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George Little
Our Resume
Mark read out a verse at church on Sunday that really resonated with me. It was 2 Corinthians 6:4-10. It listed some of characteristics of the life that Paul lived for Jesus. It struck me as being so real and blunt. It also struck me as being a rather interesting resume.
In our work life we all have resumes or CVs that we try to construct so as to give a realistic picture of ourselves as possible. Okay, I know that some of them are a little embellished to make us look better than we are but ours should be the truth without distortions. I feel this scripture is the unembellished resume of every Christian who is walking by faith.
Consider this list of "qualifications".
In our work life we all have resumes or CVs that we try to construct so as to give a realistic picture of ourselves as possible. Okay, I know that some of them are a little embellished to make us look better than we are but ours should be the truth without distortions. I feel this scripture is the unembellished resume of every Christian who is walking by faith.
Consider this list of "qualifications".
- "in great endurance;
- in troubles, hardships and distresses;
- in beatings, imprisonments and riots;
- in hard work,
- sleepless nights and hunger;
- in purity,
- understanding, patience and kindness;
- in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
- in truthful speech and
- in the power of God;
- with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left
- through glory and dishonour,
- bad report and good report;
- genuine, yet regarded as impostors;
- known, yet regarded as unknown;
- dying, and yet we live on;
- beaten, and yet not killed;
- sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
- poor, yet making many rich;
- having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
Wow, that's a lot of reality packed into a few verses. You have to read it through again to get a better grip on this "warts and all" view of life in Christ.
This walk of faith seems to have more down sides than up sides. Well, maybe not, when you consider the big up side is Jesus and eternal life. However we have go tot learn that our walk with Jesus has some serious challenges. Our resume looks a little "spotty" from a human point of view but from where God is sitting this is the life He planned for us. It's a life lived just like the life Jesus lived.
Easter Monday
Nobody had died for me on this day. No one was raised from the dead for me.
Today I lived by faith the glorious life that God has given me as best I could. Spent most of the day with my family. After the day I was feeling happy and content. I have not laughed this hard in a long time. My sons have a way of cheering my heart like no one else.
My grandson never fails to bring a smile to my face. His passion for life, for food, for fun and for family just lifts my soul.
A holiday is great but in God's family it is more than a day off. It is nourishment for the spirit. It is regeneration of the heart.
Thank you Father.
Today I lived by faith the glorious life that God has given me as best I could. Spent most of the day with my family. After the day I was feeling happy and content. I have not laughed this hard in a long time. My sons have a way of cheering my heart like no one else.
My grandson never fails to bring a smile to my face. His passion for life, for food, for fun and for family just lifts my soul.
A holiday is great but in God's family it is more than a day off. It is nourishment for the spirit. It is regeneration of the heart.
Thank you Father.
The Non-Negotiables
I was challenged recently by a blog by a distant friend of mine, Dave Wasson. He decided to compile a list of non-negotiables in his life, hills he would defend with a fight. It made me think. After living a lengthy life so far, what things have I concluded are the truly important, the Non-Negotiables. In an honest moment I decided to compile my own list and share it. Time will tell if there is wisdom in this.
Rather than make it an unending list I decided to make it the top ten non-negotiables. They are not in order of priority but if you challenge me on any of these you will get determined and loving resistance. Don't try me when I am tired. You will still get resistance but I will get a bit nasty.
Rather than make it an unending list I decided to make it the top ten non-negotiables. They are not in order of priority but if you challenge me on any of these you will get determined and loving resistance. Don't try me when I am tired. You will still get resistance but I will get a bit nasty.
- My love for my wife, sons, daughter in laws and grandson
- My faith in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, together, the creator and sustainer of all and redeemer of all who will choose Him.
- The love God has for me as expressed in the life, death and rising of Jesus
- My obligation to preach the truth no matter how much it might offend friends, leaders or enemies
- I am a sinner who daily needs help from the Holy Spirit, friends, family and those I will meet today
- God has a plan for me and my wife
- I love my church, warts and all, while realising I am one of the warts
- I am expecting heaven and a long talk with Jesus
- My pride in my sons
- Led Zeppelin are the greatest rock group of all time
What are your non-negotiables? Have a go at making a list. You will be surprised what a clarifying experience it is to compile one and what a liberating experience it is to share it. Blog it, Facebook it, preach it, write it on a napkin, just do it. When you look in the mirror what are the non-negotiables that make you who you are? We are all unique creations of the Father. Our lists will differ but that's who we are.
Things That Won't Get You To Heaven
The longer I minister in the kingdom the more I come across false ideas of what it takes to get a reconciled relationship with God that will lead to a home in heaven. Here are some that we need to back away from. They aren't even a little bit "true". They are lies and we must reject them. Here's the list of ways some Christians seek to use to get saved and go to heaven.
- Going to church - This is the "religious" way. It goes like this, "if I do lots of religious stuff (Christian of course), especially going to church, that will give me enough points to go to heaven". People who subscribe to this will never miss a church service but will often gossip, lie, cheat on their taxes and frequent porn sites. The way to heaven, for them, is one compartment of their lives and as long as they get that compartment right then nothing else matters. Once you learn the modern proverb of the chicken you will no longer hold onto this charming little idea. What proverb? I'm glad you asked. I'm sure this comes out of some rural preacher's manual. "Being at church doesn't make you a Christian any more than being in a chicken coop makes you a chicken". Rather agricultural but you can't fault the logic.
- Being Nice - It's the "be a good boy and God will be forgive you" path. It is usually linked with the "passing grade" approach to salvation. Most of us realise we just don't seem to be good all the time and so we have invented the idea that God "grades on the curve". Falsely it asserts that as long as you have more good in you than bad then you pass the grade and get the big tick from God. Only problem with this idea is that God never said it.
- Baptism - Don't get me wrong. Baptism is a vital part of our acceptance of God's gift of forgiveness. However I'm talking about the idea that many have that as long as I was baptised with the right words said over me, then that is really the only determining factor in whether I'm saved or not. Baptism is not the key to heaven. God is very clear what is the key. More on that if my next blog.
- Being Right - It's the old "right doctrine" makes my church the true church and gets me to heaven. This one sounds "kinda right" but it isn't. While we should always strive to learn the truth on every matter from scripture there is no scripture that says I have to get 100% mark on a Theology 101 test to be a true Christian. I used to subscribe to this false notion. But when I started to think about it I realised how false it was. Why? Two things. Firstly, God never said it. Secondly, there has never been even one Christian who had perfect doctrine. Even with the Holy Spirit and the Bible we are not the smartest tools in the shed. There weren't any in the first century church. Every letter in the New Testament is written to get people to correct their teaching (as well as other things). I have never found one Christian who will attest to me that they have gotten all the teachings of God correct all the time.
- Being Right on a Special List of Teachings - This is a sub-category of the previous one. For some churches it is getting the teaching on the Sabbath correct. For others it is the pattern of public worship. For others it is baptism. For others it is 5 points of Calvinism. Nowhere did Jesus or His apostles ever teach that believing all the right things on a subset of beliefs makes you or your church the chosen ones.
They Should Do Something
We have all grown up in an age where institutions have been promoted as the solution to our problems. We have taken to this idea with such relish that we have almost come to worship it.
So often, when there is a problem in my life, I have often been heard to say, "THEY should do something about this" or "SOMEONE should do something about this" or "SOCIETY made me do it" or "It's the school system to blame" (insert any blameworthy insitution eg. government, Muslims, Christians, the Church etc. etc.).
Let's notice two truths that immediately present themselves.
1. Institutions don't really solve any of the crucial social ills. Before the elections they claim they will. The first year after the election they try a bit. The second year after the election they tell us why they can't. The their year after the election they start claiming they can if they get re-elected.
2. It is the individual (you and me) who has the real power to bring about change that is good and real.
Jesus came to world riddled with institutions. Similar institutions to the ones we have now except we just have better technology. Not just institutions like government, the military and religion but institutional ills like slavery. He never once spoke against the institutions. He did have a go at some individuals in those bastions. He never tried to enter government as many of the upstart saviours of the day. He didn't start a social justice movement aimed at the violations of human rights.
He walked up to people and said, "Love God. Love each person around you". He was very focused on every single person. He challenged each of them and now challenges each us to throw off our victim status and and begin solving our problems by doing what He says.
Science, government, academia et al promise to save us from all our woes. Yet their promises ring hollow. They give us a better standard of living but they don't really effect in any major the crimes stats. Seriously, do you think that fewer children are being violated, fewer women getting raped, etc.? Only Jesus can save. He has been tried and found effective by millions of people for two thousand years.
Yes, Jesus. Not the church. Not religion. But Jesus' teachings being lived out in the life of people like you and me. Not an institution but a Christian.
So often, when there is a problem in my life, I have often been heard to say, "THEY should do something about this" or "SOMEONE should do something about this" or "SOCIETY made me do it" or "It's the school system to blame" (insert any blameworthy insitution eg. government, Muslims, Christians, the Church etc. etc.).
Let's notice two truths that immediately present themselves.
1. Institutions don't really solve any of the crucial social ills. Before the elections they claim they will. The first year after the election they try a bit. The second year after the election they tell us why they can't. The their year after the election they start claiming they can if they get re-elected.
2. It is the individual (you and me) who has the real power to bring about change that is good and real.
Jesus came to world riddled with institutions. Similar institutions to the ones we have now except we just have better technology. Not just institutions like government, the military and religion but institutional ills like slavery. He never once spoke against the institutions. He did have a go at some individuals in those bastions. He never tried to enter government as many of the upstart saviours of the day. He didn't start a social justice movement aimed at the violations of human rights.
He walked up to people and said, "Love God. Love each person around you". He was very focused on every single person. He challenged each of them and now challenges each us to throw off our victim status and and begin solving our problems by doing what He says.
Science, government, academia et al promise to save us from all our woes. Yet their promises ring hollow. They give us a better standard of living but they don't really effect in any major the crimes stats. Seriously, do you think that fewer children are being violated, fewer women getting raped, etc.? Only Jesus can save. He has been tried and found effective by millions of people for two thousand years.
Yes, Jesus. Not the church. Not religion. But Jesus' teachings being lived out in the life of people like you and me. Not an institution but a Christian.
2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal
Read this article recently. Made me think. Check it out.
2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal
2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal
Yes, it is a catchy headline and it is not what Kurzweil said. However lets consider a few facts.
On its best day computer technology can only process data incredibly fast. It can't think about the data. It can't take into account life variables such as morality, laws, feelings etc. It can process information at high speed but in the end all it has is highly processed information.
Despite such fanciful movies views of the present (Enemy of the State), the near future (Eagle Eye) and the not to distant future (Terminator movies) computers can only do what they are programmed to do. Sounds boring and you won't see a movie about it.
Oh they can really mess you up. Remember the old adage, "To err is human but to really screw things up takes a computer".
I love science fiction but really get ticked off when people fail to see the difference with science fact.
Documents Please
We live in a highly identified age. Do you remember the movie, Catch Me If You Can, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks? It was so easy for Leonardo to fake being someone else. Today it's different. You need ID cards, drivers license, tax file number, social security number. Numbers and photos, passwords etc. No more acid washing cheques or wearing a pilot's uniform to change your identity.
Yet, after thinking about it for a while, I am convinced that we have got to get a grip on who we really are. In amongst all the energy and confusion of life, who am I? When you step back and ask that question that answer doesn't seem quite so black and white as getting out your driver's license.
[Warning Mode] This is not about religion. It is about who you are in this expanding universe and who you are in this mass humanity that you were born into. [Exit Warning Mode]
I am my father's son. No way to get into this world without him. Logon on to ancestry.com and check out my family history and I can find out who I am as far as my physical family is concerned. That's the easy part. I have a passport that informs me (and those nosey custom's officials) about my country of origin. That reminds me. Must apply for a British passport.
But I am more than a Little and an Australian. I am a child of this universe. But does that say anything about who I am? It all depends on whether this universe was created by someone or came about by random non-personal forces. Why?
It's like whether you are progeny of a mother and father or by genetic splicing. (It's not the same, just like it.) Who I am is totally different if I see myself as Denis' son or as a laboratory process. It changes who I am and how I look at myself.
The two choices I can see (there may be more but I have yet to recognize them) is that I am either a child of a creative active of a being who is of a higher order than me (call it God) or of creative coincidence of the elemental forces (call it whatever you want, it's not talking to you).
I am either a child of God or a chemical process. Which one I believe will change who I think I am. Which one is real determines my true identity.
[Argument Mode] How can non-personal give rise to personal? How can non-conscious "create" conscious? How can non-living give life to the living? How can non-loving (or any relational dynamic) give birth to the loving? How can non-George create George[Exit Argument Mode]
I am either a child of God or a child of the elements.
Who are you? More on this in later blogs.
Yet, after thinking about it for a while, I am convinced that we have got to get a grip on who we really are. In amongst all the energy and confusion of life, who am I? When you step back and ask that question that answer doesn't seem quite so black and white as getting out your driver's license.
[Warning Mode] This is not about religion. It is about who you are in this expanding universe and who you are in this mass humanity that you were born into. [Exit Warning Mode]
I am my father's son. No way to get into this world without him. Logon on to ancestry.com and check out my family history and I can find out who I am as far as my physical family is concerned. That's the easy part. I have a passport that informs me (and those nosey custom's officials) about my country of origin. That reminds me. Must apply for a British passport.
But I am more than a Little and an Australian. I am a child of this universe. But does that say anything about who I am? It all depends on whether this universe was created by someone or came about by random non-personal forces. Why?
It's like whether you are progeny of a mother and father or by genetic splicing. (It's not the same, just like it.) Who I am is totally different if I see myself as Denis' son or as a laboratory process. It changes who I am and how I look at myself.
The two choices I can see (there may be more but I have yet to recognize them) is that I am either a child of a creative active of a being who is of a higher order than me (call it God) or of creative coincidence of the elemental forces (call it whatever you want, it's not talking to you).
I am either a child of God or a chemical process. Which one I believe will change who I think I am. Which one is real determines my true identity.
[Argument Mode] How can non-personal give rise to personal? How can non-conscious "create" conscious? How can non-living give life to the living? How can non-loving (or any relational dynamic) give birth to the loving? How can non-George create George[Exit Argument Mode]
I am either a child of God or a child of the elements.
Who are you? More on this in later blogs.
Stepping Back & Getting Perspective
Life can really squeeze the life out of you. Busy, busy ... tired ... concerns ... money ... people ... work ... etc. etc. etc.
Let me speak in cliches for a moment. At the end of the day it seems like I am spinning my wheels. [Exit cliche mode]
I am in the middle of holidays with Julie and now with some of my family (Ben, Carly and Benji) and the last week has afforded me the opportunity to step back from all my responsibilities, think about nothing if I want, and just hang. In the context of such disconnectedness I have been able to gain a little perspective on all those things that press in on me.
A very perceptive man once said that there is nothing new under the sun. My worries, concerns and fears are no different to millions of others. Didn't seem like it until I stepped back and suddenly was able to see things with a little more clarity and perspective.
Life is really not about how much comfort or money you have or how much you can control. It's about how you see all those things in your life. And perspective really helps your sight. What's the most important thing about driving at 100 km/hour? Engine size. No. Aerodynamics? Airbags? Tyre pressure? None of these. Most important is your sight. [Exit Yoda mode]
Think I will step back a little more and see what I can see.
Bottom line. Holidays are fun but they are so much more. See you in a week.
Let me speak in cliches for a moment. At the end of the day it seems like I am spinning my wheels. [Exit cliche mode]
I am in the middle of holidays with Julie and now with some of my family (Ben, Carly and Benji) and the last week has afforded me the opportunity to step back from all my responsibilities, think about nothing if I want, and just hang. In the context of such disconnectedness I have been able to gain a little perspective on all those things that press in on me.
A very perceptive man once said that there is nothing new under the sun. My worries, concerns and fears are no different to millions of others. Didn't seem like it until I stepped back and suddenly was able to see things with a little more clarity and perspective.
Life is really not about how much comfort or money you have or how much you can control. It's about how you see all those things in your life. And perspective really helps your sight. What's the most important thing about driving at 100 km/hour? Engine size. No. Aerodynamics? Airbags? Tyre pressure? None of these. Most important is your sight. [Exit Yoda mode]
Think I will step back a little more and see what I can see.
Bottom line. Holidays are fun but they are so much more. See you in a week.
The Ointment
When I was a young boy (back when the crust of the earth was cooling :) ), I would often get a rash on my arms. My mother would take me to the doctor and he would prescribe a tube of white goo to rub on the rash to make it better. I was looking at the tube one day (didn't have anything better to do) and I noticed that it was rather imaginatively called "The Ointment". It may as well have been call "the white goo". But I digress.
I believed the ointment worked. It always worked. However it wasn't of any value until I applied it to my skin. The word of God is like that. You can believe in it, cherish it, recommend it but it doesn't do any good until it is applied to your soul. Application is what the point of the Bible is.
Reading it and studying it are an important part of the process God has planned but they are bordering on useless if the word is not applied to your heart. James 1:22 puts it this way. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
By all means, search and find the meaning of the text. Certainly teach it and proclaim it. But don't nullify all that good work by not applying it to your life and teaching the application.
Some of us love words a little too much. We enjoy the academic experience of Bible Study a little too much.
We need to ask the question when listening to God's word, "What does God want me to do?". And then go out and do it.
Applying the ointment. What a concept?
I believed the ointment worked. It always worked. However it wasn't of any value until I applied it to my skin. The word of God is like that. You can believe in it, cherish it, recommend it but it doesn't do any good until it is applied to your soul. Application is what the point of the Bible is.
Reading it and studying it are an important part of the process God has planned but they are bordering on useless if the word is not applied to your heart. James 1:22 puts it this way. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
By all means, search and find the meaning of the text. Certainly teach it and proclaim it. But don't nullify all that good work by not applying it to your life and teaching the application.
Some of us love words a little too much. We enjoy the academic experience of Bible Study a little too much.
We need to ask the question when listening to God's word, "What does God want me to do?". And then go out and do it.
Applying the ointment. What a concept?
Institutional Christians
After talking with many Christians lately I have been impressed with the huge gulf there is between having an institutional connection to God and a relational one.
An institutional one is one where we see our relationship with God being through the group that we are in. We think, “I am in the church, therefore I am connected to God”. We see all our relationships with people in the church as “group” relationships and many times that means that they are not that personal. Other Christians soon become just the “people I see at church”. It doesn’t have to be this way but I am seeing it far too much in the wide range of churches I am moving amongst at the moment.
This is not the complaint of one who is looking for the perfect church. That animal doesn’t exist. Didn’t exist in the first century. It is futile to look for it in the 21st century.
No, what I am talking about here is a paradigm shift in the way we look at God and other Christians.
God has planned for his church to be a people, not an institution. “As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God’.”” Romans 9:25, 26. Christians are an organic body not an organization (1 Corinthians 12:13,14). We are a family not “co-habiters”. Our connection is not that we end up in the same place each week, it is the one who draws us to that place.
We are brothers and sisters, a people who belong to our Father, God. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9, 10. We are all sinners who have received mercy.
Warning Signs you are an “Institutional Christian”
- You really don’t want to hang around with Christians except at church for a brief period on Sunday.
- You only get concerned about others at church when they are not “at church”.
- Your social connection with other Christians is minimal and mostly formal.
- When Christians get in trouble, you run away from them.
- You hit the carpark 1.5 seconds after the final prayer at church. Sometimes even after the communion.
- You never hang around for lunch with the church.
- You would rather have hernia surgery than volunteer to help out with anything to do with church.
- You haven’t invited anyone to a Christian gathering of any sort in years.
Is this you? I see myself in this list and I am an evangelist. I should know better, but I fall into bad habits. What about you? Be honest. This is important. Is "this" what Jesus is about? Enter the conversation. There is life in the church.
Next blog: How to get out of the institutional Christian trap.
Who Is Left?
Think of all the people who have been in your life?
Who has hung in there with you for the long haul?
Some are with you when "things" are going well but fade when "things" turn bad.
Some are close when you live close but they disappear when you move away.
Some are your friend while it is useful for them but the friendship fades as they don't need you much any more.
After all the "fade outs", and moves who is left by your side? These are special people. They are truly friends. They choose to be with you (even if it is only Facebook from the other side of the world) despite your failures, mistakes and even successes. The wise one puts it this way. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17.
I find ministry in the church is also a good place to ask this question. Who is left?
Some shine brightly for a little time. They are the focus of excitement but just a few years later they are gone. There are the really clever ones who make a lot of sense with their strategy for change but after a while they are gone. If you have been around in churches for a few years you know what I am talking about.
Who is left? Who has given up or found it more convenient to (or even called to) move on. People may be gone for perfectly godly reasons. I am not questioning their motivations. I just have found it so sobering and encouraging to focus on the ones who stay for whole game and don't leave at half time.
Thank God for the ones who hang in there. They are here for you and your church. They may have been around so long that they blend into the background but don't let them. Praise them. Seek them. Allow God to use them. God has put them in your life for a reason. Love them. Above all, love them.
Reminds me of Paul's comment about Timothy, his long time partner in ministry. “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no-one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”Philippians 2:19-22.
Reach out the ones who are left with you.
Who has hung in there with you for the long haul?
Some are with you when "things" are going well but fade when "things" turn bad.
Some are close when you live close but they disappear when you move away.
Some are your friend while it is useful for them but the friendship fades as they don't need you much any more.
After all the "fade outs", and moves who is left by your side? These are special people. They are truly friends. They choose to be with you (even if it is only Facebook from the other side of the world) despite your failures, mistakes and even successes. The wise one puts it this way. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17.
I find ministry in the church is also a good place to ask this question. Who is left?
Some shine brightly for a little time. They are the focus of excitement but just a few years later they are gone. There are the really clever ones who make a lot of sense with their strategy for change but after a while they are gone. If you have been around in churches for a few years you know what I am talking about.
Who is left? Who has given up or found it more convenient to (or even called to) move on. People may be gone for perfectly godly reasons. I am not questioning their motivations. I just have found it so sobering and encouraging to focus on the ones who stay for whole game and don't leave at half time.
Thank God for the ones who hang in there. They are here for you and your church. They may have been around so long that they blend into the background but don't let them. Praise them. Seek them. Allow God to use them. God has put them in your life for a reason. Love them. Above all, love them.
Reminds me of Paul's comment about Timothy, his long time partner in ministry. “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no-one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”Philippians 2:19-22.
Reach out the ones who are left with you.
Reflections on a Weekend
Recently I participated in the Australia Christian Convention hosted by WestChurch in Sydney and it included believers from all over the Restoration Movement but mainly the Acapella Churches of Christ, Independent Christian Churches and Former International Churches of Christ.
What hit me the most was not our differences but the immensity of the similarities of our journeys. Certainly our journeys had been different but here we were standing up for the gospel of Jesus and striving to learn how better to proclaim that gospel. There were representatives from 7 church plantings currently active in the South Pacific. All quite unique in their approaches and contexts but all united in their love for Jesus and their love for people and their unswerving commitment to the truth that only Jesus provides the complete solution to the paradox of live in the 21st century. I love these brothers and sisters.
Another thing that hit me is a little bit harder to express. I know this can sound a little judgmental, so please, while reading these words, give me the benefit of the doubt. I have been working in church context for 32 years and I have noticed that there are two sorts of approaches to the work of the kingdom. There are those who seem to endlessly talk about our mission. And then there are those who not only talk about it, but actually get out there and get busy doing something about it. A lot of them fall flat on their faces but they do so while putting their lives where their mouths are. The brothers and sisters that characterized this weekend were doers. They have left family, financial security and lucrative secular careers to do what Jesus has called them to do and my admiration for them is unbounded.
I was touched deeply to an old Dire Straits song and I think it applies here.
"Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms"
Ahh. Brothers in arms. Our brotherhood is not just built on the God who died for us but in our dedication to the mission he gave us from the foot of the cross. I so glad I have brothers in arms. They lift me up. They keep me humble. They inspire me. They stand up for me. Thank God that He gave us brothers in arms.
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
What hit me the most was not our differences but the immensity of the similarities of our journeys. Certainly our journeys had been different but here we were standing up for the gospel of Jesus and striving to learn how better to proclaim that gospel. There were representatives from 7 church plantings currently active in the South Pacific. All quite unique in their approaches and contexts but all united in their love for Jesus and their love for people and their unswerving commitment to the truth that only Jesus provides the complete solution to the paradox of live in the 21st century. I love these brothers and sisters.
Another thing that hit me is a little bit harder to express. I know this can sound a little judgmental, so please, while reading these words, give me the benefit of the doubt. I have been working in church context for 32 years and I have noticed that there are two sorts of approaches to the work of the kingdom. There are those who seem to endlessly talk about our mission. And then there are those who not only talk about it, but actually get out there and get busy doing something about it. A lot of them fall flat on their faces but they do so while putting their lives where their mouths are. The brothers and sisters that characterized this weekend were doers. They have left family, financial security and lucrative secular careers to do what Jesus has called them to do and my admiration for them is unbounded.
I was touched deeply to an old Dire Straits song and I think it applies here.
"Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms"
Ahh. Brothers in arms. Our brotherhood is not just built on the God who died for us but in our dedication to the mission he gave us from the foot of the cross. I so glad I have brothers in arms. They lift me up. They keep me humble. They inspire me. They stand up for me. Thank God that He gave us brothers in arms.
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
Techno Jesus
I work for a high technology company. I work for Jesus. I use technology a lot in both of my jobs as well as in my personal life.
While I am in awe (most of the time) of the monthly advances in technology, I also am convinced that this technology is more than just ornamental gadgetry which the middle class get to play with.
On the other hand, technology is not the solution to what ails this world. The greatest lie of the past two centuries is that science will solve the world's problems. It certainly has improved the standard of living of many but people still die from starvation, wars still kill countless innocents, people still kill people, women still get raped. The list of atrocities that have been endemic in human life since there has been human life has not changed.
This doesn't mean that technology hasn't helped. I am constantly amazed at how technology has helped in patching up the human body. However, as good as it is, we still all die. It may be at an older age but are all terminal.
Yet in all this, technology can help us in the ministry of helping people. It helps particularly in the area of staying in touch. I know that in my ministry I can, and so still do, stay in touch with hundreds of people that previously I would have rarely communicated with. Email, Facebook, Twitter, Websites have all helped in this. While this is not a replacement for sitting next to someone and speaking to them and giving them a hug of encouragement, it certainly does help when either geography or time constraints prevent us from being with each other.
However, these tools of communication are only has helpful as the content that we put into them.
I can't help but feel that if Jesus were with us today He would have a Facebook page and would occasionally twitter from the mount.
Sure there are limitations with technology and there are dangers and abuses, but we have got to realize that such things are common to any attempt at communication or fellowship, even church gatherings. We just have learn how to deal with the negative side.
Paul did say, “... I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22. Let's use "all possible means".
http://www.preachergeorge.com
While I am in awe (most of the time) of the monthly advances in technology, I also am convinced that this technology is more than just ornamental gadgetry which the middle class get to play with.
On the other hand, technology is not the solution to what ails this world. The greatest lie of the past two centuries is that science will solve the world's problems. It certainly has improved the standard of living of many but people still die from starvation, wars still kill countless innocents, people still kill people, women still get raped. The list of atrocities that have been endemic in human life since there has been human life has not changed.
This doesn't mean that technology hasn't helped. I am constantly amazed at how technology has helped in patching up the human body. However, as good as it is, we still all die. It may be at an older age but are all terminal.
Yet in all this, technology can help us in the ministry of helping people. It helps particularly in the area of staying in touch. I know that in my ministry I can, and so still do, stay in touch with hundreds of people that previously I would have rarely communicated with. Email, Facebook, Twitter, Websites have all helped in this. While this is not a replacement for sitting next to someone and speaking to them and giving them a hug of encouragement, it certainly does help when either geography or time constraints prevent us from being with each other.
However, these tools of communication are only has helpful as the content that we put into them.
I can't help but feel that if Jesus were with us today He would have a Facebook page and would occasionally twitter from the mount.
Sure there are limitations with technology and there are dangers and abuses, but we have got to realize that such things are common to any attempt at communication or fellowship, even church gatherings. We just have learn how to deal with the negative side.
Paul did say, “... I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22. Let's use "all possible means".
http://www.preachergeorge.com
The Lull
Don't you just love that word, "lull"? Well, I don't. I have several character flaws but one of the more obvious ones is impatience. I don't like waiting. There I said it. I know I seem like an arrogant self important man but I really don't think I am. I hope I'm not because then this character flaw will have far too much depth.
Not being willing to waiting in line at a restaurant or a shop or at the bank is a problem but not as big a problem as not being willing to wait on God. I must admit I feel like my life is in a bit of a lull at the moment. There's that word again.
I am working hard and long as an evangelist with Northside and as a computer specialist with the fruit company but there is this deep sense I have that, even though there is a lot of activity in my life, there really isn't a lot of progress. I have never been good at judging situations so I am not confident in my analysis. There may be a lot of progress being made and I am just not aware of it.
Well all this rambling has led me to a question. What do you do in a lull? Here are some thoughts I have as I look at the second half of 2010.
I know I said all those things to the amorphous "you" but I was talking to "me" but I thought I would take it better if I thought this was for someone else first. I'm such a man. And I also write most of my blogs for therapy and this has been good for me.
What do you do in a lull?
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
Not being willing to waiting in line at a restaurant or a shop or at the bank is a problem but not as big a problem as not being willing to wait on God. I must admit I feel like my life is in a bit of a lull at the moment. There's that word again.
I am working hard and long as an evangelist with Northside and as a computer specialist with the fruit company but there is this deep sense I have that, even though there is a lot of activity in my life, there really isn't a lot of progress. I have never been good at judging situations so I am not confident in my analysis. There may be a lot of progress being made and I am just not aware of it.
Well all this rambling has led me to a question. What do you do in a lull? Here are some thoughts I have as I look at the second half of 2010.
Accept the times. Be content in the situation has put you in. Didn't God say something about that?
Work hard at what you have before you. Just because you can't see a significant purpose in what is before you doesn't mean that God will not use it (or has already planned to use it) for His will.Love people. Whoever is in your life, love them. Don't look at them as stepping stones to success in ministry or God's purpose for you. Just love them.
Love God. Remember this whole "living on Earth thing" is about God and you. Love Him. He says this is the most important thing so who are you to argue?Pray a lot. Talk to Him who thinks about you more than anyone else.
Read His word. Seems so trite to say this but It is the things that we think are childish that often are the most important. Just read it. Don't study it, analyze it or use it as prep for a lesson. Just read it.Got off your own back. Stop beating yourself up. You can only do what you can do. Take each day one at a time. Enjoy the ride. Otherwise God will never be able to use you as you want Him to.
I know I said all those things to the amorphous "you" but I was talking to "me" but I thought I would take it better if I thought this was for someone else first. I'm such a man. And I also write most of my blogs for therapy and this has been good for me.
What do you do in a lull?
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
What does good news look like?
Jesus calls His message for this world, good news.
As Christians we know what good news is. How do we express that? Most of us would use words like “being saved”. Now that is good news. Some would say that being justified, redeemed, added to God’s family, His church is good news. And they would be right. These words mean a lot to us and speak of the amazing gift God has given to us as we responded to His good news message.
However we didn’t always express the good news of Jesus that way. We didn’t even now how to spell “justification”, let alone spell out what it means.
When we first heard the good news we saw it as it related to us at that point in our lives. If you are a baby boomer, then you probably saw the good news in some familiar terms in relation to faith in God and faith in the Bible.
Those days are gone. We live in societies that know little of God or of the Bible. So when we speak of good news to them it looks very different to the images and ideas we have had.
If you are speaking to a person who hasn’t had a decent meal all week and you tell him you have good news, what does that look like to him? He can’t help but think of a good meal. His basic need frames his whole world for that day. Do you think that might have had something to with Jesus feeding great crowds? See Mark 6:34-44 etc.
If you are taking the good news to a person who has been discriminated against all their life, have a guess what good news looks like to them? They imagine a life where they are accepted and loved. Do you think that might have a lot to do with Jesus spending so much time with the disenfranchised of His society? See Matthew 9:10-13
Jesus often presented good news to people in terms of what the people He was speaking thought was good news.
Lost Things. To those who feel like they have lost something, or feel like they are missing something He would frame the good news with a story of someone finding something value in the ordinary run of life. See Luke 15:4-9.
Failed Relationships. For those who had lost a relationship to someone close, even family, He would tell a story of a wasteful and selfish son who returned to his father. See Like 15:11 ff.
You can seeing Jesus thinking, “What would these people think good news is?”. We spend so much time telling people of doctrinal positions and elegant frameworks of truths and what does Jesus do? He tells people stories, but not just entertaining stories. They are stories the have at the core of their message, the good news of Jesus. But why does He speak in stories? Because He doesn’t just want to state the truth, He wants to communicate it. And who determines what communicates? The speaker or the hearer? It is the hearer.
To those used the language and structure of a kingdom He presented the good news as a coming king
To those who were being ruled by an army of occupation he spoke of the kingdom being restored to Israel.
To those who were used to farming He would proclaim good news in terms of planting and harvesting.
To those who were being ruled by an army of occupation he spoke of the kingdom being restored to Israel.
To those who were used to farming He would proclaim good news in terms of planting and harvesting.
What He was actually doing was fulfilling God’s plan to bring everything together under Christ (Ephesians 1:9-10). However when He spoke of this good news He would speak in the language and aspirations of the hearers.
You and I need to look at those people that God is bringing into our lives and ask, “What does good news look like to them?”. Initially it may have nothing to do with Bible study, church or even Jesus. What will it look like?
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
Evangelism is a Process
Think about your experience of coming to faith in Christ. If you are like most people, including our friends in the New Testament, I expect it involved a process with the following involved.
- Time
- People
- The Word
Whether you are a government official returning home, a correctional officer whose prisoners have escaped or a young man with godly parents and grandparents, there was a process in you getting saved by the death of Jesus. It may have involved a decision and an immersion into Christ but there was a lot that went on before that public event.
Evangelism isn’t just a big outreach event, or that doorknocking campaign or visitor Sunday at church. It is a process that began when God began pursuing you.
When that process hit our lives it involved a lot of time, people and His Word. Here are some of the ways that God says that this process reveals itself.
SHINING
Ephesians 2:7 “in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Did you hear what God says His plan for you was? He planned to save you and His plan was then to use YOU (and me) to show this grace to everyone in our world through US. What is the best evidence of a good doctor? Happy healthy patients. It is the same with God. What is the best evidence of God’s grace? Sinners (read in Ephesians 3:1-4 about the true ugliness of that) living forgiven lives based on God’s grace.
God needed a great preacher to take the good news to the rest of the known world (the Gentiles). Notice how that preacher, Paul, describes his qualifications for that task. “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:16. Paul could preach (and God wanted him to preach) but His life as an expression of God’s patience and grace preached even louder and more persuasively.
Here is one of the most powerful examples that God gives of this part of the evangelism process; wives with unbelieving husbands. “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.” . 1 Peter 3:1, 2.
All this is not a reason to not speak. It is a revelation that the process of evangelism involves more than just speaking. It’s called SHINING. “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.
Don’t do things to be a good example. That is just fake and unworthy of the gospel. Be a disciple of Jesus and you will shine into people’s lives. You may not have intended to shine. Just as a flower doesn’t decide to shine its beauty. It just does. It is the same with Christians who simply live for Jesus. They shine. They can’t help it. It is in their spiritual DNA
SPEAKING
As we shine we also speak. We can’t help ourselves. We are like a certain grandfather I know who won’t stop talking about (and showing photos of) His grandson. Ok, I confess, I speak of myself. No one forces me to speak. I didn’t take courses in it. I don’t have to psych myself up to do it. Speaking about Jesus is a lot like that. It is not the same, but it is a lot like it. Listen to what God says on this. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20.
You and I are representatives of Jesus. We all wear a T-shirt that says “property of Jesus”. As his ambassadors we speak for Him. Seriously. God knows what He is doing, even if it sounds like a bit of a bad idea. He asks us to speak for Him, to make His appeal through us. Personally, I would have chosen someone else, but despite my misgivings, the truth still stands. He chose us to implore the world to be reconciled to God.
He doesn’t leave us on our own. He empowers and strengthens us (Ephesians 3:16). He walks with us. He brings people into our lives (Acts 18:4).
Speaking involves many things. We, too often, think it only refers to preaching the good news or studying the Bible with someone. Yes each of us can speak the Word. “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Acts 8:4. But before we can speak the Word we have to have someone to speak that Word to.
That’s where the Andrews of the kingdom come in. I speak of the lesser-known brother of Peter, the extraordinary preacher, who spoke to thousands. We don’t hear of Andrew speaking the Word much but we do have this small sound bite from his life in John 1:41 “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).” Andrew was an inviter. He spoke what He knew (which wasn’t much) but He did introduce Peter (Simon) to Jesus and the rest is history.
You may not be a preacher or teacher but you can be an inviter and an introducer.
BECOMING
In this process of helping others to come to a saving faith in Jesus, there is a method that Paul used that I think has been overlooked by many of us. Maybe it was because in the past our culture wasn’t that different to the kingdom of God.
However, today in the once bastions of faith in Jesus like Europe, the USA and Australia, there is an increasingly secular culture. A generation has grown up that do not value Jesus, the Bible or the God of the Bible. They don’t even understand our language when we speak of the kingdom. Our world has turned into one very similar to the first century world of Paul, Peter and the early church. How did they handle this huge chasm that existed between their culture and kingdom of God? Exactly the same way Jesus did.
Listen to Paul as he explains what He did. “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-22.
Paul, how did you reach the Jews, whose religion you had left (because it was fulfilled in Jesus). You became like a Jew. What did that look like?
Paul, what did you do to reach the Gentiles (those without the Law)? You became like a Gentile? What did that look like?
How about the weak? How did someone so strong as you become like the weak?
Now, we need to understand that Paul wasn’t trying to trick those He was trying to reach. He was seeking to identify with them. Alan Hirsch, an Australian Christian writer I highly recommend, puts it this way. When approaching those who are so different to us we need to ask the question, “What is good news to these people?”
I will write on this more in another note, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Keeping on shining, speaking and becoming.
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
Taste The Difference
She insists that she can taste the difference. It made me think of that verse in 1 Peter 2:2, 3, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Ah, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Our journey with Christ is not just one of faith. It is also one of experience. Yes, we must walk by faith, but along the way we experience God in a very real way. We taste Him and He is good.
It may sound a little silly or even a little disrespectful but here it goes. Does the Lord taste good to you? When you look back across the years of your journey with Him do you say, "This has been good. It hasn't always been an easy ride, but it He is good."
If there is an element of doubt in your heart that God is good consider the following universal truths. No interpretation or subjective views here. These are unassailable truths. Don't let Satan let one element of doubt live in the same room with you and these truths.
God loves to the extreme, shown objectively in Jesus' life and death. God has forgiven you of your sins. He has forgotten them. You may remember them but He has permanently erased them from His memo. Have you tasted that? He has added you to His family, His church, His kingdom. Have you tasted that? He has given you of His Spirit who now indwells your body with your spirit. Wow. Have you tasted that the Lord is good?
Back to my wife's original observation about peanut butter. It tastes different here. The more important question is, "Does the Lord taste the same as all the other gods (influences, people or groups) in your life?" If He does, then there is something wrong. Seriously wrong. It's like saying Kobe (LeBron, Steve Nash, etc.) is a good basketball player. Really. More like one of history's best. Jesus isn't just another person in your life. He is the Lord. He better not taste the same.
Now, back to the scripture. Now that we have tasted that He is good, what should be do? We should crave Him still more. We should crave spiritual milk (food). Don't just put in on the shopping list. Crave it. Long for it. Don't go a day without it.
Ahhh. God is so good. He's so good. He's so good to me.
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
Church
The word church come to mean many different things. What do you think of when you hear the word? What image comes to mind?
Some think of an institution, a religious entity with ancient traditions and rituals. Some think of the leadership heirarchy. Some think of a church building. Still others think of hypocrites. All of these are common ideas.
Yet, in the Bible, this not what God was thinking about when He used the word, church.
When God uses the word, church, he has something very specific in mind. The literal meaning of the word is the called out ones. It refers to a group of people who are called out for a common purpose. Up until the first century it was used of any gathering of people. It was like some of collective nouns, like mob, bunch, herd etc. It had no God connection.
Then God took this totally secular word and applied it to a specific group, His group, His group of called out people. These called out ones are known as disciples, Christians, saints etc. All these called out ones have become a group know as the called out, the church.
You see, the church, is a group of people. It isn't an organization. It is more like an organism than an organization. God would call it a body. It isn't an institution. It is a group of people. And these people, these called out ones have a common Saviour, purpose and love.
No one represents the church, not even its leaders. The called out ones, the church, represent Jesus Christ, by their testimony and their lives of love and obedience to Christ. The church is made up of sinners, saved sinners. It is full of the broken and fragile. Full of the imperfect and the inadequate. Yet, in Christ, they are the redeemed, the saved, the called out ones, the church.
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
Some think of an institution, a religious entity with ancient traditions and rituals. Some think of the leadership heirarchy. Some think of a church building. Still others think of hypocrites. All of these are common ideas.
Yet, in the Bible, this not what God was thinking about when He used the word, church.
When God uses the word, church, he has something very specific in mind. The literal meaning of the word is the called out ones. It refers to a group of people who are called out for a common purpose. Up until the first century it was used of any gathering of people. It was like some of collective nouns, like mob, bunch, herd etc. It had no God connection.
Then God took this totally secular word and applied it to a specific group, His group, His group of called out people. These called out ones are known as disciples, Christians, saints etc. All these called out ones have become a group know as the called out, the church.
You see, the church, is a group of people. It isn't an organization. It is more like an organism than an organization. God would call it a body. It isn't an institution. It is a group of people. And these people, these called out ones have a common Saviour, purpose and love.
No one represents the church, not even its leaders. The called out ones, the church, represent Jesus Christ, by their testimony and their lives of love and obedience to Christ. The church is made up of sinners, saved sinners. It is full of the broken and fragile. Full of the imperfect and the inadequate. Yet, in Christ, they are the redeemed, the saved, the called out ones, the church.
http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
Motivations in Evangelism (2)
What is the message we proclaim? Evangelism is revealed by God to be literally proclaiming good news. It is spreading a special message, which is, in summarized form, known simply as good news (gospel). But what is that message?
My journey in the kingdom of Christ has revealed to me that a lot of Christians (including myself at one time) do not really understand what the good news is. To some the good news is “the church” and they preach “it” strongly. To others it is “moralism”. To others it is “spirituality”. To others it is “prosperity”. To be honest, it is quite disturbing how long this list gets.
Disturbing, because our central task is to proclaim the good news and yet so many don’t understand what that good news is. Disturbing because God went to a lot of trouble to spell out exactly what the message is. You don’t need “special knowledge” or an epiphany to find out what it is.
The bottom line is that there is only one source for an absolute answer to the question of what the good news is. It is not church councils, favourite preachers, historical traditions (whether written or verbal) or any other human source. The source of the good news is God and it is God who tells us what the good news is.
At this point you may be thinking, “Yeah, yeah, I know all this. Let’s move on.” Please let me warn you to go slowly through this analysis of what the good news is. What God will reveal will change your view of yourself, your church and your world. It is pivotal to all those aspects of your life.
One of the clearest statements in scripture, God’s very word itself, is found in a letter Paul wrote to a church to REMIND them of what the good news was. Written almost 2000 years ago it still shocks us at its simplicity and disturbs us because we have often changed it in our enthusiasm for God.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
It appears that it was not just our brothers and sisters at Corinth who need reminding of what the good news was. See Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Timothy 4:2-3, 2 Peter 2:1-3.
God says that the good news is a story. It is the story of Jesus the Christ; His death for our sins, His burial and resurrection on the third day. Our message is the death of Jesus and his bodily resurrection. This story changes everything. This good news is not an equation. It is a story, a story of love, sacrificial divine love. It is a story because God says it is, not because I like stories or it is the communication flavour of the month. When God chose to reveal what the gospel was He revealed it as a story, the story of Jesus.
Of all the godly kingdom things God could have mentioned in reminding us of what he good news is, He only mentions three things. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. This is our message.
It is the message on the lips of the apostolic proclaimers of the first century. See Mark 1:1, Acts 2:22-24; 3:13-15; 4:2, 10, 33; 5:20-32, 42; 8:35, 10:36; 11:20 etc. etc.
How did I ever get this wrong? Why did I proclaim baptism and hardly mention Jesus? How did I get to the point where the church was the central point to my preaching and Jesus hardly got a mention? When did my “gospel” message get to be a negative message of condemnation of all who disagree with me? I really don’t know, but that is what happened. But God didn’t write me off. He kept reminding me of what the good news is and eventually my proud heart broke and I started to see the startlingly obvious. Jesus is our good news and He is our message.
That Jesus’ death and resurrection is the good news is vital to us accurately proclaiming the gospel. However, in this series we are looking at motivations in evangelism. I believe that realizing that we as Christians are called to proclaim Jesus is a powerful motivation for evangelism. Why? Here are a couple of reasons.
Because Jesus is the perfect message. When I preach the church, not matter how idealistically, the church itself discredits the message with its bad behaviour, politics etc. When I preach moralism, my own moral shortcomings (sin) shout louder than my calls to righteousness. However, when I preach Jesus, His life and teachings back up that proclamation perfectly.
Because Jesus is God telling each person that He loves them. Above all else God loves those He has created. He longs for them and He delights in them. They just don’t know it and that’s where we have the great job of informing them of God’s love for each person on this lonely planet.
What do you think? Check out the Facebook page related to this. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128564923839522
http://www.georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/
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