What About Jesus?
"During a memorial service -- on the rim of the Grand Canyon -- for the
tragic victims of a midair plane collision, an angry young man yelled out,
'Where was God when this happened?' The minister in charge of the
service asked, 'Did everyone hear the question? The young man asked
where God was when this life-consuming tragedy happened.' "Then for the
young man and hundreds of grieving friends and relatives, the minister
answered, 'God was in the same place He was when cruel men took His
only Son and crucified Him on a cross.' "We may never know the answers
to all the whys or the hows of death, and certainly we may not be able to
completely cope with our anger, but God is in command. Someday there
will be no anger and no dying, for God will put an end to death forever."
[A Time for Mourning by Joyce Landorf. Fleming H. Revell, 1974.]
THE ONLY NAME
Charles Lowery tells this tale of the supermarket: "A lady was in a hurry to
get groceries, and she put her son in the cart and told him to be quiet. As
she hurried along, putting stuff in the cart, the kid spotted some chocolate
chip cookies. He said, `Mom, please may I have some?' She said, `No! I
told you to be quiet.' About four aisles over, the kid asked if he could just
have a few chocolate chip cookies. Again she told him no and to be quiet.
About the sixth aisle, he asked, `Mom, could I have just one cookie?' Again
she said no, popped him, and told him to hush or she'd have the manager
put him in the big freezer. "When they got to the checkout, the lines were
long. The mother glanced down and saw a gleam in the little boy's eye.
She knew something was coming, but she didn't know what. All of a
sudden this little kid stands straight up in his seat, lifts his hand straight
toward heaven, and in his loudest voice hollers, `In the name of Jesus,
give me some chocolate chip cookies!' "The surrounding shoppers erupted
in applause, so he said it again. More applause, and with everybody
clapping, the mother didn't know what to do. So she ran and got a bag of
chocolate chip cookies. "In a simple but powerful way, this story teaches
us that when you come to the checkout of life with no resources and no
hope, there is only one name that has power--the name of Jesus. The
Bible says that Jesus is the only name whereby we can be saved. Make
sure you know that name."
[SBC Life, Nov 1995. Page 14.]
DON'T SAY--'JESUS, YOU ARE MY LORD, BUT...
We think that we are secure if we have the right kinds of insurance
policies, if we are more-or-less paid-up on our houses, and if we have
secure jobs. Jesus' concept is different. The lordship of Christ is a
threatening concept to many believers. They seem to envision the Lord as
someone who is out to mess up their lives. Scripture reveals a Lord who
loves us and wants to help us be what we were created to be. As Jesus'
disciples today we need to be challenged even as His disciples were by
the events and teachings of Lk. 9:49-62. (1) Jesus takes exception to our
understanding of the type of people who are really committed to Him. John
thought the man who was casting out demons in Jesus' name should be
rebuked because he wasn't one of their group. We, too, often see
commitment in terms of membership the right group, but Jesus can work
through anyone who makes himself available to Him. So the question is,
"Am I that kind of person?" (2) Sometimes Jesus acts in a way contrary to
what we expect. The prejudiced disciples thought Jesus should call down
fire from heaven on the Samaritans. In the same way, we would often like
to wash our hands of unresponsive people, but that is not consistent with
Christ's love. (3) Jesus expects our commitment to be realistic. When one
man eagerly volunteered to follow Jesus, the Lord challenged him. He
wanted to be sure he knew what he was getting into. In a sense He was
saying that there are no guarantees except the promise of His presence.
That, and that alone, should be the basis of our security-- not insurance
policies and steady jobs. (4) Jesus will not allow us to use family
responsibilities as an excuse. We certainly need to have scriptural
priorities in our family life. The Bible teaches fathers to take spiritual
leadership in the home and says that we are worse than pagans if we
don't take care of our elderly relatives. Yet we must realize that "diluted
discipleship is not good for our families." (5) Jesus doesn't expect us to
give up anything that's really worth keeping. We must quit longing for what
we used to have. That will only cause us to resent His lordship and keep
us from moving on in service to Him.
"Don't say--'Jesus, You are my Lord, but..." by Dick Dowsett. Decision,
Sep 1991. Pages 25- 26.
MORAL TEACHER ONLY?
"Jesus was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce
that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly
three effects--hatred, terror, adoration. There was no trace of people
expressing mild approval."
--C. S. Lewis in God in the Dock (quoted in Latin America Evangelist,
Apr-Jun 1996, page 10)
tragic victims of a midair plane collision, an angry young man yelled out,
'Where was God when this happened?' The minister in charge of the
service asked, 'Did everyone hear the question? The young man asked
where God was when this life-consuming tragedy happened.' "Then for the
young man and hundreds of grieving friends and relatives, the minister
answered, 'God was in the same place He was when cruel men took His
only Son and crucified Him on a cross.' "We may never know the answers
to all the whys or the hows of death, and certainly we may not be able to
completely cope with our anger, but God is in command. Someday there
will be no anger and no dying, for God will put an end to death forever."
[A Time for Mourning by Joyce Landorf. Fleming H. Revell, 1974.]
THE ONLY NAME
Charles Lowery tells this tale of the supermarket: "A lady was in a hurry to
get groceries, and she put her son in the cart and told him to be quiet. As
she hurried along, putting stuff in the cart, the kid spotted some chocolate
chip cookies. He said, `Mom, please may I have some?' She said, `No! I
told you to be quiet.' About four aisles over, the kid asked if he could just
have a few chocolate chip cookies. Again she told him no and to be quiet.
About the sixth aisle, he asked, `Mom, could I have just one cookie?' Again
she said no, popped him, and told him to hush or she'd have the manager
put him in the big freezer. "When they got to the checkout, the lines were
long. The mother glanced down and saw a gleam in the little boy's eye.
She knew something was coming, but she didn't know what. All of a
sudden this little kid stands straight up in his seat, lifts his hand straight
toward heaven, and in his loudest voice hollers, `In the name of Jesus,
give me some chocolate chip cookies!' "The surrounding shoppers erupted
in applause, so he said it again. More applause, and with everybody
clapping, the mother didn't know what to do. So she ran and got a bag of
chocolate chip cookies. "In a simple but powerful way, this story teaches
us that when you come to the checkout of life with no resources and no
hope, there is only one name that has power--the name of Jesus. The
Bible says that Jesus is the only name whereby we can be saved. Make
sure you know that name."
[SBC Life, Nov 1995. Page 14.]
DON'T SAY--'JESUS, YOU ARE MY LORD, BUT...
We think that we are secure if we have the right kinds of insurance
policies, if we are more-or-less paid-up on our houses, and if we have
secure jobs. Jesus' concept is different. The lordship of Christ is a
threatening concept to many believers. They seem to envision the Lord as
someone who is out to mess up their lives. Scripture reveals a Lord who
loves us and wants to help us be what we were created to be. As Jesus'
disciples today we need to be challenged even as His disciples were by
the events and teachings of Lk. 9:49-62. (1) Jesus takes exception to our
understanding of the type of people who are really committed to Him. John
thought the man who was casting out demons in Jesus' name should be
rebuked because he wasn't one of their group. We, too, often see
commitment in terms of membership the right group, but Jesus can work
through anyone who makes himself available to Him. So the question is,
"Am I that kind of person?" (2) Sometimes Jesus acts in a way contrary to
what we expect. The prejudiced disciples thought Jesus should call down
fire from heaven on the Samaritans. In the same way, we would often like
to wash our hands of unresponsive people, but that is not consistent with
Christ's love. (3) Jesus expects our commitment to be realistic. When one
man eagerly volunteered to follow Jesus, the Lord challenged him. He
wanted to be sure he knew what he was getting into. In a sense He was
saying that there are no guarantees except the promise of His presence.
That, and that alone, should be the basis of our security-- not insurance
policies and steady jobs. (4) Jesus will not allow us to use family
responsibilities as an excuse. We certainly need to have scriptural
priorities in our family life. The Bible teaches fathers to take spiritual
leadership in the home and says that we are worse than pagans if we
don't take care of our elderly relatives. Yet we must realize that "diluted
discipleship is not good for our families." (5) Jesus doesn't expect us to
give up anything that's really worth keeping. We must quit longing for what
we used to have. That will only cause us to resent His lordship and keep
us from moving on in service to Him.
"Don't say--'Jesus, You are my Lord, but..." by Dick Dowsett. Decision,
Sep 1991. Pages 25- 26.
MORAL TEACHER ONLY?
"Jesus was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce
that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly
three effects--hatred, terror, adoration. There was no trace of people
expressing mild approval."
--C. S. Lewis in God in the Dock (quoted in Latin America Evangelist,
Apr-Jun 1996, page 10)
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