Are you so smart you're stupid?

We're continuing on with our chronological walk through the Gospels, seeking – and finding – the (real) Jesus Christ, as He presented Himself to us (and not in the ways He's misrepresented even today by those who most loudly call themselves "Christian").

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here.

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here.
(Note that you can change the human-translation version on this scripture page, as suits you. I have NO theological or other tie to the online-bible site I use for this blog – it just lists many human translations to choose from, including the NASB, KJV, The Message, and the NRSV, which are the ones mentioned by those I chat and email with.)

This week's scripture should be a warning to those who discount Jesus' ability to do miracles beyond what we normally expect from the standard "physics" of this world – and that's almost all of what calls itself "Liberal" or "Progressive" Christianity today. It also gives warning to those "Good Religious People" we've come to see so often in the Bible now, as well. 

In this week's scripture, two guys who are blind are following Jesus (and we assume the crowd of disciples, God-seekers, gawkers, etc also following Him), hollering out for help. Note that they call Jesus "Son of David", which meant they understood Him to be the Messiah promised to Israel (and the world).

They followed Him all the way into somebody's home (or other indoor place), still clamoring for Him heal their blindness supernaturally. They aren't asking Him for a pill, or a better doctor, or a good hospital, after all. They've heard from others that He can raise the recently-dead, throw demons out of people, heal disabilities, and more – and they want the same kind of miracle for themselves.

Jesus gives them what they want – but He first asks them if they truly believe He can do it.

If these men had been like many "Liberal" or "Progressive" Christians, though, they would have had to tell Him something like, "Well, Lord, since I'm a modern-believer, with science and reason at my disposal, I've risen above superstition and mythology. No, I don't believe you've actually done anything supernatural. But I do give you greatest honor as an awesome teacher whose teachings inspire me to live a loving, moral life. I also appreciate the lessons to be learned from the metaphorical or figurative 'miracle' stories told about you by well-meaning but backward human beings who lived in a pre-science culture. I suppose if my blindness is actually being caused by some psychosomatic distress, then you might be able to 'cure' it with what's really a spiritual 'sugar pill'. But if my blindness isn't purely psychosomatic, like I'm sure the so-called 'demon possession' of the guy behind me is, then, no, Lord. I know better than to believe you can cure me."

And, since Jesus healed the blind men in our scripture to the extent they believed He could, the literal-miracle-rejecting "Liberal"/"Progressive" Christian would get – what? Nothing.

Now, does this mean that every time someone prays for a blind person (or anyone with any kind of illness, disability, trouble, etc) Jesus will automatically heal them? No. The Bible itself shows us that Jesus walked all over Israel, and only a tiny number of the many, many who suffered there received healing. We might be tempted to say that people get healing depending on how close they are to Jesus Himself or to His praying-people, but the Bible never shows us 100% healing even of every believing-person. Timothy, for example, had gut and other problems that apparently were accepted as just a part of life to deal with. Paul, for another example, had some kind of ailment God simply wouldn't heal because otherwise Paul risked becoming as worthless to God as most "ministers" are today.

The Bible does show us that God acts supernaturally in this world when it works for His plan. Jesus acted supernaturally (in healing and more) 2,000 years ago – just as He does today – when that supernatural action illustrates God's power, His nature, or His intentions for our future, or when that supernatural action freed a "trapped" worker who was unable to continue working towards God's plan as s/he was. So, even if we do have big ailments or disabilities and don't get healing in this life, we know God has the power to heal, and that our healing will come – when Jesus returns for us, if not before.

If, that is, we are willing to believe He can and will.

• Nothing in the Bible says science or reason should be thrown out - but everything in the Bible says that God isn't limited by anything we can understand. Are you able to appreciate and use science and reason in ways that benefit yourself and others, without denying that God can act outside the rules He created for this world when He created it? 
• Have you had times of refusing miracles in your life because it didn't seem "reasonable" to expect them? What would it take for you to open up to God's ability to show His power, nature, and future intentions through your life, as fits His plan for the world? 
• Since even Timothy and Paul (who were great workers of wonders in Jesus' Name) had ailments and other physical problems that were apparently never healed while they lived on this earth - and yet never believed that meant Jesus couldn't do supernatural things or that God didn't love them beyond measure anyway, why do we?

The scripture story today ends as they often do – with the Good Religious People accusing Jesus of using demonic power to accomplish what doesn't elevate and sanctify their way of being "godly". If you've been following along in our study, you can easily shake your head and say, "Same stuff, different day!" And truly, Good Religious People never change. Through the Old Testament, the New Testament, the centuries since, and even today, they proclaim themselves as God's People even as they reject living the way God has said His people must live. They also claim to be the one's He's using in His plan, even as they act against Him at work in the world when it doesn't please their own religiosity. An easy example today is the Holy Spirit action in the lives of Gay people today, as God heals more and more of them of the spiritually alienating and deeply wounding false-witness and intentional Bible-mistranslation Good Religious People have bludgeoned them with. Just as God called the Gentiles, even when it torqued off the Jews, God calls Gay people, even when it torques off straight people. And witnessing God at work, all Good Religious People today can do is screech "Satan's power at work! Satan's power at work!"

They truly never change.

• What lessons has the Bible taught you so far about Good Religious People and the mistakes they make (intentional and otherwise)?
• What dangers do we face when we do follow along with or let ourselves be guided by Good Religious People? 
• Have Good Religious People spiritually injured you or someone you love? Are you more able now to understand their attack as part of Satan's work, and not God's? What help can you find today to get you the additional spiritual healing you still need, so you're no longer a trapped and inured worker who can't help in God's plan?

Until next week, and in His love!

Lynne
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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

To hell with anyone who blocks your way to Jesus

A few posts away (I'm feeling much better with my allergies, btw – thanks for your prayers!) but now we're back to exploring who Jesus really is, outside how He's been so long defined by what most loudly calls itself "The Church".

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here.

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here. (Note that you can change the human-translation version on this scripture page, as suits you. I have NO theological or other tie to the online-bible site I use for this blog – it just lists many human translations to choose from, including the NASB, KJV, The Message, and the NRSV, which are the ones mentioned by those I chat and email with.)

So far, we've seen from the Bible itself, without having to do any kind of monkey-plays or pompous theological arguments, that, despite how Jesus is interpreted even today by "Good Religious People" and Big-Words Theologians:

• Jesus was always on the side of those who were abused, mistreated, and oppressed – never on the side of those who do the abusing, mistreating, and oppressing. 
• Jesus was always on the side of the spiritual rejects and the sinners – and never on the side of those who make sure others know they are spiritual rejects, or the side of the Good Religious People. 
• Jesus requires His followers to be so strong they refuse to do violence or hurt back, even if attacked to death – not so weak they worship violence, war, and domination. 
• Jesus warned us repeatedly that most of those who claim to be His people will be spiritual liars and cheats, fooling even themselves all the way to hell – and He commands us to realize their error and not get caught up in it ourselves. 
• Jesus never presented anything of God as requiring a seminary education or a "pastor" to understand (study, yes, using our brains, yes – but "church" related stuff? No). In fact, the Bible shows us that to truly understand what Jesus means has always required NOT having human theological ideas in the way of God's simple message. Jesus (and others in the Old and New Testament) show us again and again that – despite our belief that more theological ideas and degrees and titles means more understanding of Jesus – more theological ideas and degrees and titles means LESS understanding of the real Jesus. 
• And more!

This week, our chronological Bible tells us about Jesus illustrating that death isn't how we usually imagine death at all, and, healing a woman who was sick in more ways that we can even imagine today. What do you learn about Jesus from these stories? Here's what I see:

When people – even people who normally refuse to believe in God – are desperate and hurting, there is always that tendency to turn to God and plead for help. The Bible doesn't tell us if Jairus and his family already believed in Jesus. Yet we can see that, even if he wasn't yet a believer, Jairus was desperate enough to reach out to Jesus – and isn't that how many of us come or come back to Jesus in the first place? 

• Have you reached out to God in desperation even in times you didn't believe in Him? What happened? How (or did) it change your relationship with Him? 
• The Bible doesn't tell us if Jairus came to Jesus for help because he believed He was a miracle worker, or if he actually understood He was God. If Jairus got through this whole event and only ever understood Jesus as a worker of supernatural things, he would have missed completely that God is on his side even through death. Have you or others you care about understood that Jesus could do supernatural things, but missed that Jesus is also God on your side?

Jairus thought he was going to lose his little girl – and, in fact, before he got Jesus back to her, she did, in fact, die. The people telling Jairus that his daughter was now actually dead told him not to bother Jesus any longer. "Death", they would have told us, "is the end. Miracle healings might happen here and there. But death is never undone."

• What are the things you believe are just the end – never to be undone? Does God have power even other those things? In what circumstances might He change them?

On the news that his daughter was dead, Jesus told Jairus not to be afraid, but to believe, instead. After we've lost someone to death, we might understand the fear of having to live the rest of one's life without this loved one. We might also understand the fear that comes from being reminded of our own mortality. Jesus, though, offered comfort in belief. Like He could have also said, "No need to fear death – the answer to death is standing right here. So just trust that answer to apply, even now!"

• Many of us have heard that the antidote to fear is to believe – but what does that look like in your own life? Does it mean letting go your natural fear of death? Does it mean giving over your worries over money or job? What are all the ways Jesus' comforting command to believe instead of fear might or does impact your own life?

When Jesus told the gathered crowd of mourning that the little girl wasn't dead but asleep, they laughed at Him. And I'd have to say that if some guy I'd never seen before walked into a funeral and told everyone there that the only person in the room not breathing any longer was just asleep and not dead at all, laughter would be the nicest reaction I might have. Yet I can't imagine how my reaction would change if the dead person suddenly woke up and got something to eat!

• The Bible tells us that even Satan and those who work for him can do miracles at times, so it's not always safe to assume that because something miraculous is happening that means it's from God. What specific things can or do you do in your own life to keep from being fooled into following after lying signs and false wonders?

This scripture passage also talks about a woman Jesus healed while on his way to Jairus' daughter. If we don't know enough about the ancient Mosaic Law the Jews lived under, we won't realize that this woman's problems were threefold. Not only was this woman's health terrible (she's been having menstrual bleeding for twelve solid years), and not only had she wiped out her financial resources trying unsuccessfully to get healing from medical doctors, but also according to the religious law she lived under she was "unclean" because of her bleeding. All men and women were made religiously unclean at certain times and under certain circumstances (check out Leviticus 15, for example). If this woman had been having normal periods, she could have gotten "clean" again after a certain passage of time without bleeding. Since she never stopped bleeding, though, she never had that opportunity. That meant she wasn't allowed to touch anyone or anything, or they too would become "unclean" and also have to undergo purification time and rituals to keep from spreading "uncleanness" even further. Imagine living your life sick as a dog, being wiped out financially by doctors, and not being allowed to touch anything (not a person, not even the railings on the city bus) without possibly enraging people so much they might kill you for it. Now imagine living that way for twelve, long years, with no end in sight.

Until this miracle-guy shows up.

• Since the Bible shows us that Good Religious People of all kinds have always followed or ignored parts of the law God gave them however they wished, should we be at all surprised that Good Religious People today also pompously bellow one part of God's law but explain away and hide others? For example, Good Religious People like to quote the Mosaic Law as if it condemns Gay people – but they explain away the parts that condemn their failure to follow the rest of the Mosaic Law (like men and women both needing to do ritual purification after having any kind of voluntary or involuntary "discharges"). What does that tell you about whether you should be getting your information about what God wants from you from Good Religious People? 
• For centuries, "Christians" have been telling women they were "unclean" because they have periods, even telling them at some times in history that they wouldn't go to heaven if they died while on their periods! Yet all these centuries, no one ever told a man he couldn't get into heaven if he died while having a "nocturnal emission", or that men weren't fit for ministry because they become unclean by nocturnal emissions. Since so much human B.S. has always coated what most loudly calls itself "The Church", should we be surprised when that same "Church" continues today to trumpet its own highly intellectual and theologically "proven" versions of B.S. regarding God's supposed condemnation of Gay people, God's supposed support of war, God's supposed shoving women into the back of the church, and so on? 
• Most Gay Christians can empathize with the woman in this scripture, having been exiled as "unclean" in a different way from their communities and being unable to perform any "purification" that would make them OK in the bigoted eyes of their straight spiritual "fellows". But others can also relate – even if their only "uncleanness" is a refusal to play the shallow Sunday-Dress-Up required to attend most "churches" even today. In what ways can you empathize with the woman in this scripture? But in what ways are you more like those who condemned or looked down on her, refusing to give her the basics of human touch and love because you didn't want to be "unclean" yourself?

One thing that can be said of this woman: she had guts. Unlike many who might undergo even less than she had, and who might have just given up and died, she clung to life. She clung to hope. She kept trying, and trying, and trying, even when trying just seemed to bury her deeper into trouble. This is yet another time when the New Testament Bible broke tradition by showing us strong women in a culture that ignored and even attacked strong woman.

• Whether you are male or female, do you have this woman's guts in the face of trial and pain? Is she a great example to you, when you need to see that it is possible to keep going and keep trying even when all seems to have failed?

This woman not only had guts – she had gall. Maybe that gall, that bold, shameless behavior, was also born of desperation. Doesn't matter. This woman pressed her unclean self not only through a crowd, immediately "polluting" everyone she touched (who then immediately polluted everyone they touched, who then immediately polluted everyone they touched, and so on) – which could have started a riot and gotten her stoned – but she also crept up on Jesus, intending to touch Him in a way He wouldn't notice, even though it would also make HIM ritually unclean. All that in hope of being rid of her sickness and isolating shame.

• Have you had this kind of gall with God? Have you ever pushed your way to Him, and to hell with anyone who gets in your way? If not – why not?

The woman felt herself instantly healed upon touching the edge of Jesus' cloak. Imagine her elation – and then imagine it turning instantly to horror when Jesus turned around and demanded to know who had touched Him. She knew she'd just made Him ritually unclean – even healed, the religious law she lived under still required time to pass and a ritual to be performed before she would no longer be "polluting" others. She must have believed her life at great risk when He and the crowd figured out what she'd done. All she could do was what all people in those days did when confronted by the power of one or more people who could hurt or kill if they only just chose to do so: terrified, she fell on her face and confessed, hoping for mercy in even the tiniest form.

But the violence – rage, fists, rocks – she could expect in her religious culture didn't come. Instead, Jesus congratulated her on her faith in His ability to heal her, and sent her off in peace, free from more suffering.

• The Good Religious People of that day often stoned "unclean" women who touched others. In the centuries of what most loudly calls itself "Christianity", Good Religious People have burned people at the stake and otherwise tortured and murdered them, taught them to feel shame over who they are, and made war in "God's" name against people who weren't like them in one way or another. Not one bit of that is like Jesus anywhere in the Bible. Yet we too often continue being fooled by this false "Christianity". Why? 
• Imagine being Gay and with shameless gall pressing through a crowd of "Christian" bigots to get to Jesus, sure that He can heal the hurt false Christians have done to your heart. Imagine fearing Jesus will turn on you like false "Christians" have – only to find He instead congratulates you for your faith and sends you off in His peace. Now read Revelation 3:7-13 and know that that's exactly what you're going to hear from Jesus, in the End.

Today we got to see Jesus' power at work – not just in healing death and sickness, but also in reorienting our religious thinking so that we can see past the religious nonsense we live under and even pass on to our children, thinking we're doing them a good thing.

• What ways do you need to reorient your thinking about Jesus? Is Jesus like the supporter of war, supporter of sexism, supporter of homophobia, supporter of economic oppression, and so on that "The Church" has reinterpreted Him as all these centuries? 
• Was Jesus at all prevented from being who He really is by all the Good Religious People and their dumb ideas while He moved around, doing His work? Why should we assume, then, that we can't find the real-Jesus today because "The Church" has done so much Bible-twisting over the centuries? 
• What needs to change in your life this week? What can Jesus heal for you today, that you never imagined could be gotten rid of before?

Take care until next week!

In His love,

Lynne

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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Best of / Q: "Do I have to go to church to be a Christian?"

Another sharing of a popular post this week, as my allergies have totally taken over my life the last several days. Living in the Pacific Northwestern USA means being around lots of things my body doesn't like - but that's where I'm at for now, allergy-head and all, so... :-)

Meanwhile, I've been getting lots of questions this time that can be answered by this older post, as well, so that works out, as well. I plan next week to get back to our Gospel study.

For those who don't know, I am always open to your emails, questions, prayer requests, and just to chat. I've been doing online and local ministry and fellowship for many years, and I try to answer all emails within a day or so (sometimes it takes me a few days, but not usually). My email address is NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

During the same time frame, I've also been enjoying the ministry and fellowship others bring to me. You are all a real blessing - whether you are someone I've had fellowship with for ten (or more!) years or ten minutes. I appreciate and enjoy you a great deal :-)

This week, I'm re-sharing my answer to the question, "Do I have to go to church to be a Christian?"

Take care until next week!

Lynne

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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Merry... "Christ" mass?

We're coming close to December 25th again – Christmas day. Just what does that mean? What should it mean?

Most people know that Jesus wasn't actually born on December 25th. Based on descriptions of what was going on in the Bible around the time of His birth, it's likely He was born around springtime.

It was Christian "Good Religious People", as part of establishing "Church" power over the top of other people's religions and regulating "Church" time, that set December 25th to celebrate Jesus being born into the world (the word "Christmas", of course, is created from "Christ" and "mass", via the Roman "Church"). Unlike many of us today, however, the original Christians just weren't interested enough in the actual day Jesus was born to celebrate it (they also didn't care much about what He was doing when He was a kid). Far more important to their lives and hope was understanding Jesus when He was active as the Messiah – the Christ.

So are we right to celebrate "Christmas"?

As always, it depends on where we're coming from in doing so, and how it defines us. The current bloat-fest of commercialism and materialism that the larger culture (including the "Christian" larger culture) calls "Christmas" couldn't be further from Jesus Christ. It just doesn't matter how often we point to the "Three Wise Men" and their gifts to "justify" what we're doing each Christmas – nothing in the story of Jesus' birth has anything to do with our Christmas gift-giving. In fact, if we were to take any lesson from the gifts brought by the "Wise Men", we'd be using Christmas to – not give to each other, or ourselves, or the "Church" – but to give to Jesus and what's actually important to Him. And that just doesn't happen.

So, is it wrong to celebrate what our culture calls "Christmas" or give each other presents for it?

Depends. Are we pretending that by doing so we're doing something Christian – meaning, that by buying each other TVs and Starbucks gift cards we're following the commands of Jesus Christ? If so, then yep, it's wrong. In fact, it's SUPER wrong, because it simply perpetuates the whole "Jesus died so I could buy cheap crap at Walmart" concept that's so rampant in our "Christian" culture we don't even realize it's there.

That being said, there's nothing wrong with the actual gift-giving and so on (as long as we aren't elevating commercialism and materialism above Jesus, of course). People in all cultures, for all of human history, have found ways to add some fun and joy to the dark, cold time of each year. Putting up pretty lights that dazzle our eyes, "planting" a living tree in our living rooms, and adding a little fun with some gift exchange are what our culture enjoys doing when winter brings extra darkness and shivering cold to our lives.

We just shouldn't be pretending it's all about Jesus, because it's not. Not even when we throw in some extra "church" services, or toss a few extra coins in the bell-ringer's bucket.

What is or would be about Jesus?

• How about buying and sharing blankets with homeless families this season – not because it's "Christmas time", but because you are a Christian and it's freakin' cold out there for a lot of folks these days?
• How about giving your time to help feed hungry elder-people in your community, or your money to help rebuild the lives of brothers and sisters who've been fire-bombed in their communities because they're Christian – not "for Christmas", but because you're a Christian and your Bible-based faith commands you to care for these people every day or your life?
• How about gathering in the home of your local Christian sisters and brothers, and getting on your knees, raising your hands, and singing songs of praise to God for Jesus – not because "it's Christmas", but because your Christian life belongs to Him every day?

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season.

I pray that more and more each day we will all come to reject the false and illogical connections that Good Religious People and their "Church" continue to make between what are simply expressions of our human culture, and what are things, ideas, and practices really about Jesus as He's revealed to us in His Bible.

I pray that as we add some holiday fun and color to our winter season (something I intend to do!), we also just refuse any longer to pretend those things are part of following Jesus Christ and doing what He says. Every Christian in the world comes to God with their human culture attached - and must learn to stop confusing their human culture with what God requires of them.

I pray that we will continue to mature far beyond what "The Church" as defined as fulfilling our duties to God, and thereby actually earn heaven (something "The Church" never has and never will accomplish).

I pray that you remain safe, and warm, and filled – and that the true joy, fun, and happiness that comes from the real Jesus in your heart leads you daily to find ways to help others also be safe, and warm, and filled.

Have some fun and give gifts this year, sure! But mostly BE the gift that God has made of you to the people around you. Anything else? It's just not Christian.

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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

5,000 demons: 0. Jesus: 1

I'm posting a little early this week, as I'll be in an all-day training tomorrow. But we're still going through the chronological Gospels, taking a look at who the Bible says Jesus is, outside the ways we're traditionally taught to understand Him by "Good Religious People".

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here.

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here.
(Note that you can change the human-translation version on this scripture page, as suits you. I have NO theological or other tie to the online-bible site I use for this blog – it just lists many human translations to choose from, including the NASB, KJV, The Message, and the NRSV, which are the ones mentioned by those I chat and email with.)

We're looking at another famous story from the Gospels this week: Jesus healing the man possessed by a "Legion" of demons.

As usual, there's a lot going on in this story! And to get the full understanding, we have to see the story the way the original ancient-hearers would have, or we can miss important points (and that's true of the whole Bible, of course). Why is that so important? Well, imagine someone 2,000 years from now reading an ancient text from the year 2011 that talked about the "Golden Arches". How far off in understanding would they end up if they didn't know what (most of us today) know: the "Golden Arches" mean a popular fast food restaurant chain?

• Have you understood yet how absolutely necessary it is to understand the Bible as the original writers and hearers would have, or risk getting a wrong meaning from it? How has not understanding the Bible as the original writers and hearers would have steered you wrong in your past?

So, Jesus and His disciples have entered a region where there are a lot of Gentiles (non-Jews). We can tell that because these people were raising pigs – an animal abhorrent to Jewish religious law. They met a man (or two men, if you go by what Matthew remembered) who showed all the classic ancient signs of being controlled by a demon:

• He lived in a tomb – which the Jews would have thought made him beyond religiously unclean 
• He couldn't be bound, but seemed to have an unnatural strength, able to break even chains and leg irons used to subdue him 
• He ran night and day through the cemetery, howling and cutting himself 
• He accosted anyone and everyone who tried to pass that way 
• He refused to wear clothes

Scary dude! Today, a guy acting like that would be hauled off to a psych ward and heavily medicated (probably never to emerge), or simply shot if he ran up to the police like that. But Jesus had a different way to handle him. Jesus went right to the source of the problem: He confronted the demons inside him.

• Do you believe that some or all of people who act like this today are demon-possessed? How does that affect what you might do for them? 
• Have you been so much in torment and pain that you acted "crazy" in one way or another? If Jesus could heal this guy of this kind of hell-on-earth, do you imagine He could heal yours?

Note that the demons inside this guy knew exactly who Jesus was, but they couldn't figure out why He was there. They apparently expected not to see Jesus until The End, when all demons will be cast into the torment they've chosen to deserve – but not now, in the middle of Gerasenes. Next time someone tries to convince you demons see-all and know-all, remember that!

• Has your religious background, programs you watch, etc., convinced you that demons are all-knowing and able to do anything they want? How has that wrong-teaching affected your life and sense of God's power in your life?

Jesus asked the guy what his name was. Ancient people in those days believed that knowing a demon's name gave you power over it. Apparently the demons thought so too, because they tried to outsmart Jesus by just giving Him like the clever nickname they've come up with for themselves: "Legion". The listeners back then would have known "legion" meant a division of between 3,000 and 6,000 oppressor-soldiers. Something deadly, overpowering, and terrifying, in other words. Jesus isn't impressed, though.Despite their attempt to outmaneuver or intimidate Jesus, He simply tells them to get out. They beg to go into a nearby herd of pigs, and Jesus lets them. We read then that the pigs drowned in the lake. It's quite possible the demons were being like people are sometimes, destroying something to "get back at" an authority figure that's made them do something they don't want to do.

• Since Jesus didn't need to know the demons' names to have power over them (obviously), do you think it's possible He asked just so people would understand how bad this problem really was (meaning, several thousand demons infesting this guy, and not just one)? How might this have all looked different if those watching the scene didn't know? 
• People often feel sorry for the pigs, and indeed, they got a raw deal! But knowing Jesus' character, and how He said that God keeps track of even every little bird in the world, was it likely Jesus or the demons who were responsible for the pigs' death?

Now, the Jews following along would have been incredibly impressed at what Jesus had just done, tossing out several thousand demons with a single command and with total control. But the non-Jews of that place and time, who wouldn't have understand what Jesus had done as a "miracle" but as the act of a "sorcerer", told Him to shove off. They were amazed that He'd healed this maniac that had been such a pain to them for so long – but the loss of the pigs and the healing of the demon-possessed guy was just too much for their brains to take in.

• We see people even today who can look a miracle right in the eye – and still absolutely reject any hand of God in it. I've certainly done that at times in my life. Have you, as well? Why do you think we do that? What's stopping us from dropping that and just taking in God's good work in the world, as we run into it?

The guy who'd been healed "got it", though. He begged to go with Jesus. Jesus instead made him another evangelist to the Gentiles. He told him to go be a witness to his people of God's power and kindness. And the man went far and wide in his area to do just that. Another "reject" made into one of God's greatest ambassadors to the world!

• If this guy could be so spiritually filthy thousands of demons could live inside him, yet still be cleansed and healed by God, what does that say about what God can do to cleanse and heal us? 
• What should be our response to God's healing and freeing action in our lives?

See you next week!
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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Best of / Q: “But aren’t Gay people immoral – just because they’re Gay?”

I'm under the weather this week, and am resting from just about everything - including getting a blog post out.

I will return next week with a continuation of our Gospel series on who Jesus really is, when we consider Him outside the box Good Religious People have put Him in.

Until then, here's another popular past post, shared here by your suggestions.

Q: “But aren’t Gay people immoral – just because they’re Gay?”

Take care until next week!

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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Big storms in life: 0. Jesus: 1

When we begin to understand that the bible itself says that those who most loudly call themselves "The Church" aren't actually Jesus' church, who is Jesus really? That's the question we're still answering in our (chronological) study of what Jesus did and said – and what He didn't do and say.

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here.

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here. (Note that you can change the human-translation version on this scripture page, as suits you. I have NO theological or other tie to the online-bible site I use for this blog – it just lists many human translations to choose from, including the NASB, KJV, The Message, and the NRSV, which are the ones mentioned by those I chat and email with.)
Today, the scripture talks about when Jesus calmed a storm. Apparently it was evening or late evening, and they all decided to travel across the huge lake. Jesus was tired and fell asleep in the boat, once they were underway.

A huge storm came up – probably fast and furious, as storms on that lake did and still do – and was about to swamp the boat. Everyone was terrified for their lives – except Jesus, who still slept in the boat. Finally, they decided to wake Him up and point out to Him what they thought He was missing: "Hey, man, don't you care we're all about to die???"

Jesus first act was to tell the storm to knock it off – and it did. Just quieted right down.

His second act was to tell the disciples to knock off being afraid. Their fear, He told them, indicated a lack of faith.

The Bible tells us that disciples were stunned. Who in the world was this guy that even the natural world obeyed Him?

There's a lot going on in this little story. What kinds of things do you note? Here's what I see:

• That Jesus was both God and a human being is demonstrated in this story. He was able to command the forces of nature, but He also got tired and needed to sleep. God, who is a Spirit, doesn't need to sleep. But when God took on human form to be among us, He took on all the needs and frailties that our human bodies endure, as well. What does that mean for your own needs and frailties? Can you imagine that God doesn't understand them all?

• When bad or scary things happen, it might just be because that's how the natural world functions (until Jesus comes again, that is). Nothing in the Bible says that there was any purpose or big meaning to this storm. It just came up, as hundreds of storms came up every year on that lake. Those who like to claim that God is behind such things as Hurricane Katrina to "punish" the people they don't like, are, as the lawyers would say, "assuming facts not in evidence" (they also make a mockery of themselves, when such natural calamities strike their own communities, but they don't then say God is punishing them!) Have you assumed that some bad or scary event was God sending you or someone else punishment or a "message"? How could you realistically determine when He really is, and when something is just a natural event or function of this world?  

• The disciples couldn't sleep through the storm because they had no faith – which meant they didn't really trust that God was taking care of them always, and wouldn't let them die until it was ok in His plan for that to happen. Jesus knew God's plan, and knew it wasn't His time to die, so He slept like a baby, even with a terrible, gut-wrenching storm threatening to send them all to the bottom of the lake. The disciples assumed they were being realistic about what was going on, but in truth, it was Jesus who was actually being realistic. Are you realistic in your own life, regarding the time of your death? Are you putting your faith / trust in God's plan and your part in it? Or are you still unrealistically assuming that you can save yourself by fearful struggling? 

• Imagine how absolutely stunned the disciples must have been, when Jesus stood up and told the storm to quit and it instantly did. Imagine witnessing that kind of Almighty Power that could alter the physics of the natural world with a word! Can you close your eyes and imagine yourself in that boat, fearing the storm, and then perhaps even more fearing the Man who could make that storm disappear in a heartbeat? Imagine yourself that protected, even when you have little faith, even when you have garbage for true understanding, just because you stick with Jesus. Now, know that you ARE that protected, even right now!

Take care until next week!
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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.