Tension, it is such a dynamic part of our faith.  And yet one of the hardest things for us to embrace.  Since the dawn of the Modern Age, men have sought to streamline our thinking, our processes and our Theology, the problem is the God of the Ancient Scriptures is a tad bit messy, organic and lets be honest vague.

No where does this seem more apparent than within the new testament struggle between a faith of Grace and a faith of Works.  We have spent a month discovering and reciting that God isn’t into my behavior he is into my becoming.  That transformative work that He does through the power of His own Holy Spirit and work within us.

Ephesians 6:8-9 say for it is by grace we have been saved through faith, not works so no one can boast (Jerry’s loose paraphrase) but verse 10 says, because we were created for good works!?!  What?

Here is the challenge, And don’t tell Eddie I told you this because I may be stealing a little of his thunder, our behavior isn’t going to get us anywhere with God!  But if we are getting anywhere with God it will definitely show up in our behavior.  Ask yourself, do I look like Jesus?  Does my life reflect the man I see in the pages of His story?  If someone were watching me could they confuse me for Him?  If the answer is no, the solution isn’t to change my behavior, that it ultimately a lie.  The solution is get filled up with Him so there is noting left of me to come out.

So that when the day comes that what is in my heart pierces the filters of my sou what others see is a likeness of Christ, the Image of God, a Son of Man.

Let me challenge you, dance with the Divine this week.  Spend time soaking in his love and his nature.  Let the waves of his eternal nature pass over you and remake you in His own image.  Be new in Him.

Dear Father,

Forgive me when out of arrogance or pride I try to imitate your life.  Forgive me when in a cloud of self indulgence I seek to serve you with my strength.  Forgive me when I have the twisted notion that there is something in me worth offering to others.

And then fill me with your divine nature.  Transform me into a perfect likeness of my creator and King.  Teach me to humbly allow you to do your work through my life.  Show me what a life fully turned over to you looks like and fulfill the purposes that you had in me before the foundations of the world.

I in you, you in me, Perfect!

Stunned,

Jerry

Jesus shocked everyone with his simple arrival some 2000 years ago.  Since then we have found some unique ways to celebrate that first big surprise.  But I am so excited that after all these years we are finally getting our chance to enter the story.  This year The Well will be joining a global initiative to reannounce the gift of God to the world called Advent Conspiracy.

It is a few simple steps to recapture the majesty of this holy season.

Step One: Worship Fully

Step Two: Spend Less

Step Three: Give More

Step Four: Love All

To Get a better sense of what all this means check out the video on our web page, you can also log in for the full experience at adventconspiracy.org, or just come and join us this season at The Well.

Father,

Thanks, for everything, but mostly for the gift of your son.  And thanks for allowing me to be apart of your story.

With profound Humility,

Jerry

I got an e-mail today asking about a unique passage of scripture in Mark 10:28-31.  In the passage Peter says he and the other disciples have given up everything for the call of Christ.  It is really more of a question, “what is the pay off?”.  The person writing me was interested in the first response Jesus gives, 100 times whatever you have given up. (Jerry’s paraphrase)  But it was the combination of answers that captured me.  The second part was, an persecution and then eternal life.

What if the answer is something like this, following Jesus will sometimes take you to the greatest heights.  You will have memories, experiences, and tangible rewards that are too hard to express and count.  And it will cost you memories, experiences, and tangible losses that are too hard to express or count.  But in the end, eternal life.

Well, you know me, I don’t have many answers, I am just like you and searcher, a fellow sojourner, on a life long walk with the author of life.  But I will say, if it cost me everything, and rewarded me nothing, I would still do it.  Because something deep in my heart and soul and everything I have read and learned and studies demonstrates that He is there, and He is good, so I will bet my life on Him! But He is a rewarder of those who seek Him!  So I will hope, as big as the wide world, and I will dream as high as the heavens, and will run and jump for the heavens without fear.  Come with me, lets Expect good things, lets Expect Everything.

Father,

Help me to be ready for whatever reward or persecution that may come my way.  More importantly, help me to reflect you perfectly either in want or in plenty.  Teach me Lord, to live today like eternity, needing nothing but you, and using everything you have given me as a new way to say thanks and I love you.

Thanks, I love you!

Jerry

It never ceases to amaze me what great length God will take for the simplest things.  I find myself this morning sitting at The Journey, an amazing cutting edge church of around 700 in North West Arkansas.  I came to Ark to attend a conference, that was promoted all wrong and so for me the event, the time, the money…….a bust!

Until late last night I had the opportunity to be a part of a conversation with couple old friends who are struggling to navigate a particularly difficult situation.  Sitting there have the privilege to enter back into the lives of my friends I realized, this is why I am here.  Of course there is the obvious question, why couldn’t they just have called me?  But as I sat at dinner looking into a close friends eyes sharing from the heart I knew, you just can’t get that over the phone.

There is no end to what GREAT lengths God will go to, to touch and speak to your heart.  Open your hearts this week.  Live wide open with wild expectancy.  Listen to everyone, watch everywhere, live really present in the moment and if you are careful, I bet you will see Him.

I did!  In the eyes of my friend.

God, Wow!  You just amaze me.  How do you always know what we need and what is really important.  I know the question sounds dumb, but you know it’s what I think even when I don’t verbalize it, so, hey, why not be honest.  Thanks.

P.S. If you could get me home quicker that would be cool too.

You Biggest Fan,

Jerry

Jesus said it like this, those who seek to save their lives will lose it, but those who give up their life for me will find it. (Mt. 16:25 Jerry’s paraphrase)

Self preservation, the instinct goes beyond, food, shelter, and safety.  We want to save face, upward mobility, comfort, but scripture paints a distinctly different picture for the believer.

“Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”  But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.””  (Mt. 8:19-20 NLT)

Ask yourself the question today, what is my present situation worth to me in light of eternity, what is my life, as I view it, worth in light of the death of Christ?

Then step way outside your comfort zone, and take on something God sized and God shaped.  Risk everything, and let me know how it goes.

Lord Jesus,

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dream have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we posses, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture onto wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.  We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

-Sir Frances Drake