Living the Gospel of Jesus Out Loud

1 Peter 2:21 ESV "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps."

Jesus used every method that were common to Jewish teachers and prophets of his time, including mass meetings, bold teachings and circuit preaching from place to place.  He lived his ministry unafraid and out loud.

From time to time, I see fellow Christians living out loud, but mostly obnoxiously, getting in peoples faces, condemning them to hell or failure or sadness, but not teaching them of the love of God, as our Lord did.  He feed them, then preached,  He healed them, then preached.  We tend to preach, then condemn.

Today I saw an advertisement on a place mat at a restaurant my family was eating at for lunch.  I was pretty cool, because it spoke of what was missing in peoples lives FIRST, and it spoke out loud in public.  Here it is.

Don't Give Up - Don't Give In, The Best Days our Your Life are Yet to Come

Live Out Loud for the Lord by speaking to and loving the people in a way they understand, like these guys!!

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Your Guide to Living Life Out Loud “A powerful story that reminds us that we serve a powerful God. I commend Dave’s … inspirational message.”
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God is Not Dead #3 - The Offended God

"And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence." - Bertrand Russell

This is one expression of an often argued point of view that the Christian God is, if real, a vain being who creates beings such as ourselves for no other reason than to worship and give him praise.

That, I'm afraid, is one powerful argument.  After all, we all know, that our lives, if we are followers of the way, is to glorify the Name of God.

But, before we concede this point, let us look at the assumptions in this philosophy to make sure they are solid.

Bertrand Russell contends that God is offended by those who doubt his existence because of his vanity.

Vanity according to the dictionary is: "the quality of people who have too much pride in their own appearance, abilities, achievements." - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Ok, it might seem that God has pride in his achievements, as he is, time and time again, described as "good" and the works of his hands he "saw was good", the earth and all the creatures. How could you have "too" much pride in what you have done, if everything ever made, you made?  How can it be too much, if there is not competition?

Bertrand Russell then contends that God is Offended by our lack of faith, and according to the dictionary, offend is: "to cause (a person or group) to feel hurt, angry, or upset by something said or done." - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Got me there.  He is hurt or upset by those of us who chose to deny him, but it is not out of pride or vanity.  It is out of love.  You don't have to go too far past John 3:16 to see how much God loves us.  

God made us and knows how we work.  He gives us the choice to live according to our call, with the promise that all things work together if we are answering his call, or to deny him and walk away. He knows that if we praise and worship him, we can be near him, and enjoy him, and be at peace even while we are in the flesh here on earth.  So that praise and worship is part of the call, so we can have the peace of God, that surpasses all understanding.

Or, contrary to the rules of vain and hurt people, he gives us free will to reject the call.

So now you have to decide.  Is God Vain, and therefor not God at all, or does he love you, just as he says.

Ring.

Ring.

Answer the call or push ignore.

Day 11 - Who Would Die For You?- Daily Inspirational Verses from Real Life

John 15:13 - (NIV): "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

Who would you lay your life down for. Seriously.

In my case, I would hope that I would without thought, lay my life down to protect my wife and my daughter.  I have put myself in harms way many times for each, but thankfully, I have never been called to lay my life down.  

There have been times where I put myself in danger to keep someone else or someone else's child safe as well, but again, it never rose to the level of losing or risking my life, that I was aware of.

Who are you absolutely sure you would lose your life for?

Most of us never face that choice.  Military people, fireman, policemen do many times in their careers, but even they do not lay their life down, nor are the expected to, every day.

You can probably count on your fingers they number of people you know personally that have been asked to do that type of thing.  That sacrifice is huge, and against our nature as people.

Yet, that is what Jesus did your you.  More than that.  The day he was killed, they mocked him.  Not really a big deal, but in the roman world, soldiers mocking you nearly always ended it death.  In Jesus' case, they did more than mock him, since he was going to die anyway.  They ripped his close of his back, then whipped him so badly that the bones in his back were visible.  Then they stood him up, and put a wool cape on him.  He is bleeding badly, and the fabric would have been sucked right into the wounds all over his body.  When they were done dressing him up like a king, the ripped the fabric out of his back.  Full Body Bandage.  

He knew they were going to do that.  He let them do that.  He let them do that for YOU!

They they made him carry the instrument of his death up a long hill, and then they nailed him to it.

Then he died.

Jesus did more than lay his life down for you.  That is how much you are loved.  For a moment, get past the salvation and eternal life and the redemption of sin that he bought for you with his life, and focus on the nature of his death.  

He did THAT for you.  He was not a victim.  He knew it was coming and told us it was coming.  He walked right into it anyway.  That is how much Jesus loves you.

Remember that the next time you are standing in a storm.  You are loved.

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For information on be certain of your Status with God, overcoming your actions that keep you from God, and allowing you to accept his free gift of eternal life, Click Here.

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It's Not That Simple!

I have come to understand how messed up my personal philosophy of life has become.  This is how it happened.  I was driving down a road, on the way to pick my wife up at the grocery store, and as I turned on to the correct road, I saw a man with a sign asking for money.  I have been told, and believed all my life, that if they just got up in the morning and went out and got a job, they would not have to beg.  Worse, if I gave them money, they would just spend it on alcohol.  I decided that all this negative pull yourself up by the bootstraps stuff was crap, so I pulled over, and all I had was a $1 and a $20.  I pulled out the $1, knowing I needed the $20 to buy some french fries.  Then I realized how stupid that sounded in my head, so I pulled out the $20, and gave him that instead.

There, I did it.  I was a better person than all those other people who hated poor people.  I was an uber-christian.  I continued down the road, about 1/2 mile, pulled into the parking lot, and went and picked up my wife.  It was perhaps 8 minutes before 9:00pm when I gave him the $20, and it took me about 8 minutes to pick up my wife.  I drove across the parking lot, an into the driveway to wait my turn to get back on the road.  Directly across from me was the guy I just gave the money to, and he was sprinting down the side walk across the street from me.  I watched.  He sprinted right up to a package store (alcohol store) and went in.

Errr.  I just bought a poor guy alcohol, and wasted $20.  All he really needed to do was pull himself up by his boot straps, and get a freaking job.  What a waste.

It not really that simple, though, is it.  One thing I have discovered more and more in the recent months and years, is that I am no persons moral compass.  I have also discovered that the more you help people, the more they disappoint, and at times, hurt you.  It is part of the package.

I was going to list all the bible verses that prove this truth in life, and mention the ultimate example of Jesus and how he was treated for helping people, but instead, I want to share with you a poem by on of God's saints.  (Now, if you don't believe in God, then this is a poem from a real good women who just happens to believe in an invisible being and talks to a ghost.)

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Now, it really is that simple.  So I have decided to remind myself to do it anyway.  That poor guy is poor, and I helped him, and will again if given the opportunity.  I will, because it is not between me and him, or me and the government, or me and a court, or me and you.  It is between me and my God, and he has already rewarded me.