Restlessness

Here is part of something I'm working on right now. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

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Restlessness

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” ~ Matthew 11:28-29

There’s a restlessness in the heart; there’s a shadow of emptiness that follows us around and hangs on us like wet wool. There’s an anxiety in our stomachs that’s not too easily assuaged by the morning coffee. It’s an assertive heaviness that we shoulder from the time our alarms go off in the morning till quitting time. As the afternoon fades, the feeling gives way to the anxiety of tomorrow: we’ll have to do this all over again then.

I describe a condition well known to many—it’s the fundamental human condition of restlessness. We go through life wondering subconsciously, ‘why am I here?’ pining for the answer as we do this thing called life day in and day out. There’s work, family (which does offer a certain level of respite, at least for some; for others it’s a major source of restlessness and stomach acid), TV (a worthless way to waste time rather than redeem it, to be sure), and sleep. We do enough of these cycles and we reach the end—death. Doesn’t sound like much of an existence, does it? I would say a dog has a better life than this (due mostly to the fact that a larger percent of its day can be attributed to sleep—who wouldn’t want to laze around all day on the couch?!).

As we trudge through life, isn’t there more than this? Is the restlessness in our souls an indicator of a deep problem? Could it be inferring to each of us that we ought to set out on a search for something more? Something that satiates, something that brings rest?

Jesus really catches the flavor of our problem as He extends His invitation:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden….”~ Matthew 11:28a

For many, life feels like seriously hard labor. We feel heavy laden, bearing a load that I’m not so sure we were designed to bear. It’s like towing a camper with a compact car; it’s a burden unbearable, sure to break everything in us.

So what gives? Why is life like this? Why is there this weariness, this tiredness? Why is there such an appeal within each of us to answer the invitation of Jesus, “Come to Me…”?

©Bill Sines, 2007

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It's obviously just a start....

Sometimes Math Is Hard

I received this in an email from a colleague. Sometimes math is just too stinkin' hard.

Empty Clay Pots

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7

The phrase "Empty Clay Pots" is a great phrase to describe how Christian ministry ought to be done.

EMPTY

As I shared in my last post, when Jacob had to face his brother, he crossed over the ford of Jabbok. Oftentimes we also have to cross over the ford of Jabbok, the ford of Emptying, in order to be emptied of ourselves. I'm finding out that oftentimes the Lord will allow us to go through a bit of a tough situation in order to develop a keen sense of helplessness, ultimately driving us to a high level of dependence on the Lord. Jacob faced a harrowing situation: the brother whom he had conned out of his birthright and blessing was coming, and there was nothing Jacob could do about it. Jacob was going to have to face him, and he was going to have to trust the Lord to bring him through it.

From our text in 2 Corinthians, we see that we ought to be empty of ourselves and our own sufficiency, so that the power of God and His sufficiency may reside in us. As the Holy Spirit enables, we minister well beyond our own abilities. We must be empty, so that we may be full of Him. As we offer what little we have to Him, He multiplies it (in much the same way He did with the 5 loaves and 2 fish from the little boy) so that we can reach many (and interestingly enough, the leftovers from the 5 fish and 2 loaves that were taken up were more than what they had started with anyway).

CLAY

The idea of a clay pot, or an earthen vessel, is interesting to me. I can remember my mom having some of those clay pots sitting around the front porch at home. The thing about those clay pots was that if you knocked them over, they would break very easily. It gives us a picture of how we really are: incredibly fragile, easily broken. Check out the next verses in 2 Corinthians:

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--" ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9

In engaging in God's work, Paul and his associates were subjected to extreme situations: situations that would break any human being. But these guys recognized Who it was that was carrying them through it all. It was the Lord and no one else...and as such, He was the only one getting the glory.

"--always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:10-12

In their brokenness and despair the Lord was coming through in a mighty way. It's the mystery of the resurrection: through death comes life; that is, the life that Christ Himself provides: true life, life that is no longer subject to weakness, brokenness, and fragility. It's enabling and empowerment beyond human ability.

We ought to recognize that the work to which God calls all of us is spiritual and requires this empowerment beyond human ability. We should never attempt supernatural work through natural means. It's a recipe for disaster.

POTS

As I was thinking about this the other day, doing ministry with the mindset that we are empty clay pots, I kind of chuckled at this part of the idea. A lot of times (at least for me) when we see God using us, our tendency is to get all puffed up and arrogant, saying (at least to ourselves), 'Hey, look how great I am. God is blessing my ministry--I must be something special.' We need to be very intentional about keeping in mind that we are just empty clay pots. There's nothing special about a pot. There's nothing glorious, amazing, or awesome about a pot. We go around thinking to ourselves, "Look at what a cool pot I am." That's dumb. Pots aren't cool, they're just pots.

What is the primary function of a pot? It's empty so that it can hold something else. Curiously enough, oftentimes that very thing is dirt. So we go around thinking things like, "Look at what a cool pot I am. Check out how sweet my dirt is." That's really dumb.

We ought to keep in mind that as we hold that dirt, the only way we can ever amount to anything is if something grows out of that dirt. Yep, the coolest part about a pot are the beautiful flowers that grow out of it; and even then, we really have no part in causing that thing to grow. It all comes from the master Planter, Waterer, and Weeder. It's all about what God wants to do with us empty clay pots, what kind of flowers He wants to plant in us. If we look to Him for these things, it's then that our ministries will grow and flourish. What kind of an incredible garden could God grow if we would just be empty clay pots?

~

WJS

Leaning On His Staff

"By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff." ~ Hebrews 11:21

This "leaning on the top of his staff" communicates quite a bit to us. Jacob had to lean on a staff because of an encounter he had with the Lord earlier in his life.

All through his life Jacob had developed a reputation for being self-sufficient. He was a con-man, he got what he wanted, and he could take care of himself. But the time came when he had to face his brother Esau, the man he conned the blessing and the birthright out of. Genesis 32 relays the story.

As Esau and his entourage approached Jacob, Jacob became "greatly afraid and distressed." (v. 7). As such, Jacob begins to pray and ask the Lord for help. Interestingly enough, Jacob addresses Him as the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, which indicates to us that he had no close relationship to the Lord. God was just some distant Being to him. But now Jacob found himself in an impossible situation.

He prayed, but then he attempted to get himself out of trouble with Esau by sending him droves of gifts. Jacob turned to his own abilities and material resources to get himself out of this tight spot. And that night, Jacob wrestled with God.

I believe the wrestling with God all night was meant to be a picture to Jacob: 'You know, you've been self-sufficient all your life. I've been trying to get your attention, to get you to turn to Me and trust in Me. And all you've done is struggle and fight against it.' And then He touched his hip socket, basically making him lame. He wasn't going to be able to run from this situation; he was going to have to face Esau his brother and trust that the Lord would bring him through it.

Interestingly enough, that night he crossed over the ford of Jabbok. The word "Jabbok" means "emptying" in the original language. Jacob would be emptied that night of his self-sufficiency, and the next day he would get a crash-course in God-sufficiency.

In today's society, being self-sufficient is seen as a strength. But in God's economy, being self-sufficient can be a detriment. Consider these verses:

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." ~ 2 Corinthians 3:5,6

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. " ~ John 15:5

Thus says the Lord:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited." ~ Jeremiah 17:5,6

It's important for us to remain humbly dependent on the Lord. When self-sufficiency creeps in, arrogance and pride can come with it. We should be careful to guard ourselves from this. May God also make us "lame," so that we can worship Him, leaning, as it were, on the tops of our staffs.

~

WJS

Talents and Calling

These two verses came to mind today:

"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.'" ~ Matthew 25:24-28

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." ~ Joshua 1:9

The first portion of text speaks of fear. The servant said he was fearful of the lord...but the lord called him wicked and lazy. I would say that if we really fear our Lord with a holy reverence, we would not be like this guy. We would take the "talent" that God has given us and use it to further His kingdom.

The second verse speaks of being strong and courageous. As God spoke to Joshua, He wanted to be very clear with him that his leadership position over Israel (to go in and possess the promised land) and the authority that came with it originated with God Himself. I recently engraved this verse for a pastor in Mexico in Spanish, and I recognized one of the words: "ordenado." This looks a lot like our English word, "ordained." In other words, it was God Himself, the God of the universe, that had ordained Joshua for this work. There is no one on Earth and no one in the heavenlies that can speak against this ordination. As such, Joshua was commanded to be very courageous. 'Step up and step into your calling. I, the Lord, have ordained you. Do not be fearful, for I am with you.'

Now I'm not saying we should be presumptuous and say, "The Lord called me to do this or that." No, oftentimes in order to figure out our calling we need to do a lot of waiting and praying. I remember a minister who relayed his story to our class (it was in Bible college). When he was at his lowest, thinking God could never use him again in ministry, he got a very clear call in the form of an offer to lead a Bible study. He wept over the opportunity. In his brokenness he realized his call, and he knew that answering this call would satisfy something deep down. He would be answering the call to 'step up and step into' his calling. It would be the only thing that would satisfy him. He would find out what it means to lay his life down for his Lord, only to truly find it. At least that's how I interpreted the tears.

~

WJS

"Follow Me, and I will make you..."

It's been awhile since I've felt "inspired" to write (this coming from a right-brained high school math teacher), but today I was reminded of a certain portion of scripture:

Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. ~ Mark 1:17-18

I love this sentence, 'You follow Me, and I will make you....' The first part of that sentence is the call for Simon and Andrew (and ultimately all of us) to follow Him. I find it interesting that at the time Jesus said this, Simon and Andrew were at their jobs; they were performing their livelihoods, the very thing that gave them their identity, as it says in verse 16 that they were "fishermen."

In other words, the call for these guys was to leave their natural work and engage in work that would have eternal impact. Jesus says in the remainder of that sentence, "I will make you fishers of men." Now I believe that this "fishers of men" was a specific call for these guys; they would be part of the twelve, which obviously no one else will be. But I believe Jesus says this to all of us, in one way or another: 'Follow Me, and I will make you..." and you can fill in the blank. (That filling in the blank part is an extremely personal thing--it's the intersection of our personal relationship with the Lord and finding our spot in the body) We have to realize that this work to which He calls us is where we find our true identity, our true calling. It's only when we engage ourselves in this work, the work that has eternal weight, that we will truly be satisfied. As we have been studying on Sundays at church, it is when we say to the Lord, "Yes, I'm open" that we find out what it means to truly live. Consider how these verses fit into this idea:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." ~ Romans 12:1,2

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ...." ~ Ephesians 4:11,12

"And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability" ~ Matthew 25:15

1 Corinthians 12 - The whole chapter!

Some things to consider:

1.) Are you willing to completely lay down your agenda, your dreams, your desires to follow the Lord?

2.) What is it that God is calling you to do in His body? God has a spot for everyone on the team, a position for everyone to play. What's your position?

3.) Are you listening closely enough to hear what God is telling you? Often I find myself getting answers to prayers in very unusual ways. If you're not listening closely, you might miss it. Case in point: I remember praying for something and getting it, only to realize a week later that I had gotten it. Duh.

~

WJS

And You He Made Alive

Ephesians 2:1-5a

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...."

In our small group we are studying Ephesians together. I've been looking at chapter 2, and I'm intrigued by this beginning phrase, "And you He made alive...." I love that phrase, because in context, he is talking about once being dead in sins and now being made alive in Christ, apart from works. This is that deliverance from sin and sin's result--death. Paul makes reference to the grace of God, that beautiful "you screwed up your life with a bunch of sin and because I love you so much and sent my Son to die for you I'm going to fix it--I'm going to completely erase all your sin and all the baggage and condemnation that comes with it even though you're wholly unable in and of yourself to do anything about it" grace. This grace of God is awesome....

But I'm pondering the depth of that statement: and you He made alive. What exactly does it mean for us to be alive? There's got to be more than just being delivered from sin and death. There must be more depth to the phrase and you He made alive.

I'm sure the question has many answers, but here's a verse that comes to mind as I think about it:

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." ~ Jn. 10:10b.

Another verse that comes to mind is this:

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." ~ Mk. 8:35

Here are my observations:

1.) To really live is to know, love, and serve Christ. Just as Adam was just a bag of dirt when he was first made, and only made a living being when God breathed the breath of life into Him, we also are just bags of dirt until Christ comes to live in our hearts by His Spirit (His Pneuma, His Breath, as it were). We are made alive by Christ, and it is then and only then that we can truly live. Those of us who are going through life without Christ are only going through the empty motions of life...there is no abundance, no purpose, no true life without Him. We are dirt-bags, quite literally, with no purpose at all in this life.

As an aside, I would also say this: if we are going through this life ignoring what Christ wants us to do with our lives, that's a lifeless place to be as well.

2.) It is Him who makes us alive. It has nothing to do with our self-efforts. As we abide in Him, His life flows through us. Remember our verse from Ephesians? 'You once walked according to the course of this world...and really screwed up your own life and acted like a moron, committing a bunch of sins...' And then it says, "But God...." It was God who stepped in and, aside from our shortcomings, made us alive. Yeah, He breathed life into us dirt-bags and made us to know what it means to truly live. This is grace.

I'm sure there's more to being made alive by Christ...but it's sometimes hard to use human language to describe the work of God.

New Website

My father in law Lowell and I have an engraving business. We have just launched our new webiste. You can check it out here.

Love's Impact

Hebrews 6:9-12

-“Do not become sluggish”

-These people had works

-Labor of love-they ministered to the saints and were continuing in that

I am becoming more and more convinced that the absolute best way to have an impact for the kingdom is through love. (On the one hand, I see this as a very profound conclusion coming to fruition in my life. On the other hand, it’s a conclusion that is simpler than 2+2=4. Duh!)

A number of years ago I heard the teaching that if you’re “filled” with the Holy Spirit, the evidence of that filling is speaking in tongues. I also heard a teaching that countered that idea: if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, the first and foremost evidence of that filling is love…and not just any love. That is that supernatural love that happens to spill out of an overflowing heart. I believe that speaking in tongues, prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge and any other ministry you could possibly think of are just that: ministries. But the fuel for that ministry, the predecessor of that ministry is love. In other words, love is the trunk and all ministry efforts are the branches.

I’m reminded of that verse in John 7:38: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Some of the current methods we use for impacting the kingdom or evangelizing or whatever include cheap gimmicks, well-intentioned programs, and arguing. Many times we come across as obnoxious, self-righteous, and irrelevant. Now I’m all for just about any effort to try to reach people for Christ, but none of these things will amount to anything unless love is the motivator. People respond to being loved. Do you have someone in your life that is annoying to everyone else around you? Try just being loving and nice and carrying on a conversation with them. If your heart is overflowing with the love of Christ, it’s going to spill out “on” to others. Do you have people in your life that come from seriously crappy home situations? Try making friends with them just so you can lavish God’s beautiful, gracious love on them. Smile. Put your arm around them. Listen to them like what they’re saying is the most important thing to be hearing in the whole universe. Look them in the eye and accept them. Love them!

I’m also learning that in order to have a heart overflowing with God’s love, oftentimes you have to be “emptied.” What I mean by that is sometimes we are so full of ourselves there’s no room for God to work in our lives. Sometimes our lives get stressful, forcing us to turn to God for help. As we go through times that are tough (and sometimes it’s just tough in a spiritual way), we look to God for help. It’s in those times that we realize ourselves to be just “earthen vessels,” able to be filled by God to love others:

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7-11

~

WJS

Increasing Pedagogical Proficiency Through Reflective Inquiry-Based Initiatives

Translation: Becoming a better teacher by thinking about what would make you a better teacher. Also known as "metacognition." I think I'll think about this a little more. Would that be called "meta-metacognition"?

Ha ha! Did that really look like a blog post I would come up with? I just find it extremely humorous some of the terminology we throw around in the world of education!

Have a great day! More to come on Hebrews, among other things.

~

WJS

On Education, Again

The other day I was talking to a colleague about students and education in general. One observation that came of the conversation was this: if students cared, they would excel, regardless of a mediocre educational system. On the other hand, if a school has the best programs on the planet, if the students don't care, then it doesn't matter at all. The observation came as I reflected on the enormous amounts of energy and money spent on education. Honestly, if half the effort put in by administrators and teachers into education was reciprocated by students, many of the education woes of today would be nonexistent.

Again, this is not the case with all students, but it is a big enough problem to point it out. At least that's my experience. Others I've talked to share the same sentiment. There are a lot of people who just don't care.

So how do you change a culture that's been in place for a long time? How do you get people to care?

A Pretty Good Quote

I'm not too much of a quote guy. However, I ran across this quote from Stephen Covey's book, The Speed of Trust:

"There are no moral shortcuts in the game of business--or life. There are, basically, three kinds of people: the unsuccessful, the temporarily successful, and those who become and remain successful. The difference is character." - Jon Huntsman, Chairman, Huntsman Chemical

As one of my friends would say, good stuff!

~

WJS

On Education

Here is an excerpt of an email I sent to a colleague:


Recently I’ve had a lot (and I mean a lot) of people saying things to me (not only students, but other staff as well), “when will I ever use this in real life?” and “when will this information be useful later in life?” Statements like these are usually made with a negative attitude. The thought is, “this information is not worth learning.” (An aside to this is, who are we to place value on certain types of knowledge and information? But that’s another discussion!) What it implies to me is that my life’s work is of no consequence. I’m appalled that both students and some staff have this attitude toward education.

While this attitude is extremely discouraging to me personally, we can know something about the attitudes of those who make such statements. To these folks being an educated person is not important. These folks assume that education and job training are the same thing; I maintain that they are not. It is my opinion that one of the most fundamental privileges of the human race is to expand our knowledge of the world around us, to become informed in the sciences (math, biology, geology, astronomy, etc.), to learn about our history, to become well read in great literature, and to become writers ourselves. In fact, I would not think it too preposterous to say that it’s not only our privilege, but it’s our duty. God created us all with minds that have the capacity to learn and expand; wouldn’t it be correct to assume that God desires that we learn?

Nevertheless, we as teachers are fighting a culture that does not value education. So I guess my takeaway is this: how do we change the culture? How do we create a culture where being an educated person is of great importance? How do we pass on to our students that being educated is valuable?

~

Here's something else to think about: is being educated important?

Hebrews 5 (and the beginning of 6)

Verse 11-14

The challenge here is that the recipients of this letter haven’t grown in their knowledge of the scriptures to the point of understanding how Melchizedek is a type of Jesus (or he could even be a “pre-incarnate” appearance of Jesus Himself, as in Joshua and Daniel). The challenge for us is, are we growing in the scriptures, or are we still babes? Do we need others to teach us, or are we able to teach others?

Hebrews 6

Verses 1-3

This is an extension of verses 11-14 in the previous chapter. It is another call to grow in our faith and knowledge of the scriptures.

Verses 4-6

This is probably one of the most challenging texts in all of scripture. One portion of scripture that comes to mind is that of the prodigal son. There we can see the father waiting expectantly at the gate for his son with a broken heart, hoping that he will come back to him. This is from Luke 15. Of course, the parable may refer to Israel in its original context rather than an individual coming back to the Lord. I’ve personally seen people leave the Lord, leave their spouses and families, only to repent a real repentance later, and bear fruit worthy of repentance. I’ve also seen people leave their spouses and families (and ultimately the Lord) and never come back.

It should also be noted that, at least to some degree, we have all fallen into sin and “left” the Lord. But 1 John speaks to this…if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. I can only surmise that this decision to leave Christ is a deep decision of the heart, a decision that we as humans cannot readily discern, and thus we have a really hard time understanding what “impossible…to renew them again unto repentance” really means. These are the people who make their final decision to say “no” to the Lord.

Verses 7-8

These verses give us a feel for what this person’s life eventually looks like. It reminds me of Matthew 13:24-30, which is the parable of the wheat and the tares. The tares grow up with the wheat until harvest time. Then the wheat is gathered into the barn and the tares are burned. I guess it means this: are our lives representative of a meaningful Christian life, or is it “worthless”? Is there fruit or not? Are we being changed into His image?

The Lifeboat

In one of Donald Miller's books he relays this activity that he had to do in school. In this activity (and actually, I've done the activity myself as well in one of my high school history classes) there is a lifeboat with a limited number of seats. The students are then given a list of people: a single mother, a doctor, a teacher, a stay at home mom, etc. The students have to decide who is "worthy" to have a seat in the small lifeboat.

In my opinion, this is one of the most atrocious activities you can do with students. It forces them to place graduated value on human life. It forces them to "play God" in a sense, decided who lives and who dies. It's abominable.

Donald Miller then goes on to say that the same game plays itself out in real life. It's as if there is a lifeboat, and each of us has to prove to each other who deserves the "first seat" in the lifeboat. Who in society is the most important? Who has the most value? The prettiest? The smartest? The most athletic? It is barbaric, no doubt (and strangely enough looks like Darwinism, doesn't it? the survival of the fittest? When you tell people they have descended from primates, it's no wonder they will devalue each other and act like animals. By the way, where'd my prehensile tail go? I could use that every once in awhile.). And if you don't like to play the lifeboat game, jockeying with other people for position and importance, then someone tries to drag you into the lifeboat game, and they immediately begin to prove to you why you don't belong in the lifeboat. Sick, isn't it?

But you know, Jesus has His own lifeboat game. I love it! Here's the game told from Jesus' point of view:

"Hey, I know what you're going through. Take My hand and get in My lifeboat. And when you get in, I have this special spot for you here on the team. You see, on my team we love each other and hold each other in high esteem. You are of the utmost value here. I want you to help me pull more people into the lifeboat. You see here we try to get as many people into the lifeboat. There's room for everyone."

~


WJS

Being a "Grace-Giver"

I think it's extremely important that as we work with others toward accomplishing God's goal of reaching and impacting lives in our respective communities we give each other grace. We're an imperfect people, to be sure, and it is extremely likely that at times each of us is going to fall a little short. Many times, however, it makes little difference because things still come together, and people are impacted. As my pastor has said in the past, "It's not the end of the world!" As we seek to do our best for Him, He shows up, and works incredibly, even in the midst of our imperfections. Therefore we ought to be easy on one another, being merciful and gracious to one another, as we model to those we are trying to reach true community in Christ.

Spiritual Growth

This morning I read an incredibly profound statement in a book by Michael Yaconelli entitled Messy Spirituality:

"Physical and spiritual growth cannot be reduced to mechanics. I'm all for getting the mechanics right, but spiritual growth is more than a procedure; it's a wild search for God in the tangled jungle of our souls, a search which involves a volitile mix of messy reality, wild freedom, frustrating stuckness, increasing slowness, and a healthy dose of gratitude.

"Now are you ready to talk about spiritual growth? The kind of spiritual growth that begins with desire, not guilt; passion, not principles; desperation, not obligation? Are you ready to grow by traveling the road of failure, frustration, and surprise?" (emphasis mine)

This struck me so much that I audibly sighed. I immediately asked myself the question, "Is your relationship with God based on desire or guilt? Is Bible study and prayer an obligation or joy? Is service to God on your "to do" list or your "can't wait to do" list? How much passion is there in your relationship with God?"

How odd would it be if I sat my wife down and said to her, "Now I'm going to take the next fifteen minutes and talk to you."? And every two minutes I looked at my watch to see if the fifteen minutes were up. That would be incredibly stupid. But why do we do the same thing with Jesus?

May our relationships with Jesus be full of desire and passion, and may they look more like a marriage, or the relationship between a father and son or daughter. May it be that we hang out with the Lord like we hang out with our best friends...just wasting time, talking and laughing, telling stories and enjoying coffee, playing games and just being together, texting and emailing meaningless stuff, and telling stupid jokes on the phone just for the sake of laughing together.

A Little More On Anxiety

I'm still mulling over this issue of living a life full of anxiety. From time to time, each of us has a season where anxiety gets the best of us--where we can't help but stew over stressful situations at work, at home, or at church. It can't be good for us, either physically or emotionally. Some verses came to mind as I thought about this:

1 Peter 5:7

"...casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." New American Standard

"...casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." New King James

"...Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you." The Message



Philippians 4:6

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God..." New King James

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns." The Message

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." New Living Translation


Lately I've been on this kick of checking out the same verses in a variety of translations. You can really get a good feel of the verse if you do this. It really gives you a little more depth into the gist of the verse.

Probably my favorite rendering of Philippians 4:6 is the New Living Translation: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything." I love that. God calls us to a life of no worrying, no fretting, no stewing. Are you worried about something at work? Are you worried about something at church? Jesus wants to take care of that worry for you. Jesus is concerned even about our "smallest" of concerns--won't you just give it to Him so that you don't have to bear it anymore?

~

WJS

Something About Anxiety

Tomorrow starts the first day of the second semester...along with a whole new semester of stress!

I remember a message that our pastor gave a number of months ago from Ecclesiastes 11, and I decided to look up a few different translations of verse 10:

"Live footloose and fancy free - You won't be young forever. Youth lasts about as long as smoke." -- The Message

"Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity." -- New King James Version

"So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless." -- New International Version

"So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting." -- NASB

The advice from these verses is: live footloose and fancy free, remove sorrow from your heart, banish anxiety, and remove grief. Each is obviously a little different, but I take a great deal of comfort away from these translations. I take it to mean not to stress out too much at work because I'm young; don't let things get to me too much. Lighten up and have fun!

~

WJS

The Meeting

There was a little tension that could be felt just before the meeting was about to begin. Two brothers sat opposite each other, each anxious to get the meeting going. There were others in the room also anxious, also feeling the slight tension.

The person in charge of the meeting passed out an agenda--each looked to his spot in the schedule, determining when they would give an update of their respective ministries. A short, sincere word of prayer was shared and the meeting was underway.

Distant words were shared about the budget and menial operating details when the war began.

"What will you say? Did you bring enough information to share? Did you do enough this past month? Have you seen any success, any progress? What will they think? What will they say? Will you have their approval?"

A beastly, otherworldy figure slid his arm around one of the guys and whispered in his ear, pointing to the guy across the table from him with his other arm. While the attack was a blatant attempt at division, it was almost completely unnoticeable to that guy in the meeting.

"Look at him. He thinks you're doing a poor job. He thinks you're no good. He thinks it's a waste to have you in this position over this ministry."

At the same time another figure had his arm around the guy on the opposite side of the table. He was a little different...his arm looked like a snake on his shoulder, but his motive was the same.

"Who does he think he is? He thinks his ministry is more important than yours. He thinks he's more important than you. But he doesn't even do that much. This church could definitely survive without him. You could do a better job than he does."

The figure seemed to almost spit on him as he injected lie after lie into the man's mind.

"Look at him. He's doing a poor job. He's no good. It's a waste to have him in this position over this ministry."

...

After the meeting was over, each man went to his car to go home, and each beast got in on the passenger side.

"He thinks you're no good. Did you see the way he looked at you as you gave your report?"

"He's no good. His report was crap."

And thus the battled continued. Each man tried to fight the sense that the other had a low opinion of him, but it was hard. It was near impossible. For some reason, although the lies were blatant, they were easy to believe. This war to cause division had begun, and the beasts settled in for a long seige. They knew all too well that if they fought long and hard enough, they could win over the humans.

~

Here's my sorry attempt to illustrate a spiritual battle where the enemy tries to bring division. I'm not sure if this is close to how it really plays out, but make no mistake, Satan tries to bring division among brothers and sisters in Christ. My guess is that it's a pretty big strategy of the enemy to get brothers to believe false things about each other. Extreme miscommunication occurs and we begin to assume this or that about our brothers and sisters. And usually what we assume about people is pretty negative.

Why bring division? Division causes us to become distracted from what really matters. The enemy knows that many of us have a pretty serious hang up about what others think of us. And if we're consumed about what others think of us, then we can become greatly distracted from the work that God has for each of us. Remember Peter and the little servant girl? She accused him of being a follower of Christ. And out of fear of other people, he denied Him. Could it be that he was afraid of what other people would think of him? Well, I don't know about that (I know he was scared because Jesus was about to be crucified and he might be next), but I can guarantee that many of the rest of us do have a problem with this.

Anyway, simply put, my warning is this: be wary of the lies of the enemy. Because although we may be able to discern them as lies, they are still extremely believable. Be wary of the division that he seeks to bring. That division can do a lot of damage.

WJS (also known as "BS," but I was encouraged to not sign my posts with these initials for obvious reasons)

A White Christmas

There was no white Christmas this year in Lagrange, Indiana. As a matter of fact, we have had very little snow so far this winter. It's actually kind of disappointing. My family and I usually hope for at least one "snow-in" each year, and so far this year we've only had about three or four inches.

There's been talk among the people with whom I used to rub elbows that Christ was not actually born during this time of year. Some say that He was born during October or even April. I really don't know that much about it. However, I am glad that we celebrate His birth during this time of year.

Having a white Christmas is, for those of us who believe in Jesus, a great reminder of His work. He came to Earth as a baby, grew up, gave a great example of how to live...but this does not encompass His full mission. His mission was death...and in dying, to bring life to all who would accept Him.

Having a white Christmas is a reminder of what that death has accomplished for us. That death was the full and complete payment for our sins. Having taken our sins upon Himself, we have been made righteous in the sight of God--there is no more sin, no more stain, no more imperfection--we have been made fully and completely white in His sight.

Seeing the snow fall on everything, covering all the dirty browns and grays of the season, brings joy during the Christmas season. And for those of us who have accepted this payment, this atonement, the snow covering all things dirty carries a weightier connotation--it reminds us of Him making us completely white, His grace falling on everything so gently, so beautifully, eliminating all vestiges of brown and gray. Surely this another expression of His great love for us.

Perhaps you didn't have a white Christmas this year either. But in another very real sense, you can have a white Christmas. All you have to do is believe in that sacrifice that Christ made. And your life also can be made white as snow. His grace will cover all things brown and gray in your life, fully and completely, in much the same way a snowstorm covers everything in white.



"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands...." ~ Rev. 7:9

~

BS

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Let us remember to give thanks to God our Father for sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate gift to mankind. No other gift can rival this gift.

Consider these verses from Isaiah 9:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.


"His name shall be called 'Wonderful'"....

Also consider the words of this hymn, which also came to mind:

His Name is Wonderful
His Name is Wonderful
His Name is Wonderful
Jesus My Lord
He is the Mighty King
Master of everything
His Name is Wonderful
Jesus My Lord
He’s the Great Shepherd
The Rock of All Ages
Almighty God is He
Bow down before Him
Love and adore Him
His Name is Wonderful
Jesus My Lord

~

BS

Why Jesus Is Our Great High Priest

Here are my notes on Hebrews 5:

Chapter 5

V1-“taken from among men and appointed for men”-offers gifts and sacrifices
V2-Since priests are also “subject to weakness,” they can have compassion on those going astray—empathy
-they can say, ‘I know what you’re going through’
v4-This honor of being a priest is bestowed upon an individual by God Himself

~~These are the characteristics of priests in the established Levitical priesthood~~
~~They are meant to show some of the same characteristics of Jesus, our great High Priest~~

**This implicitly shows the full humanity of Jesus, our great High Priest**

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” - Heb. 4:15

This verse also came to mind: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” – Heb. 7:25

-Make note of the phrase, “save to the uttermost” – this means fully and completely, without regard of any of our shortcomings – full, complete, comprehensive salvation from the entire scope of the curse

v5,6-Jesus’ call into the role of His great High Priesthood-full humanity-“Today I have begotten You” and full Godhood “A priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (who had neither beginning of days nor end of life, Heb. 7:3)

v7-10 – This is about Jesus’ experience on this earth, and how it has made Him the perfect High Priest (the perfect Mediator between Holy God and sinful man)

v7 – The days of His flesh-these are the times when He was subject to sufferings – It is because of these sufferings that He has been made (for lack of a better term) our perfect High Priest (see Luke 22:39-46 when Jesus, being in agony, prayed in Gethsemane. It was here that His sweat became as great drops of blood. It is this agony that allows Him to operate in the role of High Priest, being greatly compassionate toward us. Remember what it means to be compassionate; it means to ache for someone.)

Non-Reality

We watch TV.

We play video games.

We email each other.

We watch movies.

We dink around on the internet.

We can virtually live our lives in apparent realities, which really are no realities at all.

What does this do to a person? What does this do to a collective society, where social norms are quickly and grossly eroded away? (Snippets of Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" quickly come to mind. Where do these grown men get the idea that having an illicit relationship with a teenager is ok?)

The other day at lunch we were talking about the impact that video games, TV, cell phones, and the internet have on young people today. We are the teachers; we are the ones that work with these kids day in and day out, hour after hour. And to be honest, when you think about it, it's quite scary what these non-realities can do to these kids.

Sure, we were talking about having to do the "song and dance" day after day just to keep these kids' attention. In the non-reality of TV, images change every few seconds, so the mind never has the chance to dwell (it never has the chance to think and reflect); it simply has to keep moving from stimulus to stimulus, processing a new image all the time. What does this do to the attention span of a student? It destroys it. In an entertainment-driven society, what does that do to schooling? It causes the student to view school as boring and a waste of time. The simple statement that this class or that class is boring implies that the student expects to be entertained.

However, what is more scary is the notion that these young people are actually incapable of discerning what is real and what is not; what is decent and appropriate and what is not; what is respectful and what is disrespectful. The stories started to come...'I heard about these kids that went out and killed these homeless people...and they didn't even realize how grossly wrong it is to take life like that.' And of course we remember Columbine and the various other school shootings that have taken place in this country.

Can it be that these non-realities can actually cause kids on a large scale to become socially retarded and morally bankrupt? Personally I would say yes....

BS

What Kind of Rest?

So the Lord desires for us to enter into His rest by faith...what kind of rest is this?

Of course this rest refers to the rest that comes through Christ and His finished work on the cross. It is that rest from the penalty of sin. When we become keenly aware of our shortcomings, and we realize that we really have nothing to offer to God, we come to the end of ourselves. It truly is the death that the law administers. We are guilty, to be sure, and we know it all too well. It is at this point that rest and assurance come from our great High Priest Himself, as He says, "It is finished." In effect, He says, 'I took it all. It has been paid in full. Rest...rest, My child.'

It is also that rest from the authority of sin in our lives. Too often we as Christians put our eternities in the hands of the living God, trusting fully that He has delivered us from death and hell, but we don't trust Him for our "day to day." It is a little known (or little believed) promise of the New Covenant of grace that not only are we delivered from the penalty of sin, which is death, but we are also delivered from the authority of sin in our day to day lives.

Surely the death of Christ has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness...did you get that? He has given us everything for life and godliness. I am, by no means, making the claim that we can escape sin completely (that is, the attainment of what is commonly referred to as "sinless perfection"), as we are still in these bodies descended from Adam, but we can begin to see a consistent pattern of victory over sin. To those who would think that a certain vice will always have dominion over them I would pose this: just how comprehensive is the salvation of Christ? Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I would say no.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter into this rest that the Lord has provided for us: the rest from knowing that we are no longer condemned--not only being condemned to death, but living a life condemned to wallowing in sin. He can deliver us, completely and fully--will we believe?

Entering Into His Rest

Okay, everyone, back to Hebrews. Here are some rough notes and observations on the end of chapter 3. I'm sure there's more to it, but this is what I've picked up so far:

Chapter 3 (continued)

“The beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end”

We see this phrase (or at least two similar phrases) in this chapter in v6 and v14

V9-11 – This is a reference out of Ps. 95:7-11 that is looking back to the time when they refused to enter the promised land. The writer to the Hebrews is using that situation to teach them about the word of salvation which has been spoken to us by His Son.

This is a great spiritual parallel that teaches us about entering in His promised land, His promised rest (the rest from our slavery in Egypt, a type of the sin to which we were in bondage).

**Notice that this is about entering into His rest by faith (by believing Him).**

These folks were led out of Egypt and were on their way to the promised land (see Num. 13,14). The spies (except for Joshua and Caleb) brought back a bad word of the people of the land, and pretty much all the congregation of Israel complained, whined, cried about the whole situation. They said it would have been better to die in Egypt or the wilderness. They did not believe God that He could deliver this land to them. God referred to it as rejection and unbelief. They actually wanted to stone and kill Joshua and Caleb. This shows how sick we as humans are, and what kind of help we need.

**They refused to believe. Therefore, they did not enter His rest.**

The writer to the Hebrews uses this scenario to warn them to not harden their hearts to the Son and His word of salvation.

**If the Hebrews refused to believe in the Son, they also would not enter His rest.**

v16-“For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?”

This “led by Moses” phrase carries deep spiritual implications.

For those who were led by Moses did not enter into the promised land; only those led by Joshua (a type of Jesus; even their names are similar) entered the promised land.

The end of this chapter and the beginning of the next seeks to set out to the Hebrews that entering into His rest occurs by faith. Not having faith is tantamount to disobedience.

The point? As the Son speaks this word of salvation (to all of us, not just the Hebrews) let us be careful to not be of the same spirit or mindset of those who were led by Moses out of Egypt. Rather, let us have the same humble, dependent spirit as Joshua and Caleb, having faith that God can give us that rest that only comes through His Son.

**Let us not harden our hearts. Let us humbly believe Him that we might enter into His rest.**

The Entitlement Generation

The other day I was talking to another teacher in my building about the typical woes of the education world, how that students today are not interested in working hard/thinking for themselves/taking pride in a job well done, etc., etc. He had mentioned that his brother-in-law referred to this generation of students (or perhaps young people in general) as the "Entitlement Generation." The idea is (and this theory plays itself out well, at least at my high school) that students aren't interested in working hard to obtain a good education; rather, they feel that they are entitled to certain grades and credits for classes without having to put forth any effort (or at least minimal effort, which translates into just "showing up") to earn these grades and subsequent credits.

Now, this certainly is not true for all students. However, the overriding mentality is that we as teachers owe them something. If the students miss a day, it is up to me to give them the assignment, the notes, teach an entire lesson to them at their convenience, etc. If they don't understand something it's my fault that I didn't teach it well enough. If they are bored with the class, it's my fault that I haven't done something (anything at all, including but not limited to, showing cool math videos (do any of these exist?!), thinking up cool projects to do (but if the projects require them to do complicated calculations then the project is not cool), doing songs and dances, bringing in candy, pop, cake, pizza, etc.) to make it "exciting."

Could it be possible that we as a culture have fostered this "entitlement mentality?" Is the "entitlement mentality" a function of today's American society? Have we really forgotten to show our children the importance of hard work, the satisfaction that comes from a job well done, the virtues of humility and politeness, and just the plain and simple notion of being a nice person?

I should probably say that I myself have been guilty of the same things, and by no means am I 100% qualified to point out the faults of our society, because no doubt, I am sure I've contributed to this quandary, at least in some degree. But it doesn't make it right. I know that at times, I feel like I'm entitled to this or that, but in reality (and here's where my Christian worldview comes in) I'm entitled to one thing: hell.

I really wonder if this "entitlement mentality" stops at 3:10, or if pervades every aspect of their (our) lives. My hunch is that it's a huge chunk of our American personalities (or more generally, our human personalities). I really wonder what that does to spirituality in America. I wonder if it makes their (our) receptiveness to the gospel of Jesus Christ basically nil. I would bet that it does.

This seems to me to be a situation well worth thinking about in greater depth....

Lighten Up!

Today I went to work (I'm a high school math teacher) and found my entire room had been TP'd.

A few weeks ago my homeroom class took it upon themselves to decorate the room for Christmas. I must say, the lights (some blinking, some not), the fake tree (with purple decorations and no star), and the "Happy Holidays" light are...oh should we say...a little on the tacky side. But it is festive nonetheless. And oh yeah, let's not forget the "Santa's Workshop" sign outside the door.

Anyway, I thought the TP job was performed by some nefarious foes, seeking to dampen our Christmas spirit with the dangling litter of toilet paper. After all, our "Santa's Workshop" sign has already been stolen (and returned) twice. And yes, they not only had spread toilet paper all around the room, and even around some of my calculators, but they also had hung the TP from the ceiling tiles--it was, needless to say, a mess; a mess that I did not want to clean up before school.

I got pretty angry about the whole thing. I found out about 20 minutes later that the plot had actually been carried out by members of my own chess club. My own custodian let them in, and a few of my colleagues had actually seen them the day prior doing the deed. As I thought about the whole thing throughout the day, I realized that I had overreacted. It was done in good humor. I should have left the mess (or should I say, the teens' morbid act of appreciation and kindness) for all to see throughout the day.

Then something else happened at lunch. I stepped into the men's room for a few moments, leaving my lunch on the table by the coffee pot. When I returned, I found my lunch to be missing. I actually thought, "Great...here I have another opportunity to overreact. Don't blow it this time." Sure enough, I blew it.

As it turns out, one of the other teachers hid it from me. As I went into another part of the office to locate it, it "mysteriously" reappeared where I had lost it originally. The other teacher thought it was funny; I didn't. After all, I only had 10 minutes left to scarf my lunch.

A couple of people got the best of me today. In our house when I was young we used to have a saying: "If you can't take it, don't dish it out." I learned that I need to lighten up sometimes!

Christ-Faithful as a Son

Chapter 3

V1-the heavenly calling-this is the word of salvation of which the Son speaks
V2-the Son was faithful, as was Moses, but receives much more glory than Moses
V5-this is what caught my eye this time-Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, where Christ was faithful as a Son over His own house

-who’s a part of His house? We are, if we hold fast our confidence and rejoicing firm to the end

-also, Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house, which was a testimony of the things that would be spoken afterward-what is it that has been spoken afterward? It is that word of salvation to which we ought to give the more earnest heed

should we give the more earnest heed to the word spoken through angels,or
should we give the more earnest heed to the word of salvation, spoken to us through the Son?

Heb 3:5,6 NLT

Moses was certainly faithful in God's house, but only as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. But Christ, the faithful Son, was in charge of the entire household.

Moses-faithful as a servant in God’s house
Jesus-faithful as a Son in God’s house (or as the NKJV says, His own house, i.e, the Father and Son are one, Jn. 10:30)

See Col. 2:13-23, esp. v 17—these things are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ

Moses’ work was just a foreshadowing of that which was to come—Jesus is the fulfillment of all that the Jews had been waiting for. Moses and the prophets all pointed to Jesus. To the Hebrews, this was of critical importance. Moses wasn’t the end; the prophets weren’t the end. Jesus is the end. Jesus is the fulfillment. Remember ch 1:1-God spoke to us in various ways (through Moses and the prophets) but now has spoken this word of salvation to us by His own Son.

We are of His house by faith. Moses was only a servant in this same house.

Why is it important to show Christ’s superiority over Moses?

Crazy Shout Out

Ok, so I normally don't do this, but my flaming-cheese eating friend (it was the cheese that was flaming, not my friend) wanted to to give a crazy shout out to him and his out-of-date blog. To be honest, I don't know if his blog is even still up. Actually, he's not updating it on purpose in order to see just how long it will be before no one checks his blog.

So here's your shout, Scott!

SHOUT!

A Merciful and Faithful High Priest

Here are some more of my rough notes on Hebrews 2.

Verse 9-Phil. 2:5-11
·This verse talks about Jesus becoming a man (being made a little lower than the angels)
·Jesus became man, thus becoming subject to death (although He was sinless, He laid down His life for us, that the penalty for our sins might be paid through His death)
·This becoming a man also allows for Him to know and live firsthand our curse (this makes Him the perfect High Priest, the go-between, or the Mediator between a holy God and unholy man)

Verse 10-“For it was fitting for Him…to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

What does it mean to make our Captain “perfect?” This is not a question of being “perfect” or sinless or holy as much as it is a statement leading up to the observation made in verses 16-18:

“For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”

The perfecting of the Captain of our salvation (that is, His suffering on this earth) causes Him to be a merciful High Priest, and fully able to say with us, in His infinite compassion, “I know what you’re going through.” He is able to help us and console us because He knows exactly what we are going through.

~

I'm reminded of something I wrote in a previous post about compassion. Compassion is essentially where Jesus says, "I ache for these people."

With that said, and looking at this chapter about Jesus being a merciful and faithful high priest, I can see Jesus coming alongside us and saying, "I ache for you."

The Son-"Begotten Not Created"

Here are my rough, rough notes on my Hebrews study again. I've been thinking through why this writer is showing the superiority of the Son over the angels.

·The Son-“Begotten, Not Created”
·See Heb. 2:9-Jesus was made a little lower than the angels (He’s fully man)
·He’s fully man so that He could taste the fullness of death for us-PROPITIATION
·By the grace of God He tasted death for us-this is an expression of His grace

·The writer of Hebrews quotes several Old Testament passages regarding “the Son.”
·He is showing the Hebrews through the OT that “He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than [the angels]”

·Conclusion: While fully man, Jesus, the Son, is also fully God.
Chapter 2

·What does this mean for us? Heb. 2:1-We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.

Verse 2-4: “For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

Here we see Jesus, the Son, the One who has a more excellent name than the angels because of inheritance, speaking of the salvation that comes through faith and grace. The word spoken through angels (see Gal. 3:19) was the law (the ministry of condemnation and death, see 2 Cor. 3:7,9), which had glory. But the Son, who is better than the angels, and has much more glory, speaks the word of salvation. The Hebrews to whom this epistle is written, even holding the law in high esteem, must give the more earnest heed to the word spoken of by the Son Himself, namely that of salvation through His grace. We must also give the more earnest heed to this word, for God speaks even now (see Rev. 4:5).

·Chapter 3 will speak more of Christ’s superiority over Moses.

Starting Hebrews

I'm starting out on the book of Hebrews. I thought I'd post where I am so far. I hope it's a blessing for you.

A Study of Hebrews

Chapter 1

·God is now speaking to us by His Son
·This indicates the fact that these are the last days-this is God’s final effort to redeem man
· Mat. 21:33-45
·The worlds were made through Him-Col. 1:15-16
·Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person-Jn. 10:25-30
·’If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father’-Jn. 14:7-11
·”Upholding all things by the word of His power”:
·This reminds me of the time Jesus calmed the wind and the waves-Luke 8:22-25
·”Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey
Him!”
·Rev. 4:5:”And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”
·When He speaks, we must make every effort to listen. This means making a conscious effort to be mindful of what He is saying at any moment in time (have the eternal perspective). What is it that quiets the voice of God in our lives? Distractions. But He is dealing with His church; He is dealing with each of us individually. Will I listen to the thunderings?

Question to ponder:

Why is it necessary to show to the Hebrews (to whom the epistle is addressed) the superiority of the Son over the angels?

Some verses that came to mind:

Col. 2:16-19
Gal. 3:19

I’m still working on this one.

~

Giving Thanks - An Act of Humility

It's a beautiful Thanksgiving morning here in northern Indiana. It's pretty cold this morning, and the fog has descended, turning the landscape into a beautiful, white crystalline scene. My kids actually thought it was snow.

As I considered Thanksgiving this morning, I thought of a portion of scripture:

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."

~

I know there are all sorts of major theological implications in this text, but for our devotional reading, notice what happens: there are ten who are healed, and only one comes back to give thanks. I encourage you (us) to pause and give God thanks today. It's important to give thanks to God for all our material blessings: houses, cars, etc. But wouldn't you agree that, in one sense or another, we were all lepers, and Jesus has healed us of the horrible disease that plagues mankind, namely sin and death? Let us give thanks to Jesus for His healing.

Notice also that this guy fell down on his face. I see this as another act of humility.

I guess the question is, is my heart the same as this Samaritan leper?

More On Humility

As I was considering this whole idea of humility, the following verses came to mind:

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." ~ Luke 18:9-14

Here we have the comparison between those who are arrogant and those who are humble. First of all, notice the attitude of those to whom Jesus spoke: they trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. What does it mean to "trust in yourself?" It means to put stock in yourself; to hold yourself in high esteem; to think highly of your own accomplishments and abilities. Jeremiah 17:5, 6 states, ""Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited." It's just a bad idea to have this kind of attitude. Sooner or later, you're going to get a wake up call that really you're not all that great. I get wake up calls like this a lot.

Secondly, notice who Jesus picks for His parable: a Pharisee and a tax collector. How did the Pharisee pray? He prayed with himself. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but aren't we supposed to be talking with (and perhaps more importantly, listening to) God rather than ourselves? Clearly prayer for this guy was a way to pat himself on the back. Really, he was worshipping himself.

Check out the tax collector. First of all, he stood afar off. I wonder if this was because he wanted to be alone; to have a time of solitude before God, confessing his sin and taking care of business. His attitude of humility is best conveyed by his physical posture: his head and eyes were down and he was beating his chest. Have you ever had the urge to get on your knees as you pray? In heaven (see Revelation 1 and 4), they get on their faces like dead men. Have you ever had this urge? Finally, what does the tax collector say? He implores God for mercy. Notice that he doesn't try to bring his worthless righteousness into the picture.

Humility is hard to define. It's an attitude; it's a posture of the heart. It's a consistent lifestyle. Again, it's hard to define, but this tax collector knows what's up with regard to humility.

Questions to ponder:

Have you ever been so humbled that you won't even look to heaven during your prayer time? Have you ever beat your chest, bowed your knee, or laid face down on the floor before God?

**Remember, when I say, "you," I'm talking to myself too!**

The Master's Toolbox

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Today in church we were talking about the importance of finishing strong. We have been working for some time now on what it means to be an authentic disciple of Christ. Today was the last installment in that study.

We were studying the idea of each of us having a particular type of work we have been given to finish while on this earth. I was reminded of this portion of scripture (among others).

It all kind of reminds me of the idea of a toolbox. In my toolbox there are many tools: ratchets, sockets, extension shafts, screwdrivers, pliers, and other things. Each tool was fashioned for a particular use. For example, a hammer can be used to frame a house. A screwdriver can be used to tighten or loosen a screw. A socket can be used to tighten or loosen a nut or bolt. But if you try to frame a house with a socket, or if you try to tighten a screw with a hammer, you're not going to get very far.

The same is true in the body of Christ. We each have our function; and chances are, we may not be very good at other things. Another thing to note about the toolbox: there aren't any useless tools in my toolbox. There are no tools out there that do nothing; every tool has a function and purpose. The same is true in the body: there are no useless body parts. God desires to use each of us for His work.

So I guess what we should ask ourselves is this: what's our function? Where does God want to partner up with us in doing His work? Where is God at work, and how can I help? What tool am I in the Master's toolbox?

Let This Mind Be In You

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~ Philippians 2:5-11

Here's a neat little dissertation from the Bible on what humility is. Although Jesus is God, He decided to "make himself of no reputation." What does it mean to make ourselves of no reputation? It's the attitude that Jesus had when he put on the towel and washed the disciples' feet. What really should have been happening? They all should have been on their faces on the ground, being that Jesus is God (and there are instances where people worshipped Jesus in the gospels). But Jesus, setting an example for us, decided to wash their nasty, dirty, gross feet. I don't know if you've ever seen the feet of several men all lined up, but I bet it's pretty gross.

So I guess here's what we should think on:

Do you have reputation? Is your attitude such that you think others should serve you? Or, are you ready to put on the towel and scrub some gross feet? It doesn't sound prestigious or dignified, does it? So many of us in the church want prestige and dignity. But that's how the kingdom is run: on humility. After all, it's how the kingdom was initiated: by Jesus becoming a bondservant and washing our nasty, gross feet.

By the way, when I say "you," I'm including myself in that. I'm just as guilty as the next guy that wants prestige and dignity.

Humility

"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." ~ 1 Peter 5:5

I like that phrase, "...be clothed with humility...." I'm definitely not an expert on being clothed with humility, but I still like the phrase. Why? Because humility is beautiful, and arrogance is downright ugly.

So what exactly is humility? What does it look like? How can I be clothed with it? Is it something that we can naturally produce, or does God have to work it in us? How does He do that?

I think these are some good questions to ponder. Thoughts anyone?

Don't Stop Playing

In his book Dangerous Wonder, Michael Yaconelli relays this story:

"There is a great story making the rounds about a well-known pianist, Ignace Jan Paderewski. His concert in New York had been sold out for six months. On the night of the concert those who came were dressed in tuxedos and fancy dresses. A mother brought her nine-year-old son because he was beginning to complain about his piano lessons and she thought hearing a great pianist might motivate him to keep practicing.

"You can dress a nine-year-old in a tuxedo, but he's still nine. Restless and impatient, he continually had to go to the bathroom and, much to the irritation of those sitting by them, kept walking back and forth. Finally the mother became exasperated, grabbed her son by the shoulders, and sat him down hard in his seat. 'Now stay there and don't move!' she said sternly. But a few minutes later, while the mother was distracted by the person on the other side of her, the boy slipped out to the aisle. The mother turned to see her son walking toward the stage, where a huge Steinway piano was standing. Panicky, she yelled at him to come back. Startled, the little boy panicked, ran toward the stage, ran up the stairs straight to the piano, sat down, and began to play "Chopsticks." People in the audience were furious.

"'Get that kid off the stage!'"
"'This is an outrage!'"
"'What is this boy doing here?'"

"As the startled ushers began moving toward the young boy, Paderewski heard the commotion and looked out of his dressing room. He saw the boy playing "Chopsticks." he quickly grabbed his tuxedo jacket, walked to the edge of the backstage area, and then stepped into full view of the audience. There was a collective hush. Everyone wondered what the great pianist would do. The boy, oblivious to what was happening , continued to play. Paderewski came up behind him, went down on his knees, and whispered in the little boy's ear, 'Don't stop. Keep on playing. You're doing great.' While the boy continued to play, the great pianist put his arms around the boy and began playing a concerto based on the tune of "Chopsticks." While the two played, Paderewski kept saying to the boy, "Don't stop. Keep on playing."

~

Sometimes we all wonder if what we do makes a difference, has an impact, is worthwhile. I know there are times we feel like bumbling, worthless idiots, but really, God doesn't see it that way. God takes our measly efforts and makes them into something special; He plays an incredible concerto around our childlike plunkings.

Beautiful Music

There are few things that I enjoy more than listening to great music. On the way home from work today I was listening to some Jeremy Camp that I have on my mp3 player. I've got a new car that has an mp3 jack in the dash that allows me to plug it directly into the sound system. All I have to do is hit "aux", push play on the mp3 player, and it comes directly through the car's stereo system. I love it!

It got me to thinking of this scripture:

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." - John 15:5

When we abide in the Father, we bear fruit to His glory. We don't have to strain to manufacture good works; as we abide in Him, He bears them through us. After all, for without Him, we can do nothing.

The Christian life is a lot like that mp3 player and my stereo system. Set on "aux", that stereo system will remain silent. It will never produce music of itself. However, if it's plugged into the mp3 player, all sorts of beautiful music will come through those speakers, bringing joy to the listeners.

We should stay plugged into Jesus, so that He may play His beautiful music through us.

Jesus:Moved With Compassion

I ran across this verse today looking for another one:

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." - Matthew 9:35-38

"He was moved with compassion...."

For some reason that phrase really strikes me as encouraging. You can really know something about the Lord by that phrase.

Ponder this:

Are you weary? Jesus desires to have compassion on you. Go to Him.

Do you want to be a laborer in His harvest? I guess He's looking for some people for the job!

Hardship

I was checking out Acts 27:1-44 today. It's the story where Paul and other prisoners are being transferred to Italy, and during that transfer (it was too late in the year for sailing), they got caught in a storm that destroyed the boat and almost killed all of them.

This is what my devotional said: "Note: even while living in obedience to the perfect lead of Jesus, Paul experienced tremendous hardship." I thought that was pretty profound.

Two other scriptures came to mind:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Cor. 1:3-4

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15

Here are some observations:

1.) Even when following God, you can experience extreme hardship.
2.) While this extreme hardship is not necessarily "God's will," He can still use it for good, namely enabling you to help out others when they are going through tough times.
3.) Jesus knows what it's like to go through tough times because He walked this earth.

Questions to ponder:

Are you going through some tough times? If so, that doesn't mean you're not in "God's will."

Do you feel like a spiritual wimp because you are going through tough times? That's probably the enemy messing with you. God cares about even your "littlest" struggles. Maybe they seem like little struggles to other people, but Jesus has compassion on you in your situation.

Is God preparing you for something greater? Remember, if you bear fruit, He's going to "prune" you so you bear more fruit (John 15:2). Ouch! That sounds like it could hurt.

What Teaching Math Has Taught Me

~What Teaching Math Has Taught Me About Leadership~

So I've been thinking about this whole leadership thing for a few days, and I've learned a few things about leadership from my job at West Noble High School:

1.) Care about and love kids-you're like a shepherd to them
2.) Stop what you're doing and look kids in the eye when they want to talk to you. If you listen to them, they'll listen to you.
3.) Joke with them. Make them feel comfortable and safe in class. Be friendly. Make a connection with all the kids, especially the quiet ones.
4.) When calling on kids, say, "Yes ma'am, " and "Yes, sir."
5.) Be compassionate. Keep in mind they might be coming from a crappy home situation.

I'll bet you I can find all these principles in the Bible....

Impact

Acts 4:13:

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus."

Peter and John were preaching in Jesus the resurrection from the dead with a great deal of boldness. If you take a look at this story, you can see that some 5000 men came to believe in Christ through their preaching. So all the elders, chief priests, and scribes were all ticked off about this and told them to give an account of what they were doing. And they did.

What is so encouraging is that Peter and John were being used so mightily by the Lord to advance His kingdom...and these were uneducated and untrained men. These were just normal, average fishermen. And do you remember what Jesus told them when He first called them? "Don't worry, for from now on you'll catch men." And here we see the fulfillment of Christ's promise to them (or at least one instance of it).

The reason that they had so much impact is the fact that they had been with Jesus. I can only believe the same is true for today. There is nothing that qualifies people more for leadership than that they spend time with Jesus Himself. Of course, if someone has the opportunity (and the calling), college can equip people greatly. But really, it isn't the college that equips; it's Jesus. People who spend time with Jesus know Him and His mission, and they accurately represent Him and His heart to a lost and dying world.

So I guess the questions to ponder are:

Do you spend time with Jesus? Do you know Him? Do you really know Him? (Jesus wants to hang out with you!)

Are you just an average, ordinary person? Do you want to have an impact for the kingdom? If you're average and ordinary, then you're a great candidate to impact the kingdom!

Cleaning Up Dog Poop

I sent this article in to Relevant Magazine. I don't know if they would be interested in publishing it, but I thought I'd put it on here for everyone (yeah, all those people that check my blog on a regular basis, yeah right) to see. Hope you enjoy it.

~

Cleaning Up Dog Poop: A Lesson in Servant-Leadership

By Bill Sines

Several weeks ago my wife and I stopped at an Amish house (we live in the heart of Amish country in northern Indiana) that had advertised by the main road that they had Shih Tzu puppies for sale. My wife had had a Shih Tzu as a young girl and had always loved this breed. So down the dirt road we drove toward the white house with several outbuildings.

When we got there we were greeted by the lady and her husband, and they proceeded to show us the puppies they had on site. We got the Shih Tzu puppies out of their pen and put them in the yard to play. My mother-in-law was there too, as she was looking to purchase one of these puppies as well. The dogs were pretty cute as they played with each other in the grass; they were clumsy balls of fur, falling all over each other and our feet. The Amish guy offered to reduce the price if we took two. So we bought two; one for us and one for my mother-in-law.

The thing is no one ever told me that such a little dog can produce so much in the way of fecal matter! We also have a 2.5 pound Yorkshire Terrier, and she sure doesn’t crap this much.

Now we’ve been working on house training this dog for some time now, and she still doesn’t have the hang of it. We’ve finally gotten her to go outside now, but she just doesn’t get the idea of going all the way out in the yard…yep, when we sit at the dinner table and look out on the back porch, we can see all the business she’s done for the past few days. It’s really starting to get gross.

So where is all this going? Well, in church today we studied Matthew 20:20-28. Consider verses 25-28:

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

All this time, as I looked out back and saw all the crap on the back porch, in my heart I was saying, “I’m not going to clean that up. That’s my wife’s job since it’s her dog.” I realized at church today that I’ve had the wrong attitude. I’ve been thinking about my rights and how that I shouldn’t have to clean up that stupid dog’s poo. Really, it’s the wrong attitude.

In the kingdom of God it’s different. We should have an attitude of service; we should develop a reputation of servanthood. In this situation I knew what I should have have been doing all along—I should have been setting an example for my family by cleaning up that crap without complaining.

Awhile ago I saw an episode of Seinfeld where he was doing this standup routine about having to pick up a pet’s “business” in the city. He was saying that if aliens really were watching us from outer space they would look down on our planet and see all these beings following these other beings around picking up their “business.” They would say something like, “Yeah, we know who’s really in charge.” They would conclude that if some being could get some other being to follow them around and pick up their crap then they must be in charge. I thought that was pretty funny.

The truth is it’s really humbling to pick up animal poop. And that’s exactly what I needed. I needed a little pride adjustment. It’s important for us to remember what leadership is all about in the kingdom. It’s about service. It’s about servanthood. It’s about being last in a world where everyone wants to be first. The church definitely needs leaders like this. The church needs people who will take the lead in a servant role by picking up crap.

~

Better Than TV

I've always loved this picture. The kids are having a great time watching the sprinkler-that-looks-like-a-tractor out in the front yard. It's really hard to tell what was going through their minds at the time, but, at least for a moment, the sight of a little yellow tractor watering the lawn must have been better than TV. Can you see the comraderie between these pink angels? I wonder if it will continue when they're fighting over boys at prom time.

Jesus - Compassion Embodied

I was thinking on this whole idea of compassion again and was reminded of a certain story, found in John 11. Lazarus had died, and Jesus was on His way to Bethany to eventually raise him from the dead:

Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone."

Jesus saw the anguish that death brought to this household. He saw the sorrow and the weeping. And when He saw Mary and the Jews who were with her weeping over the situation, He groaned and was troubled. It pretty much broke His heart to see these people crying and broken over Lazarus's death. And do you know what's written here in the margin of my Bible? It's the word, "compassion." I can see here Jesus aching for these people. He cries for them in verse 35. Those Jews then said, "See how He loved him!" I don't know if they perceived that possibly He was crying for all these people...how that His whole creation was subject to sin and death, and that this broke His heart. Jesus was hurting because His people were hurting.

Question to ponder:

Are you hurting? Do you think Jesus aches for you because you are hurting?

~

One of my favorite verses is Revelation 21:4: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Why is that? Because Jesus had compassion on us.

Compassion

This verse came to mind today...I guess it's in keeping with the whole "compassion" theme from the last few days:

"Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, 'I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'"

--Matthew 15:32

I really love that phrase, "I have compassion...." I have written in the margin of my Bible a paraphrase, which I think helps us catch a faint glimpse of Jesus' heart:

"I ache for these people...."

After saying this, Jesus fed those people.