ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH JESUS

Here's some fun for the day……...

TRIVIA:
What U.S. State's southern border is marked by the original Mason-Dixon line?

RIDDLE:
What Roman Numeral can climb up a wall?

JOKE:
Q:  Why does it get hot after a baseball game?
A:  Because all the fans have left.


COMIC FUN:

TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY:
When we are tempted to complain about uncomfortable or painful circumstances, stop & ask if God might be preparing us for a special task.

ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH JESUS

I've been reading a book called "Beautiful Outlaw" by John Eldridge.  I believe I've talked about a few ideas from this book before.   If I wasn't too lazy to click out of this and go back and look I'd know for sure.  But hey, I'm pretty sure I have.   It's a good look into the personality of Jesus and what a warm, loving…and fun…person he was and is.   Now that I typed that line I know that I have mentioned the book before.   Oh well, I'm too lazy to go back and delete the above line.   It's hot outside and makes me a lazier chick.

One of the parts I read that challenged my thinking was a section on religious talk.   Too often we address God with a coat and tie formality that creates a distance.    Check out what Paul says in Romans 8:15

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."

Abba, Father…..that's like Papa…..or Dad….It reveals a closeness.   Eldridge also discusses how religious phrases like "The Good Lord"  "The Savior" seem to lead to an unintentional thought process of Jesus as very white-robe-and-sandals kind of man and void of personality.   As an example, Eldridge uses the analogy of a marriage.   What if a husband only addresses his wife as 'the good woman'?   How close would a wife feel to her husband if she only addressed him as "Good sir"?  What if you no longer called your best friend by their first name but used the more formal, Mrs Smith or Mr. Jones.   I think Eldridge has a point here.   The way you address someone does have an effect on the relationship.   I'm now imagining addressing my husband as Good Sir.   "Welcome home Good Sir.   What would thou likest for dinner?"   Or speaking of him in that regard to someone else.   "Good Sir went fishing today, he should be back around 7:00pm"  Yep….doesn't exactly foster a closeness.

Eldridge goes on to use the example of when Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus..   When Paul asked who Jesus was, he said 'My name is Jesus'.    That's pretty straight-forward.   He didn't say call me "Mr. Christ" or My name is "All Glorious One".   Eldridge points out that those terms are religious talk and not the sort of thing Jesus liked very much.

This train of thought can probably cause a lot of people to feel uncomfortable, but I can see what Eldridge is saying here.   When talking of Jesus, do our terms sound like they convey His actual personality, or more of a religious image of him?   Eldridge mentions that there are plenty of people who honor and respect Jesus, but have Him at such a distance that the love is not there.

False reverence is a choice veil of the religious fog.  It will bring a shroud between your heart and His.    That veil was torn from top to bottom when Jesus was crucified.    There was a time before Jesus, when God was too holy for us to approach.  But now we do.   We're on a first name basis……because Jesus changed everything.

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TRIVIA ANSWER:

Pennsylvania

RIDDLE ANSWER:

IV

Until next time…...