pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: open


by Leave a comment

Open, Loving, Welcoming

Reading: Revelation 1: 4-8

At times our churches and faith can be private or exclusive is one is not already a member.  Sometimes we do this by using insider language or by expecting guests or seekers to know how we do things or to look and behave just like we do.  Although most churches genuinely work at and desire to be welcoming and inviting, sometimes we are not.  In the same way, most Christians know Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations; we just do not live with this as our primary focus.  We inadvertently put up barriers or fences that in essence keep non-believers and the unchurched outside of our institutions.  On a personal level, we can judge or choose to keep separate from those we see as sinners and unsaved.

If we are truly living as a witness to the love of Christ, we will seek to be more inclusive and inviting and will work to be less judgmental and isolated.  Jesus’ radar was always on.  He was so sensitive to the needs He sensed in people.  Jesus did not allow social or cultural or any other norms to tell Him how to deal with someone.  He simply recognized what they needed and what He could offer and acted accordingly.  Jesus seemed to be friend to all as relationship was the basis of His ministry.  The forming of a relationship so often allowed Him to share Himself to meet their need.

Just as Jesus sought first and foremost to be welcoming and to quickly enter into relationships, so must we as His disciples and as His church.  People need Jesus, not our religion or our churches.  He is who or what we offer.  It is through faith and in the church that people come to know Jesus.  We all need to know His love and the saving grace offered by His blood.  To begin to know Jesus, one must experience Jesus in the love and witness of His followers.  This is what we have to offer.

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we are privileged to live in His love as we enjoy a personal relationship with the savior of the world.  This relationship is something we are called to share with others.  Our opportunity may come within the walls of the church; it may come out there in the world.  May we be as open, loving, and welcoming as Jesus was as we seek to live as His witness in and through our lives.


by Leave a comment

Word In, Word Out

In my community it is easy to go to church.  Access to a Bible is almost a given.  Finding a place to Worship or a Bible to read in our native language is not very difficult.  We have such open access to the Word.  All that holds us back is our personal choices concerning what to do with our time.  There are places in our whole though where the Word is simply not available in a language the people speak or read.  All they know of the Word of God is what is shared orally by a missionary or by someone who has heard one.  And for many of us in parts of the world where the access is so easy, the reality is that His Word remains a ‘foreign language’ to many.

God placed His words in Jeremiah’s mouth when He called him to service.  The Word is powerful.  God tells Jeremiah that God’s word can uproot and tear down kingdoms and that it can also build up and plant.  The truth in this remains with us today as well.  God’s word continues to work in our lives to destroy those little kingdoms we establish and also to continually build up and plant vision, hope, love, light, and such.  All of this so that we can live these things out and so that we can share them with others.  Just as God placed His Word in Jeremiah’s mouth to call people to God’s commandments and to the covenant, we too are given God’s Word to do the same.

We also share the Word orally.  The words we take in are given not only for our lives, but to share with others as well.  Perhaps it is with a friend who is struggling or maybe it is with one who is searching for direction or meaning in life.  There is a hunger for the Word of God everywhere, even here where access is easy and open.  May we who know God make the choice to be diligently in the Word so that we are rich in what we have to share.  And may we freely share His Word with all we meet to both uproot and destroy those things that keep us from God and to build up and plant those things that draw us to Him.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 1: 9-10


by Leave a comment

A Work in Progress

How true of a vision of ourselves do we present to others?  In sharing a story, do we fully and honestly tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”  or are we more selective?  There are times when we may want to stomp our feet and scream, but we don’t.  Why not?  Because we like to keep the ugly locked away and hidden.

Are we the same way with God?  Do we come before Him with partial truths and incomplete confessions?  Even though we know that He knows all, at times we are not transparent and open.

Do we offer God partials?   All of my heart?  Really?  Can’t I just keep this part here and that part over there?  Isn’t ‘most’ good enough?  Not in the end. Is some better than none?  Certainly!  But God wants to be our “all in all” not just our “some of a bit”.  It is a journey.  The question we need to be asking is do we love Jesus more today than we did yesterday or a week or a year ago?  Is our faith growing?  After all, in reality, we are a work in progress.

Scripture reference: Psalm 17: 1-7 and 15