Category: Jesus’ Psych 101

Doubt as a Path to Faith

“Don’t be a Doubting Thomas,” was a charge I heard both at home and church. Doubt was bad. It was below lying and stealing, but doubt was otherwise high on the list of nonchristian characteristics and Thomas was the icon for doubt like Judas was the icon for betrayal.
Through the years, I’ve gained a little more respect for Thomas, doubting, and found little use for such polar dichotomies like doubt and faith. I’ve found throughout my life that there are few opposites. Continue reading “Doubt as a Path to Faith”

Rules, Rules, Rules – Love Rules!

 

script:

Our word for today is Rules.

Everywhere we go there are rules.
Pick almost any word, and it is amazing how many rules you can come up with like the simple word ‘keep.’
                                
Keep in touch.
Keep it in mind.
Keep up the good work.
Keep on trying.
Keep out of my way.
Keep out of this.
Keep quiet.
Keep still.
Keep smiling.
Keep this to yourself.
Keep your chin up.
Keep your mouth shut.
Keep your nose out of my business.
Keep your shirt on.

All those rules for one simple word, ‘keep’.
Rules are everywhere.
Rules are basically commands, do this or do that, and most rules are basically negative, don’t do this or don’t do that.

Don’t ask.
Don’t tell.
Don’t stay out too late.
Don’t go.
Don’t be gone to long.
Don’t look at me.
Don’t look at me like that.
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
Don’t get up.
Don’t let it keep you down.
Don’t hold your breath.
Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.
Don’t give in.
Don’t give up.
Don’t speak so loud.
Don’t speak too soon.
Don’t be so naïve.
Don’t be so sure.
Don’t even think about it.
Don’t give it another thought.
Don’t bother.
Don’t bother me!
Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
Don’t put all that in your mouth.
Don’t make me tell you again.
Don’t make me get up.
Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t you tell me what to do!!!!!!

Rules. Rules. Rules. Everywhere there are rules.
Jesus said in JOHN 13
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Above all other rules is this one…
love one another.
Above all else…
Love rules.

Why?
All You Need Is Love
Love is all you need.
You can buy me a diamond ring my friend,
But you can’t buy me love.
No, no, no.
No.
I like it.
I love it.
I want some more of it.
More of what?
This crazy little thing called love.
You might as well face it.
You’re addicted to love.
I Want to Know What Love Is
I know you can show me.
People of the world, join in.
Join a love train.
Love train.

Love rules.
Jesus said
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you,
you also should love one another. 
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
Love rules.

Why Not Sell Your House?

Through the years as a pastor, I’ve counseled a lot of people about their children, especially their teenagers. Imagine you are Kevin Salwen. He picked up his fourteen year old daughter, Hannah, from a slumber party and was driving her home. At a red light, Hannah looked out their windows and saw a homeless man on the sidewalk holding up a sign asking for money to buy food. On the other side of the car, in the lane next to them, Hannah saw a black Mercedes. She looked from the Mercedes, back to the homeless man, and from the homeless man back again to the Mercedes. Then she said to her father, “If that guy didn’t have such a nice car, then that guy could have a nice meal.” It made sense to her. A less expensive car for one person could keep another off the street. Continue reading “Why Not Sell Your House?”

God is Love?

When I was a youth, we learned a song that made memorizing 1 John 4:7 & 8 quite easy. The verse is,
 
Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God; and everyone that loveth
is born of God and knoweth God.
He that loveth not, knoweth not God for God is love.
Beloved, let us love one another. 1 John 4:7 & 8.

  Through the years, I have not forgotten the song, but I have had to work on trying to begin to comprehend what God is love might mean and have to do with me in my day to day living, and when I can, loving.
  I gained help from some who reflect on our human experience in deeper ways than I can. One is Frederick Buechner. In Beyond Words, he wrote of love’s stages:  

Continue reading “God is Love?”

Wake Up!

In multiple spaces and places, Bible writers assert that our spiritual troubles arise from our lack of attentiveness in our daily lives, following our patterns paying very little attention to the moments before us.

There are quotes from scriptures: Proverbs 6:9, How long will you lie there, O lazybones? When will you rise from your sleep? There is also Ephesians 5:14,Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead… Continue reading “Wake Up!”

The Potential of Imagination

Matthew 18: At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

When I forget the distinct personality, the particular possibility and potential each person has, my children remind me, like when my son, Nathan, showed me the possibilities of a trashcan when seen through his eyes.  Continue reading “The Potential of Imagination”

Slow Down to See Your Neighbor

Van Gogh’s “The Good Samaritan”

Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” and he replied with this famous story in Luke 10,

30  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

While the Samaritan has been called ‘good’ while we’ve looked down on the priest and Levite for two thousand years, I’d like to offer them a little sympathy. By nature of their roles as a priest and Levite, they had somewhere to go. They were likely in a hurry. Continue reading “Slow Down to See Your Neighbor”

Live Your Moments: Don’t Be Stronger Than You Need to Be

The Bible has a lot of paradoxical statements, die to live, lose to win, and then there is this one from Paul, “When I am weak, I am strong.” It’s a tough workout to practice, make yourself weaker to become more powerful. Here are Paul’s words of encouragement to the church in Corinth. He begins by sharing about his own struggles and praying three times for relief then opens up to what he learned from the process. Continue reading “Live Your Moments: Don’t Be Stronger Than You Need to Be”

Baptism – Just How Long Would John the Baptist Dunk You?

Looking at the Baptism of Christ presents some deep theological questions.

Consider this painting by Pheoris West, what images do you notice?

Can you see:
a rigid image of John the Baptist to the right?
the dove?
the face and arms of God?
why does Jesus face turn? What is he looking toward following his baptism?

Continue reading “Baptism – Just How Long Would John the Baptist Dunk You?”

Spirits on a Human Journey (Part 2)

The last post looks at Carl Jung’s four stages of development (as we journey from humans having spiritual experiences to spirits having human experiences. Leon Oudejans offers a great picture of the four stages with the epiphanies that accompany each transition.

Here are the top quotes by Carl Jung to help you on your journey from humans stuck in life hoping for a spiritual experience to spirits on an awakened human journey: Continue reading “Spirits on a Human Journey (Part 2)”

Spirits on a Human Journey (Part 1)

According to Carl Jung, we grow up as humans and on the journey, we have spiritual experience. The goal for life is to mature, to become spirits having a human experience.

Here are Jung’s 4 Archetypes or Stages of Development: Continue reading “Spirits on a Human Journey (Part 1)”

The Sower Never Worries

The Way is like the sower scattering seed everywhere.
Some falls upon the road eaten by the birds.
Some falls upon rocks and never takes root.
Some falls upon thorns and are choked out.
Some falls upon the good soil and brings forth a healthy crop.
The sower is not concerned for seed that is lost.
He does not worry about seed that is eaten by birds,
that takes no root upon rocks, or is choked out by thorns.
The sower understands life.
Life grows exponentially.
Life always wins over roads, rocks, and thorns.
So it is with The Way.
The Way is like a mustard seed tiny but large in life.

The Way is like kudzu, once it starts growing in your field,
you’ll never get it out.

The Way is like yeast, a small amount does much
transforming a lump of dough into a loaf,
and all who eat of it are filled.

Absurdus – We Pray! (Coming Soon)

COMING SOON: 

Absurdus: (Latin) ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, having no rational or orderly relationship to known rules of human life.
  
   Christianity is taking a giant stride into the absurd. Remove from Christianity its ability to shock and it is altogether destroyed. It becomes a tiny superficial thing, capable neither of inflicting deep wounds nor of healing them. It’s when the absurd starts to sound reasonable that we should begin to worry.  Soren Kierkegaard

   COFFEE
   Look for God.
   Look for God like a man
   with his head on fire looks for water.
   Elizabeth Gilbert

   Imagine God invites you out for a cup of coffee. You go to the coffee shop and sit down. It’s a nice coffee shop where they have servers and spell it Shoppe.
   The waitress takes your order. You have yours with cream.  God orders it black but with three sugars.
   You sip on you coffee, then get up the courage to speak, “Can I ask you something?”
   “Anything,” God replies.
   “About the Bible…”
   “Yes?”
   “Is it Your Word, or not?”
   “What do you mean?” God asks.
   “Well, did you write it or did people?”
   “Yes,” God replies.
   You are unsure whether God said, “Yes.” or “Yes?” wanting you to say more, so you add, “You know, did you write the book or did people just guess at what you would write?”
   “So, you think the Bible is a book?” God asks.
   “Isn’t it?” you say.
   “Is it?” God asks.
   You sit silently.
   “A lot of people think so,” God says. “Maybe it is a book, maybe it’s many books. Maybe I wrote it. Maybe people, lots of people, wrote it. Maybe it’s both. Maybe…” God goes on with a continuous list of maybes that you can’t follow. Then God asks, “What do you think?”
   “What do I think?” you say. “I want to know what you think.”
   “Do you think I think?” God asks.
   “Don’t you?”
   “Do I?”
   “I think so,” you say.
   God sips coffee and looks out the window. You look and see a bird. You watch as it falls to the ground, lifeless.
   “Ahhh!” you sputter.
   “You know how the saying goes,” God replies, “not a sparrow falls from the sky…”
   You go back to your coffee. Not sure if you should look at God or not.
   God takes another sip. “Mmmmm, that is good!” God declares returning the cup to the table. “So, you want to know what the Bible is?”
   “Yes,” you say resting your cup, “but what I really want to know about is You.”
   “Come, and I’ll show you.”
   God rises and moves toward the door.
   You follow, then realize that God is walking out without paying the tab. God is going to stiff the Shoppe. You pull out money and leave it on the table, enough for the coffees and the tip.
   Hurrying after God, you keep thinking, ‘I can’t believe God was going to just walk out without paying for the coffee. Did God want me to pay? God invited me. What kind of universe is this where the creator can walk out of a restaurant without paying, or invite someone and then leave them with the tab?”
   You hear God whisper, “You think about the stupidest things.”
   Looking around, you don’t see God anywhere. Navigating the outside of the building, you spy God in the nearby park behind a tree, but when approaching it, God is gone.
   You pause to ponder returning to your car or going back inside the restaurant to get a bagel, then you hear God whisper, “So, are you going to look for me, or not?”

(Look for Absurdus in March 2019)
  

 

Perceptions and Prejudices

Read the following paragraph. How easily do you adjust the words to fit your expectations?

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In John 1, Philip invites Nathanael to come and see Jesus. Because Jesus was from Nazareth, the ‘wrong side of the Israel tracks,’ Nathanael was certain that Jesus could certainly not be the Messiah, and even more was up to no good and was no good as a person. He filled in the blanks in his mind without even meeting Jesus. Here is there encounter:

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Go to John 1 to see the rest of the story…

The Parable of The Joy Handle

You can’t buy love or joy. You’ve got to bring it.
Instead of trying to buy the right gift to bring joy, bring joy as the right gift then any object can be a joy handle.

Galatians 5: 22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Live Your Moments: Attend The Important Details


To live your life fully requires paying attention to the important details. Many details are distractions, but quite a few are crucial. What’s an important detail? It’s one that affects your life and your ability to participate fully in your practices and the significant moments of each day. Perhaps no one expressed that better than Basketball Coach John Wooden of UCLA who won ten national championships.

As a successful coach, Wooden was able to recruit some of the most talented basketball players from high schools across the country, though, when they came to their first practice, the lesson they learned was not some great secret to the Wooden Program, but a simple detail to make sure they covered before stepping onto the court. Don Yaeger relates,

Continue reading “Live Your Moments: Attend The Important Details”

Which is Real – Oz or Kansas?

In a lot of family vans, they have movie players so the kids can watch movies while they ride along. You can’t do that while driving, believe me… not that I’ve done it. I don’t have to. I just replay them in my mind. I have them stored, in my brain. Apparently my storage space was full by the time I was twelve because all I have in my mind is movies from childhood.
So, while driving back from Nashville to Orlando, the movie The Wizard of Oz started playing. I can’t decide on who I think is scarier Ms. Gulch on her bicycle, or the Wicked Witch. If you throw in the flying monkeys, I have to say the Wicked Witch but before that I’d say it’s a tie.
Then, because I am a preacher, I can’t just replay The Wizard of Oz in my mind, I had to consider them philosophically, “Which place is real, is it Kansas or is it Oz?”
Think about it. If you’re first thought is, ‘Of course Kansas real. Oz is made up. It’s just a story, a product of someone’s imagination. Not Kansas. I’ve been to Kansas.’ I must point out to you, in the movie Kansas is in black and white while Oz is in color.
Continue reading “Which is Real – Oz or Kansas?”