy of the very call and confession of Christ in ways that outpaces the alternative and more common rhythm of the Sunday-service-voyeur.

Living in the IN spaces of daily life: accountability, disciplemaking, huddle, missional community and central gatherings etc. it is absolutely vital that Pursuit of Christ in unity and humility is at the core so that Prevention of those bittersweet evil desires that entice remains divinely effective.

Read 1 Timothy 6 to grasp Paul's call to Pursue and Prevent in greater depth. Read Ephesians 6 for the Armor.

John's Story 8

I was listening to NPR the other day and the guest author proposed reinserting in our families in coming generations the notion of sin and imperfection as very real and very vital to understand and recognize. While he didn't claim a source for this brokenness he did note that without this concept (this Truth) then a free and democratic society cannot remain so.

If there is no such thing as sin then our human minds can't fathom freedom. So the very tangible freedoms we currently experience in our society will be lost and replaced with the very sins we ignore and deny...

Text / 7:59 - 8:11
At the end of the Feast (7:2) as everyone was leaving town a group of Jewish leaders legally/sexually trap and drag an adulterous women before Jesus hoping to legally/spiritually trap Him in His judgement of her.

'If anyone here is without a single sin, go ahead and throw the first stone at her.'

The problem here is one that Paul makes devastatingly clear in Romans 3 - EVERYONE has and will sin. Since there is no eternal escape from the guilt of sin outside of a relationship with Christ who alone mediates forgiveness, everyone standing around Jesus and that woman ought to have engaged in a serious stone throwing fight to the death!

Specifically this group was banking on Jesus' response to the law in Leviticus 20:10 regarding adultery. (Paul takes on extensive law about sexual sin in 1 Cor. 6 and quite honestly makes the case at just how it obscures our experience in Kingdom living.) But Jesus neither flippantly frees the woman thus denying Jewish law, nor does he condemn her to death and so disillusion his followers regarding His teaching on repentance, forgiveness and grace.

Instead he convicts every man and woman standing there and offers the same opportunity to acknowledge their sin, regardless it's context, believe in Him and 'leave your life of sin.'

Q. Current realities of a life lived in sin 8:34-36 and the Eternal Consequences of sin according to Jesus 8:24...Sin is real.
It's apparent even in the midst of the most beautiful of human relationships. It's apparent in the beauty and brokenness of nature, diseased crops and trees and animals. The question isn't do you sin, but how do you sin?

Q. Is it possible to discern sexual purity from sexual sin today in America according to the same divine standards Jesus?

Text / :12
'I am the light of the world.'

The 2nd I AM statement. He is the bread, now He is the light. This light reveals truth, it reveals the path to salvation, it reveals the fulfillment of true and ancient promises with the Father, it reveals the reality of sin, sin particularly hidden in the hearts of the very people of Israel, of God.

Read John 1:1-5 about the eternal nature of Jesus as the light.
Read John 8:58 - Jesus, the True light, truly is older than Moses.
Read Matthew 5:14-16 about our role as divine luminaries of Christ.

Why this analogy? Some historians believe that during the great Feasts of Israel several massive torches were built up and ignited on the temple-mount. Flames jetting upwards several stories with the glow revealing much of Jerusalem in the night sky.

Jesus is greater than this light.

He illumines the heart, mind and soul. He never burns out nor dims. His Truth never falters. His salvation never flickers. The tangible analogy would be easy enough to grasp. Just like His claim on the final day of the Feast (7:37-39), everyone was focused on the temporary and the tradition and the physical temple...Jesus wanted to arrest their focus on Him in the Glory of the Father.

Text / :31-32
'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.'

Is Jesus, after all of His about simply believing in Him for salvation, now saying that in order to be saved a person must perfectly obey his teaching? No.

In fact, this isn't so much about salvation but about discipleship. Look back on :30, once again many people put their faith in Him, but we know that most people leave when His teachings get difficult or when the religious leaders make threats or when the Roman officials extinguish hope.

'Actual disciples, students, followers, family of Mine demonstrate our divine relationship through a lifestyle fully engaged with My teaching, my truth. It's in the midst of living alongside me throughout your life that you'll personally and intimately discern Truth and it's this very Truth sourced in Me that offers true freedom from a life chasing sinful desires, slaves to sin.'

Living sacrifices. Worshipping in Spirit and Truth. Renewal of the Mind. Conformation to Christlikeness. Testing and approving Gods perfect will.

The disciple demonstrates his or her discipleness to Christ through perseverance in Christ's very teachings. Salvation is demonstrated in the life of the disciple.

Not perfection. Not points. Not a guessing game. We can't compare the Apostle Paul to the thief on the cross. Both experienced salvation, one after minutes of belief, the other after decades. Yet both demonstrated obedience to Christ's truth.

We don't earn salvation. You don't earn discipleship to Christ. One may be more mature than the other but not more saved. Let's God discern who is forgiven. You and I engage Him in truth and life daily demonstrating Whose we are.

Challenge /
Jesus may have 'slipped away from the' crowd in order to fulfill His mission, but He is no longer in need of disappearing. He is here and He is now and He has told the Truth.

Are we, as the Body of Christ, actually and honestly and wholly demonstrating our salvation through lifestyles, life rhythms that proclaim Christ's Truth.

Are we living UP / IN / OUT lives founded on the truth of the Gospel? I have to ask this question daily. Am I adoring the Gospel? Am I wearing Truth not only on my sleeve but on my heart and on my soul and on my mouth? Am I still carrying the cross?

Are you?

John's Story 7

'Save us Adonai, prosper us, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, God is Adonai and has given us light!'

Trumpets blasting, people singing, waving 'lulavs' and chanting Psalms 113-118 (the Hallel). The Feast of Tabernacles was an absolutely awesome festival full of salvific meaning, the ruach ha-kodesh (spirit of God) and a symbol of religious joy for the Jewish people.

Text / 7:16-19 / His Credentials
'My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me.'

How many times has Jesus made this claim? Even in chapter 6 we hear from Jesus that God is the one who sent the True Bread (Jesus). In 14:10 we'll hear Jesus claim this reality again, that God is within and behind everything He is and does.

I want to point out to things that have jumped out to me in this section:

• :18 'he who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself' - Jesus is talking about directing all glory to God, He didn't come for to be glorified but to glorify God (though He rightly deserves all honor and glory). 
• What about you. How often are you seeking attention, adoration, self-righteous glory? Putting on display at work, at home, with neighbors or friends...the right look, your best qualities, traits, talents and abilities and awards? Are you out for your reputation OR are you out for Gods reputation?
• :24 'stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment' - Jesus is challenging the leaders to discern with true Spiritual discernment. To judge the work of the Messiah based on the character of God found in the Law and not on their own additions to the commands.
• How do you judge Christ's words and work? Are you filtering everything Christ has said, and has done through the lens of 2015 in the suburbs of America? OR are you engaging Christ on His eternal terms?

Text / 7:37-38 / The Message
'If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'

At the height of the Feast in the midst of the great procession of symbolic salvation where a pitcher of water is carried from one of the pools of Jerusalem to the Altar and poured out denoting cleansing, the coming of the Spirit and the joy of the Lord in the lives of the Jews, Jesus cried out.

Jesus rises at the Temple Court and shouts with everything He has, breaking through the song and cheer and rumbling of the multitudes.

This call is loaded with meaning both to the original audience and to you and I. Whoever hears His call anytime, anywhere. Let's break it down a bit:

• if anyone is thirsty: anyone / whoever (literally anyone seeking actual spiritual refreshment and life, Jew and Gentile alike). Thirsty - multitudes chasing down the symbolic pitcher of water, temporary refreshment until next years sin builds up and all joy in the Lord is lost...Jesus offers eternal refreshment by His Spirit and His Truth (4:10 w/ the woman at the well. Chapter 6 regarding food and drink for the crowds - food and drink found only in Christ!)
• come: 6:35
• and drink: 6:53, there is something about symbolically drinking the life of Christ that signifies an awesome unity with Him in Spirit and in Truth!
• believes in me: this theme of simple but utter belief for salvation is all over this book most recently and directly pointed out in 6:28-29.
• as Scripture teaches: A possible compilation of Exodus 17:3-7, Numbers 20:1. I love the last line in Ex. 17:7 'Is the Lord with us or not?' Jesus boldly proclaims the answer to this here and now!
• streams of living water will flow from within him: The very same living water promised to the woman at the well. John even clarifies by noting that this water is the Spirit (:39). It flows from within - Read 14:9-13, Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him and and Jesus is in us. This reality that God is both welling up within the believer and the believer is nestled within Gods heart is an all encompassing relationship.

This passage once again shows us how simply and fully is the salvation of Christ.

This ancient festival, a festival instituted to engage God directly and faithfully inevitably failed to do what it was designed to do - connect man with God the Creator and Savior. How can I possibly say this in light of the millions who still engage it for spiritual cleansing and joy? Simply, Jesus said so when He called the crowds to seek Him and not the glass of pool-water.

What's more, if it's joy they were seeking then Jesus offered that as well. 'Remain in my love...I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.' 15:9-11

Question /
Where is the source of your joy? Christ or symbols and celebrations about Christ?

What credentials of Jesus are you seeking? Where are you looking and with what intention? The Word will never change, it can't, God doesn't change. The Spirit enlightens us to the Truth in the context of the Scriptures and connects that Truth to our very life here and now. If you don't want to know Christ as He proclaims, on His terms - you won't find Him. So who and what are you seeking?

It also happens to be The Holy Week in the life of the Church. Are you hoping that your adherence to Lent, to Good Friday, to Resurrection Sunday will draw you back into God's presence? Are you seeking salvation through honoring these traditions? 

OR are you engaging Jesus directly, personally, honestly and with all the belief you have? Coming to Him as the only source of Living Water.

Disciplemaking in the Dark Age

What if it all went dark?

What if the internet went down tomorrow or the power went out. What if your favorite accredited or non-accredited online classes, Bible studies, devotions or study resources went the way of the buffalo and you had no ability to stream them?

No leadership podcasts. No MacArthur studies. No Beth Moore. No old Driscoll, Piper or Chan sermons. No blueletterbible. No Flannel videos or small group dvd's. No Logos software.

No Skyping. Facebooking. Tweeting. Blogging (yes, I see the irony). No pushing content snapshots outside of your 1x1 time with your disciple. Real you. Real them. Real time.

Would you be able to make disciples in a technological dark age?

Would you be able walk through the Gospel, that is, unpack Jesus in the breadth of the Scriptures for salvation and sanctification?

Would you be willing to put in the personal-biblical-prep-time to walk alongside another over a long period of time both modeling Christlikeness and inviting your disciples to follow you as you follow Christ?

Would you even be interested in making disciples likened to you, disciples who are trained and equipped by you, disciples who would then go and make their own disciples?

Just you, your Bible, a blank journal or two and a disciple.

John's Story 6:25-33 / Part C

So we've made it. The final part of our Chapter 6 dissection. Since Part B I've taken some serious time off from posting. Maybe I got lazy, odds are good, or maybe I just needed to process some more chapters in John's Story before returning to finish it up.

This is gritty stuff. Belief in Christ really tugs on all strings. It puts pressure on all of life's compartments and challenges me to be both introspective and active. To examine my own belief, my belief system and then make changes where necessary and when necessary.

In all honesty, I hate how divisive my heart can be. My tendency is to sit on my understanding of belief and draw a line in the sand. While I don't need to question all elements of my faith, I can't help but engage Jesus' simple and profound call the 'believe in Him, period.' and not wrestle my version of this truth.

I hope you do the same.

THREE / 30-33

'Give us a sign, like the one Moses gave our ancestors...and then we'll believe you.'

Signs are a huge part of John's Gospel. He highlights key signs, key miracles, key divine interactions so that the reader, you and I, can catch a glimpse of a few of the wildly miraculous acts of Jesus and be amazed, convinced even that Jesus is who He claims to be.

YET Jesus never meant signs to be the defining factor in who would come to a saving trust in Him.

Here the audience demands a sign in order to accept Jesus' claim that 'belief' is the only work God desires from those who come to Him for salvation.

It's ironic that right after Jesus proclaims that belief: an internal, spiritual melding of the heart and mind and soul into a trusting response of Jesus' claims and actions - it's ironic that the crowd wants a physical act, an external sign to prove that internal reality He's teaching here.

Look back to :26b and it makes their demand for a sign a bit moot. They didn't seek out Jesus because of the miracle of the bread and the fish (:1-15) but because their physical needs were met and they want more!

This whole interaction is based on hunger, desire, physical needs mixed and confused with theological desires.

'Moses didn't give you bread, My Father sent you the true bread from heaven, that is, He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.'

There it is. Straight to the point.

The audience came for breakfast, 

then wanted religious confirmation of their historical traditions and expectations,

eventually wanted nothing to do with either breakfast or the Bread of Life.

First, what's this manna? See interaction SIX for a little more background.

I love the simple, contextual, spiritual response of Jesus - God sent bread that now gives eternal life to the world, the old has passed, the new has come, the temporary is played out, the eternal is here to stay.

TWO / 28-29

'What work does God want us to perform?'

• There's no vocation that earns anyone salvation, not even the role of pastor or priest!
• There is no calendar religious cycle that offers salvation
• There is no deed good enough
• No self-sacrificial lifestyle, social justice catalyzer, theology doctorates...
• There is no daily ritual
• No tangible activity...

'Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies sinners, his faith is credited to him as righteousness.' Romans 4:4-5

The Jews are going to point to Moses' work in producing miracles as a signs of Gods favor and salvation. But Jesus redirects them to God's work in faith, not Moses' response in obedience.

'Believe in the Sent One.'

Work? Oh, yeah...when the Holy Spirit opens your ears, heart and mind to the truth of Jesus' words, then you'll be in the midst of the act of belief...and that belief is the work you ought to be engaged in.

'Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.' Genesis 15:6 (Rom 4:3)

Salvation First: Faith that Christ is The ONE.

Obedience Second: Faithful response actively displayed in the renewed rhythms and practices of a life devoted to Him.

If Christ hasn't overhauled our spirit, filled us with His Spirit, then works are nothing but a temporary and impersonal business transaction. Obedience is impossible to a God you don't actually trust. Trust first, become second.

ONE / 25-27

'When did you get here Teacher?'

This is the start of one the most studied, discussed and divisive passages in Scripture. This is the first question. Seriously? It's like meeting your hero and then asking them what kind of gas-mileage they got on the way over.

This first question does three things right off the bat:

1. They're aware of the possible miracle that took place in the night (:16-24).
2. They were in the midst of missing the point of this divine interaction with their Messiah.
3. This gives Jesus a conversational opportunity to get right to the heart of the matter.

Not so long ago this group tried to force Jesus to lead a Jewish rebellion. A king. Here He's still respected but downgraded to Rabbi...soon He'll be too hard to follow.

On a side note, think about the reality that Jesus refused to His death the role of rebel leader, revolutionary dictator. He didn't leave absolute perfection and beauty to (Philippians 2) to come and start a cultural riot. Jesus didn't come to trap, brainwash, demand, become a cult-leader, social leader, human rights activist against Rome etc. He didn't even come to be a mighty religious leader of the people.

Jesus came to reconcile anyone who will believe with His Father, Creator, King.

'You're not interested in the 'how' I got here, you want food. Listen, don't waste your time seeking food that rots, it's temporary. Work for food that lasts forever, that's eternal. Only I can give you this food. Come and get this food from the One Sealed with God's approval.'

Quite the paraphrase eh?

It's wild how this 'seal' of God set on Jesus during His ministry has been transferred to all believers. That the God of the Universe who approved of the life of Christ and set Him apart for His glory has now set this seal on those who also approve (believe) in the life of Christ and now get to engage in a life lived for His glory too!

Paul said, 'we don't write you anything you cannot read or understand...He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.' 2 Cor 1:13, 21-22

Catch that? Not only are the letters in the Bible designed for all to read (without a mediator) and understand...but they teach us about the Source of the seal of God on our lives. Jesus. And that followers of Christ are set apart with an eternally-divine deposit of eternal life.

The Jews open this entire dialogue with a trivial question about travel.

Jesus ends it all with those who truly are faithful in traveling with Him, the Twelve.

Challenge /

I write a lot. I don't always get to the point right away and sometimes I never actually do. To be honest, I'm a bit lazy when it comes to quoting other authors and sources. I get technical only when I feel like it and this series of posts on Chapter 6 is proof of all of that. But it's a good chapter isn't it.

This dialogue is worth spending weeks on. It's worth punching out some thoughts. It's worth engaging directly and personally and technically and spiritually. I'm sure I benefit more than anyone with my pile of notes, stacks of books and time spent hitting these keys and posting these thoughts.

But that's part of the challenge of being a disciple isn't it? If I take the time to write out what the Lord is doing in my heart and mind regarding this Text, and then share it with you, whether you agree or disagree you may very well go and do the same in your own medium, your own context, your own rhythm and time and space.

So what do we do about all this? Well, since it's my blog I'll tell you. 

Do the work God requires: believe.

Stop. Seriously, just stop right now and spend some time in prayer. Ask the Lord to put Himself on display for you. Ask Him to place on your heart and in your mind the very sign of His Spirit at work in you. To seal you over for the Day of the Lord.

And to those who believe, obey. Read 8:31-32. Go and demonstrate your faith in Christ through faithfulness in a way that honors Him and fits your culture and season of life.

1. Are you believing more in the fruit of your works, actions and deeds than in the One who set you apart for works, deeds and faithful living?
2. With all this talk on belief, what good are works without this faith? Are they spiritually profitable according to Jesus? Why, why not?
3. More importantly, are your works and deeds the cause of salvation? The sustaining work for your salvation? Or the response of salvation gifted to you? Your answer means all the difference in engaging Jesus.

See you on the other side of Chapter 6.

John's Story 6:34-59 / Part B

Let's keep unpacking the 9 Interactions in John chapter 6. This is a long post but hey, no one's forcing you to read it. In our discussion on this chapter we dug into some great thoughts concerning everything from historical context, God's sovereignty, language type and the early Church fathers thoughts and traditions.

What I like about this section is the reality that if the audience had genuinely understood Jesus' point on 'belief in Him' without their human expectations...the rest of the chapter would never have taken place.


SIX / 52-59
The Jews began to argue saying, 'How can this guy give us his flesh to eat?'
This is where interpretation really gets divided up among the Church today. We know that the 12 sum up Jesus' teaching with 'belief in the Holy One' so let's keep that frame of reference.

If Jesus is talking figuratively he really gets gritty. By the time this passage wraps up He's said 'eat' some 13x. He stresses both eating and chewing (:57) on His flesh (:51). But he also says the words believe and life a bunch of times and the key phrase throughout is 'Truly truly, believe and receive eternal life'.

As we read think about this: is it more likely that Jesus is always talking about literally eating Him for salvation OR that eating Him is analogous to belief and salvation?  Keep this floating around as we unpack it all.

So how does Jesus respond to their argument over eating Him? He get's gritty.

'I tell you the truth (truly, truly)...' Another way of saying, 'Listen up, this is important' and he says this 4x in this passage. What He follows up with is a continuation of what he's said earlier, only building on the analogy intensely.

• 26 - you're motives are wrong, you should seek spiritual life.
• 32 - you give Moses credit for Gods spiritual work - true bread comes from Him, I am that bread.
• 47 - believe for eternal life (positive).
• 53 - unless you eat and drink me, you have no life (negative)

...again, what is Jesus addressing here? Their motives and understanding are wrong and He really, really wants them to get it. They don't get it when He is direct (:47), so He takes the analogy to the extreme (:53), and they still don't get it.

'...this is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.'
He already said this in :35-36. Eating and drinking are analogous to 'come' and 'believe'. Come to Me to be spiritually satisfied Jesus says. Believe in me and be eternally quenched. Figurative language. He said this to Nicodemus. He said this to the woman at the well. He say's this to the crowds at the festival in chapter 7.

Typology: a form of prophecy where an OT image/action is expressive of a NT teaching - particularly fulfilled in Jesus.

Why is Jesus talking about manna and bread and eating? Well, we're not there yet but let's crack it open since this passage is all about eating Jesus.

The crowd challenges Jesus to display His true power by surpassing Moses' miracle of manna (Exodus 16:35). Manna was a picture or symbol or sign of a greater and more permanent source of sustenance to come. The manna in the desert was like the bronze snake (John 3:14-15), a tangible need met by a temporary salvation. People ate manna for 40 years in order to stay alive - just as people looked at the weird snake and were kept safe from the deadly vipers.

The literal manna was a prophetic picture (symbol) of the spiritual Bread of Life to come. And what does Jesus say? Read :33, 35. Jesus is the bread, come and believe in Him, sound familiar? This is for eternal life. The manna was great BUT, 'Your forefathers ate manna and died.' Not cool.

Jesus IS the greater fulfillment of the manna. He did not bring it. He was not preparing an eternal tangible food source. He IS the eternally spiritual source of life in faith. Totally surpassing their expectations of tangible sustenance.

Side Note: This passage is a historical source of division in the Church, particularly when this passage is assigned to Communion. Even more so when this passage is assigned to Salvation through Communion. However, what if the context isn't about communion? Then some of the confusion dissipates right. A couple of thoughts:

• 'Passover was near' 6:4 - in the synoptics Jesus' taught on the night of His arrest during the Passover feast. This is not that.
• In the synoptics Jesus used the analogy of the sacrificial lamb in Exodus. Here it's about manna.
• In the Communion meal Jesus was holding bread and wine, He was attaching His words to those symbols. Here there are no tangible symbols, He doesn't even appear to mention wine.
• 'teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum' 6:59 - not at the temple, not in a home for the meal, not in Jerusalem...Jesus is teaching on manna but like usual steering it towards true belief and life and the sovereignty of God the Father. Spiritual acts, not physical.

One final thought. Erwin Luther summed up the thought of a theologian noting the historical connect of this passage in connection with Communion I think is worth noting:

"no orthodox father of whom we have record declared the presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist to be only symbolic (though Clement and Origen came close...), nor were there any who specified that the elements were substantially changed (though Ignatius and Justin came close...). 'Within the limits of these two extremes'" we find spiritual connection to Christ in Communion.

FIVE / 41-51

The Jews began to grumble, 'We know Jesus' parents, how can be the divine bread from heaven?'
Whatever Jesus said before this did a couple of things:

• Revealed His divine origin and true Sonship to the Father.
• Furthered the analogy of Bread / Flesh / Belief.

Notice what they get hung up on though? It's not cannibalism, this isn't even on their radar. In fact, had they accepted Jesus' previous and simple teaching, the coming discussion wouldn't have been necessary. Jesus has already made His point. They get hung up on his origin. Bethlehem or Heaven?

Understand that their question on the authenticity of Jesus' origin isn't wrong. In fact this is important. The question isn't wrong. Their closed mind, false expectations, hard hearts are wrong. They focus on the wrong point that Jesus is making. I think we do to.

Again Jesus knows their hearts and hang-ups, so He addresses the real issue.
'No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.'
They want a miracle. They want a king. They want immediate and temporary satisfaction. Jesus wants to give them eternal life, life that only the Father can give and He gives to those He draws or pulls into Himself first.

Jesus is NOT toning down His teaching as they miss the point and complain. Instead He goes deeper towards offending them (:61). He goes on to say that they would believe Jesus if:

• they truly knew the Father (:45)
• if the Father wanted to reveal Himself to them (:65)

Think about it. The chosen people of God, Israel, and Jesus is telling this crowd (who only the night before wanted to initiate a coupe with Jesus as the Lead) that they don't truly know their Father and their Father must not have chosen them do to their profession of unbelief.

What does Jesus do next? He hits the same note again. Clearly and concisely, 'he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life...I am the living bread from heaven. Eat this bread and live forever.'
He doesn't hand them bread to eat and confuse the analogy. In fact He clarifies the point, belief is Him is greater than eating food (manna, bread etc.).

Do you know how Jesus transitions to the next conversation?
'This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.'
He goes to the cross. He changes the analogy doesn't he. He bounces around with His concepts and symbols and pictures and truths.

Read 3:16, a passage always noted for it's picture of the cross. Jesus is tossing this in the mix. The flesh he gives on the cross as a sacrifice, is the same flesh we're to believe in for salvation. No eating at the moment, only looking to, only believing. This flesh is greater than our flesh (:63b).

'I tell you the truth, he who believes has eternal life.'

FOUR / 34-40
'Sir, keep giving us this bread!'
Ahhhh, before their unbelief takes root they think Jesus is going to tangibly feed them miraculously like He had the day before (:1-15). Their expectations are out of line. Jesus is speaking spiritually and they are eager to make Him king 'by force' (:15) and so if He just performs the way they expect the Messiah to perform then all is said and done, Israel will be back on top!

'I am the bread of life.'
The first of the I Am statements. Jesus is equating Himself with God the Father. In this context He's taking away all tangible symbols or expressions of 'bread' and simply saying, without misunderstanding that HE is the source of life. The crowd wants divine bread to eat forever and Jesus is giving them the opportunity to believe in Him instead.

'He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'
Jesus clarifies His meaning of 'bread'. Come and Believe - this is the eating of the true manna that leads to eternal life.

Manna = tangible and temporary
Jesus = spiritual and eternal

It's not about eating is it? He's already said that He is the bread and that hunger is quenched in Him so why don't they begin grumbling about cannibalism in the FIFTH interaction above (:41-42)? Because they knew the point was Jesus' divine descension and unity in Him and they were beginning to doubt the technicalities of this claim (even after the miracle the day before).

Literal eating and drinking aren't the focus. His divinity is! Jesus's incarnation (putting on the flesh) was ironically about the fulfillment (thus canceling) of all tangible actions man could participate in to earn or maintain salvation. Jesus fulfilled the entire Law in this way. Now anything works related is simply a response to our love for and honoring of Christ.

'I have come down from Heaven' - Divine descension from heaven.
'And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me' - Divine sovereignty of God the Father.


CHALLENGE /
Alright. That's enough for now. We'll wrap up the chapter in the next post but here are a few questions to sit on.

1. What is it about the context of the passage that really helps us understand what Jesus is teaching about His role? What does the author want us to understand about Jesus' teaching here?
2. What does this challenge about your current view of the passage? Are there new ideas here? How is this different than your previous interpretations?
3. What are you going to do about it? Is there anything to change in how you engage Jesus? What might the Lord be opening your heart and mind to regarding Him and His work of belief and salvation?

Resources:
Lutzer, Doctrines that Divide #103

Johns Story 6:60-71 / Part A

It's pretty wild that the same mob of 'disciples' who attempted to propel Jesus into a coup by force are the ones who soon after abandon him.

The same mob who are convinced of His Prophethood after a miraculous meal are also the ones who find His teachings too hard to adhere to and abandon their coup d'etat. Abandon their discipleship.

This little ditty, this chapter, sums it up though doesn't it? This teaching tells us all we need to know about engaging Jesus on His terms. Good stuff.

Since you can find commentary on this passage anywhere these days I want to work through this passage a little differently. I want to roll through it in reverse (like that Seinfeld episode in Season 9). It seems to me that Jesus' sums up this passage at the beginning but by the time most of us reach the end we've already begun to interpret it in an entirely different context.

So let's work these 9 Interactions between Jesus and the disciples in reverse and see what we find at the beginning.

NINE / 68-71

'You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know you're the Holy One of God.'

That's it. After all that talk of eating and blood and flesh and bread and manna and works and hometowns and divine origins and decision and Spirit...Belief. (Read 8:23-24 - Jesus is wildly clear on this)

The 12 (minus Judas I.) get it. They cut through the symbolism, they cut through the figurative language, they go past the fringe prophetical concepts and get to the heart.

Belief in Jesus as the Christ for eternal salvation.

'I chose you, the 12'

Jesus has been reiterating the sovereignty of God in drawing people to Himself (5:19-21, 6:39, 44). Here Jesus has the last word - He (and the Father) are in control of it all.

EIGHT / 66-67

Disciples (crowds) stop following Jesus. What pushes them over the edge beyond belief?

Jesus responds in the negative to the 12. 'Are you also going to leave?' But they get it. They have the flavor of actual faith in them.

SEVEN / 60-65

'This is a hard teaching, who could accept it?'

In 1:11 John preempts this. He tells us that many won't receive or accept Jesus.

Jesus goes on to clarify His point. In fact, He builds on :29, the very foundation of this entire interaction.

'Spirit gives life...the words I have spoken are spirit and life. Yet some of you don't believe.'

Sound familiar? In 4:21-26 Jesus tells the woman that worshipping God is a truth filled-spiritual interaction that happens beyond any tangible attachments. This happens though Himself, the Christ.

Now Jesus is following up with His key point of 'belief' only in the negative. He knows this crowd won't believe and so He pushes them to their breaking point.

'flesh counts for nothing.'

Not His own flesh. Obviously His flesh is important, He gives it for the life of the world! (3:16-17, Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 10)

Our flesh, our bodies, actions, works can never achieve salvation. Read 1:13 again. Read 3:13-21, outside of belief we're condemned and a condemned person can do nothing on his own, no word or work, to earn freedom. Belief is stressed in this simple phrase.

'Does this offend you? What if I ascend to my home?'

Oh yeah, Jesus also calls out their unwarranted offense. He knows what they're really hung up on and so He nails it. It's not cannibalism - against the Law. It's not drinking His blood - against the Law. The crowd wouldn't have taken these ideas literally. So then, what was it?

They understood He was speaking of total unity with Him. They understood that total consumption of Jesus meant total unity, faith and adherence to Him and His teachings. What's worse, they knew this meant that He truly was claiming to come to from Heaven and they absolutely couldn't accept this idea that He was God's actual Son (:41-42). What's even worse is that Jesus went on to say that they never really knew the Father anyhow (:45-46, 65). They were spiritually blind and dead and groping the dark for tangible fulfillment, not spiritual (:27).

As for the 'ascension' point, some theologians who claim this passage is about the literal body and blood of Jesus use this as a proof text. How? Well, the idea is that if Jesus were talking figuratively the whole time about his body as flesh then why would He begin talking literally about His ascension. He wouldn't bounce between figurative and literal to prove His point. So if the ascension is literal, so must the talk of eating Him.

Well, I'm not sure that's what's happening here.

The ascension is literal, yes (Acts 1:10). So was His descension (:33). The crowds missed the point. They were still hung up on His claim of divinity (:41-42) and couldn't even fathom total unity and faith in Him. So Jesus calls it out and simply says, 'look, I came from heaven and you don't believe Me. Will you believe if I return from where I came? Probably not.'

On a technical note, bouncing between figurative and literal language isn't strange or out of place. Read 7:37-38, yes we literally must believe in Jesus for salvation, no we don't literally drink Him.

CHALLENGE /

Yeah, that's enough for now. We'll unpack a few more pieces of the conversation in another post. A couple thoughts:

1. How important is engaging Jesus in Spirit and belief? Why is He stressing this reality to this Jewish audience?
2. Why don't the 12 sum up Jesus' point with a tangible action, such as eating and drinking bread and wine? Did they miss the point? Again, how important is belief, faith, trust and spiritual-intangible-unity with Jesus for salvation?
3. In the previous chapters and in the following Jesus stresses simple belief (3:36, 5:24, 9:35-38, 14:6) - is there more to coming to a point of salvation? If so, what and why doesn't Jesus address it? If not then have put your faith / trust in Christ alone for your eternal rescue from sin and death?

Resources:Erwin Lutzer, The Doctrines That Divide
Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist
Elmer Towns, John (commentary)
Jewish NT Commentary

A Dad Living IN...

One of the hardest aspects of being a Husband and a Dad is being authentic in the small spaces.

(with the Action Journal release I'll post some thoughts on this Live UP / IN / OUT Family on Mission rhythm...starting now)

Living IN is found in that tension between being sinful man and righteous child of God. Of being both a strong man as well as a humble boy in the face of adversity. Of bold leadership in decision making and meek submission at the same time.

To worship the Father as a living sacrifice right here in this home, in this neighborhood, of the edge of those famous mountains...and to do so without pomp and faux-perfection and all of this right before the eyes of the same family that experiences my imperfections and witness' my weakness' daily is a wild spot to be in.

There is no hiding my shortcomings when it comes to derailed home projects, disappointments, hurts and missed expectations. So why on earth is there a false expectation for glam and show when it comes to my spiritual walk, my faithful living, right here in my home?

To Live IN as a Dad is:
to be honest about my gifts and abilities endowed by the Spirit.
to be open about my weakness' as a maturing disciple.
to be bold in faith in private and public as opportunity allows.
to be humble in circumstance as the Lord works.
to seek forgiveness when I'm wrong and hurtful.
to teach forgiveness when my kids are wrong and hurtful.
to model my faith in Christ as a slave to righteousness.
to model repentance as a slave to righteousness.
to love despite...
to allow myself to be loved despite...
to love my wife as Christ loves the Church.
to love my kids as the Fathers loves His.
to party.
to enjoy.
to discern.
to discipline.
to engage the Word in real time and in truth.
to engage the Word in our lives in real time and with grace.

The fruit of Living IN on purpose most intentionally this past year has been invaluable. Seriously. There has never been a more intentional season of life getting my house in order. I'm not talking about finances and comfort and career and ordering a serene and sterile home. No. Dear Lord No.

I mean a rekindling of Husbandry (not that kind). A reordering of values and expectations as a parent, as a Dad. A discovery through trial and error and discernment of how we engage IN here in my home.

Someone asked recently how discipling my kids interconnects with this Family on Mission Action Journal. Great Q! The Action Journal engages my family in disciplmaking a few of different ways:

• It offers us the opportunity to engage each area of life without neglecting the others (UP / IN / OUT).
• My wife and I discover more and more how we engage Word together. How we teach and model Truth at home, along the road, in our strengths and weakness'.
• It's all intentional, challenging, and full of kairos moments to experience and discern. Some things we won't do again. Ever. They're one-off experiences. This is part of discovering how we engage Jesus together in ways that will become part of our weekly / monthly rhythm. (and ways that won't)
• It fosters creative space for 1x1 kairos moments more and more so they become a natural part of our relationships and calendar rhythms.

One-off events are good. When they lead to the discovery of rhythmic mission and greater familial vision they're freakin' awesome!

So how does discipling my kids connect with the Action Journal? Deeper discipleship is fostered on mission together. And intentional / relational / exponential rhythmic time in the Word in the context of real experiences, struggles, convictions, discoveries and faith together is a fruit worth fostering on purpose.

Yep, being a dude for Christ in the home is a wild ride. It's painful and pure joy. Living IN with the good and the bad is invaluable.

Are you experiencing a Live IN life?
Are you open about your crap?
Are you engaging your gifts?
Are you a team? For real. Are you running the race together together? Or are you running the race together apart?

NOW AVAILABLE: Action Journal!

IT"S HERE! A Family on Mission Action Journal is here and ready to roll...

In honor of the release of A Family on Mission Action Journal I thought I'd share my family shared in a Live UP adventure this weekend.

A page from our Action Journal

I'm a pretty big fan of finding, making or recreating space for my family to shake off dusty old expectations of how a Christian family orders their life and one way my wife and I do this is to skip Sunday morning gatherings with the greater Church body and lead worship in our living room once in a while.

This weekend we did just that! Here's how it rolled and it did NOT roll smoothly, but it was absolutely worthwhile:

PART ONE: We woke up.
Pretty simple step (most of the time).

The kids played with Legos and I sipped on coffee. Around 10am, which is the time we typically connect with the Body, we rallied in the living room to an upbeat Newsboys song and got some energy moving about our minds and bodies.

To be honest it totally derailed at this point with my son. I won't say too much about his attitude because I don't want to embarrass him but let's just say it went sour and disrespect was high. Because worshipping God is a privilege and not a right I sent my boy to his room while my wife, daughter and I dove in.

Then it got better. My daughter started crying because of my sternness with her brother. Real nice.

After a few moments I brought my son downstairs, discussed his actions, struggled through some apologies on his part and a few hugs later his attitude was totally different and his mind was clear and ready to engage. And we all did just that.

PART TWO: Teaching & Discussion.
Seriously. My son is in first grade and my daughter is three. So as we read through James 3 and the wild nature of our speech and heart comparing it to horses and ships and forests we drew some pictures together about each image and how they compare to our tongue, our words and our hearts and actions.

How appropriate that we had an attitude meltdown earlier and we totally used it as an example of two things:

1. How our hearts and mouths can impact our time with God and with others both positively and negatively.
2. How redemption and reconciliation look when we're humbled and willing to seek forgiveness and then reshape our words and mindset with Jesus' direction.

'With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father...' James 3:9

PART THREE: Activities
After 15 minutes in the Word and discussion we dove into a craft depicting the tongue and it's work in our lives.

We followed this up with about 5 or 6 more upbeat worship songs from YouTube. Once in a while we sang together and paused to read the lyrics but honestly, we simply had fun jumping and dancing and singing together.

There's this idea that missing a large Church gathering on the weekend will demonstrate to our kids that we don't really take God seriously as Christians. And worse, that being a true disciple means showing up every weekend to earn salvation points or to prove to others that we really are believers. Like perfect Sunday attendance is a true sign of spiritual integrity in Christ.

Well, you can assume I don't agree with any of that and in fact spending this time as a family, leading as parents, praying together, creatively engaging the Word together and modeling a Christlikeness that truly goes beyond a Weekend Church Service in my experience carries a beautiful spiritual weight and fosters a spiritual fruit many of us miss out on in our homes.

CHALLENGE:

1. Check out the Family Action Journal.
2. Open the door a little more to being a Family on Mission!

Action Journal Nearly in Action

It's simple. Disciples are given the opportunity to make more disciples.

Drawn by God. Saved by Christ. Filled with the Spirit. The body of Christ, the Church, the priesthood of believers have this beautiful mission - love others as Christ loves us. Christ reconciled us to Him and as ambassadors of reconciliation we direct others to Christ and draw them into our families and extended families on mission.

This doesn't always start in our homes does it? We come to Christ at the strangest times and in the weirdest most unexpected places right? Coffee shops, funerals, next to the toilet after a long night. God calls and gives us the grace to respond to Jesus' incarnate work and it doesn't matter where or how.

a great disciple and partner on mission

But when this call changes us in every place but the home (the most intimate) it's a problem. Our spouses don't see a broken, forgiven, regenerate husband, wife, mother or father. Our neighbors might. Our coworkers see a change. Our local church body is in awe and spurs us onward. But do our kids feel the new creation. Is that same grace spilling over onto our family. Is our spouse held tight by us in love and forgiveness the way we are in Christ's arms?

Let's be careful not to draw families on mission independently of one another in every area of life but to let our individual gifts and missions be an overflow of a discipling rhythm in the home.

After Moses personally engaged YHVH on the mountain he called Israel to a great mission. A great rhythm of life. Read more in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 about the family discipleship rhythm designed to create nation in love with their Redeemer.

my little partner on mission
and apparently stung by a bee...

I'm excited. We've received a final draft of the Journal and are pretty pumped to share this rhythm with others. No, as disciples we're not prompted to shutter up our families in the house to keep safe from the big bad world. That's ridiculous.

On the other extreme, if we're all engaged in the body and even on mission outside of the home and never worshipping, partying and serving together as a family then as parents we're missing out on discipling those entrusted to us directly from the Lord first and foremost. Our children then miss out on how a family lives and breathes the Word.

So go and create your own Action Journal. If you need a hand then pick up A Family on Mission Action Journal when it's out later this month!

John's Story 5:16-30

Without changing keys Jesus is once again going to sing the same song of simple belief. Only this time, belief is tangled up in the midst of a dialogue Jesus having on His claim of equality with God.


In fact, let's note 5 of these claims right here. Jesus is equal with God in:

1. person  :17-18
2. works  :19-20
3. power and sovereignty  :21
4. judgement  :22
5. His honor  :23

Text /

Equal in Person  :17-18

As he's being persecuted by some of the Jewish leaders, instead of bowing down and resigning to their authority Jesus' claims of oneness with God the Father only become more clear and direct.

'My Father is always at work...and I, too, am working.'

Just as my own son is one with me in name, blood and lineage - Jesus, as God incarnate, is proclaiming is oneness in personhood with God in heaven. Remember, if we've seen Jesus, we've seen the Father.


Side Note: Persecution for Breaking the Sabbath.
Jesus was working on the Sabbath, a legal day of rest. Jesus' push back was multifaceted:

• Genesis 1 'bara' - create in sustained action, ongoing. So even the Lords instituted day of rest was an act on His part as well as the Colossians 1 reality that Jesus was continuously holding all things together - even on the Sabbath.
• Jesus stated 'My Father is always at work' - there it is. God is at work.
• Mark 2:27-28  Sabbath was designed for mans sake, not to be lorded over man, but offered to him.
• Matthew 15:1-9 'Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?' A different context to be sure, but the heart is the same. The Pharisees were glad to create rules for their sake ignoring the Lords very Word in the meantime.

Equal in Works  :19-20
Again, in the midst of an assassination plot against Him, Jesus continues on proclaiming his equality in divinity with God the Father regarding His works, signs and wonders.

'I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing...'

Incredible. And even in this aspect of their relationship Love is yet at the core (:20). Isn't this a demonstration as well that the very character of God the Father is found in Jesus the Son? The two are so divinely united that the Fathers love for Jesus eternally overflows into the world (3:16-17).


Equal in Power & Sovereignty  :21
In the OT we see God at work as it pertains to life and death in pretty wild ways:

- Elijah 2 Kings 2
- The boy restored 2 Kings 4:32-35

Just as the Father has absolute sovereignty over life and death, Jesus does so as well. Just as the Father has authority over eternal life and death, Jesus does so as well.

'Just as the Father...even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.'

In chapter 4 we read about the healing of the officials son, a physical saving. Before that in chapter 4 we read about the spiritual / eternal saving of the woman at the well. Jesus is sovereign in line with the Father over life and death.

Salvation is a gift entirely produced by the Lord. In chapter 6 we'll see just how gritty He is regarding His death on the cross and our belief in Him for life. However, here we simply catch the flavor that Jesus alone gives life, not of our own accord, not of the Law, not of a family tradition, not a parents will, not of series of works...Jesus gives - we receive.


Equal in Judgement  :22
So Jesus also sits on the throne of judgement. All judgement. Eternal judgement. That all will bow down before the Living God is true (Philippians 2) - but that all with be bowing before the Father and the Son is Jesus' point here. He and Father are one in authority to Judge - what's more God has entrusted this duty with Jesus, His Son.

'the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgement to the Son'

Jesus goes on to qualify this, that just as the Father has / is life, Jesus also has life in Himself 'And [God] has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man' (:26-27).

Jesus, as the Author and Sustainer of Life, has full authority to offer judgement on those who seeking eternal life (:28-29).

'I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him Who sent Me' (:30).

Because Jesus judges based on the Truth of Truth Himself, on the very character of the Father, on the host and source of creation, on the very law and fabric of Life - His judgement is Just. Jesus is not a good man with limited culturally relevant justifications. He is Eternal God who sees the moral end as the clearly as the beginning and holds creation to that standard.


Equal in Honor  :23
Is it possible to glorify God and ignore Jesus? To be a worshipper and not worship Jesus and yet know God the Father? Is it possible to call God by any other name, to call Jesus a mere prophet or wise man etc. and honor the Creator?

'that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him.'

Praising God and bypassing Jesus doesn't honor the very one you might be intending to worship. If you were to mock my own son I would take personal offense. On the same line, if you were to honor my son I would take great pleasure, I would be honored both in the gift itself, but also in my relationship with honorable son who I love dearly.

There are branches of the Body of Christ who focus more deeply on knowing 'God' - there are others who focus on Jesus to the detriment of the Father and the Spirit - and there are those so engaged in being filled by the Spirit that Jesus and the Father are merely foundational realities - some branches even focus on the Church or the Patriarchs or post-NT church fathers and leaders.

To know Jesus is the know the Father. To know the Father truly is to engage Jesus. To engage the Father and the Son is to be filled with the Spirit to their glory.


Personalize /
'I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life...the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.'

Belief.

1. How are you engaging John's Story of Jesus up to this point? Are you continuing to filter the Gospel through your worldview OR are you engaging the Word as a Divine Text on His terms?

2. What about the equality of Jesus with the Father intrigues you? surprises you? confuses you? frustrates you? Why?

3. What is God teaching you anew in this passage? What are you going to do about it?

4. Pray. Talk with God the Father through Jesus the mediator and ask Him to continue to bring divine clarity in truth. To put your doubts and questions in proper place on your journey in Him.

Read MacArthur Study Bible #1587 regarding Equality. 

The Internal Debate of the Family on Mission

So I'm pretty excited about the Family on Mission Action Journal coming out next month. I thought I'd take a minute and share some thoughts on the making of the journal.

I've had this internal debate going on for months now regarding the making and sharing of this journal. It began as an overflow of the discovery process with my wife on what it looks like for the Christ-centered family (our family) to live out Gospel truth together.

Leaning into 3dm's Up / IN / OUT discipleship rhythm we've been worshipping, learning, playing and serving on purpose in our home, neighborhood and network. Creating and taking opportunities as they come.

In the past few years we've come to realize that while each individual believer is gifted by the Spirit to serve the body and engage the world differently, the Apostle Paul really engages this teaching, as a family unit we're designed to live a Christ-centered rhythm together in ways no other space can replicate.

The local Church offers so much opportunity for personal discovery of these gifts that Dad can minister to the body regularly in a different spaces than Mom. Mom and daughter never have to cross paths in between the women and student ministries. Father and son can be engaged in totally separate multi-evening weekly events and never really share a 1x1 meal engaging in healthy Kairos moments together.

So as my wife and I have been discovering and recreating a healthier family rhythm I've been wrestling with whether or not I'm qualified as a healthy and maturing father, husband and disciple of Christ to offer my understanding of the Biblical call to live on mission as a family with others. It's a humble position to be in to ask another to engage in a particular rhythm of mission that I'm personally convicted about. It's one thing to attempt to live it out in my home and quite another to invite others to invest in a resource that I have invested in.

So while some days I feel like a failure and other days victorious in my walk - this internal debate is healthy as it propels me to desire Christlike maturity as developed and defined by Scripture. It's unhealthy in that it causes me to negatively compare myself with other mature believers which stunts my ability to see clearly the simple nature of sharing Truth that the Spirit has shared with me.

'Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sin psalms, hymns and spiritual sons with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.' - Colossians 3:15-17

That said, the Family on Mission Action Journal is on its way. The debate is nearly over. Peace and Word are doing their work and Thankfulness is the result.

It's a resource. A tool. An opportunity to propel our families toward discovering a healthy rhythm of life together as long as your season of parents and children share space under one roof - your roof.

Dwell in the word.
Sing together.
Serve together.
Pray together.
Eat together.
Play together.
Commune together.

This Action Journal is a way of taking the most practical elements of engaging Christ and His call to engage the our families and those closest to us together and tossing them on our dinner tables to discuss, pray about and creatively engage in our home and in our neighborhoods.

And I'm incredibly excited to hear your family stories on mission.

Which events, activities, passages, experiences, spaces and moments open doors for you and your family to engage the muddy waters of lifestyle disciplemaking.

Let discipleship be an overflow of your family life - not an added element of volunteerism in your weekly endeavors!